Immortal, a Famous Smoke Shop Exclusive

My family and I safely arrived in El Paso Wednesday evening for a two week trip mixed with a little work and lots of family time. Between Thanksgiving and planning for the trip, I have found it difficult to squeeze in a cigar review but finally managed earlier in the week to wrap-up my review on a Famous Smoke Shop exclusive.

For the last couple months, I have been making my way through a line-up of  Famous Smoke Shop exclusives including the Vudu Dark and Sacrifice by J. Fuego, the Cunning and Merciless by Joya De Nicaragua, and the Carnage by Plasencia. Wrapping up the series on Famous Smoke Shop exclusives, up for review today is the Immortal, a Nicaraguan Puro, made by Plasencia. Utilizing a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, the Immortal is marketed as a full-flavor cigar at a wallet friendly price. Four vitolas are available including: Robusto (5 by 54), Toro (6 by 50), Churchill (7 by 50), and Magnum (6 by 60). Prices range from $4 to $5 for singles with bundles of 10 currently on sale for $26.99 to $32.99.

The Facts

Samples Provided by Famous Smoke Shop
Price: $40 per bundle of 10 | $4.00 per single
Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5 by 54
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Habano
Smoke Time: 1 Hours 35 Minutes

Pre-light

Wrapped in a dark brown, mottled, Nicaraguan Habano leaf that is oily and bumpy, the Immortal made by Plasencia for Famous Smoke Shop appears and feels well constructed. I encounter no soft spots and the cigar is packed rock solid.

The aroma has a pungency to it, along with raisin notes. The foot gives off big notes of chocolate, graham cracker, and raisin, which is a very nice combination. A mild to medium spice sting is felt in the sinuses. The double cap is neatly applied and a mixture of chocolate, rich cedar, and pepper are on the cold draw and the spice lingers on my lips.

First Third

Once lit, pepper, charred notes, and sweet, wet woodsy notes kick off this Nicaraguan puro. The charredness is not the flavor that is common at the very end of a cigar, but a flavor I pick up on in ligero heavy cigars. The smoke is chewy in the mouth. The pepper and spice are medium/full and lingers around in the mouth and on the lips. The burn is jagged with a couple of sections lagging behind. The salt and pepper layered ash is being formed that is somewhat flaky in appearance. After 20 minutes of smoking, a quick touch-up was required to get the burn back in-line.

Middle Third

While the touch-up improved the burn significantly, it continues to burn uneven as I make my way into the second third after just more than 30 minutes where the first ash is still holding strong. The flavors remain similar to the previous third with the pepper subsiding in terms of flavor and heat. Retrohaling the smoke, the pepper is still very much there accompanied with some saltiness. The sweet woodsy notes have made their way to the front of the profile as I close out the middle third of the cigar. 

Final Third

The Famous Smoke Shop Immortal is burning along with no issues at this point. The flavors have been mostly consistent with previous third with is an additional peanut flavor and maybe a vegetal flavor. With a few minutes remaining in the cigar, the cigar has hit the full arena in terms of strength.  As I close out the cigar, the burn is once again all over the place but instead of relighting I set the cigar down for its final rest. 

Wrap-up

Famous Smoke Shop’s Immortal by Plasencia delivers consistent flavors from start to finish with only a few minor variations. I found the flavors enjoyable in spite of the ligero charredness that usually overwhelms my palate. Loaded with ligero tobaccos, the Immortal does a nice job providing a full strength cigar matched with full flavors. Burning for over an hour and a half, the cigar had a few hiccups along the way requiring a couple touch-ups. From what I could tell, this did not impact the flavors in any way. Don’t expect a complex cigar for $3, but do expect a full on Nicaraguan puro that will give the strength and flavors you are looking for on bed of spice balanced with some sweet woodsy notes.