2016 Archives - Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando

Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte

Tony Casas — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 14:30:30 +0000

Squeezing this in before things get crazy for the holidays, I headed out back to enjoy a Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte and a Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout.

The Good Stuff:

Earlier this year Black Label Trading Company released it’s newest addition to their cigar portfolio, the Santa Muerte. Santa Muerte was created to go alongside the Day of the Dead which is celebrated from the last day of October through the early week of November, the same timeframe that Black Label Trading Company used to release this cigar. During this time we celebrate those who we hold dear to our hearts and have lost. Created at the newly opened Fabrica de Oveja Negra factory in Nicaragua which was opened up by the Black Label Trading Company’s brand owner James Brown, the Santa Muerte features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Ecuadorian Habano binder, and filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, San Andres, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The cigar is released in only two sizes, the Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 48), and the Short Robusto (4 3/4 x 52) which are packaged in boxes of 20 running $10 a stick. Big shout out goes to my buddy Jason who passed a handful of these my way.

Size: 5 1/2 x 48
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Dominican Republic, San Andres, Nicaragua
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $10
Pairing: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout 2016 (13.4% ABV)

Prelight:

The Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte starts out with a beautifully consistent, medium brown wrapper. There is literally no discoloration located anywhere on this thing. The wrapper’s texture is silky smooth with a whole mess of oils. There are a few minor veins running through the cigar’s body leading up to the round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with a beautiful Black and White wrapper with a similar design theme as we’ve seen on all the Black Label cigars, featuring a skull, cross, roses, and the Santa Muerte crest along with the company’s name embossed in the front. I love these bands.

The wrapper on the Black Label Trading Company gives off very rich cedar, nut, and honey aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more earthy with lots of natural tobacco and cedar. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces lots of creamy cocoa, cedar, pecan, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte starts out with a nice little black pepper pop which quickly faded to showcase the cigar’s spice, cocoa, honey, pecan, creamy coffee, and natural tobacco flavors. The draw is flawless. Each tiny puff kicks out a whole mess of thick, white smoke which hangs out for quite some time before dissipating. The cigar gives off a small amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is pretty sharp, and very thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash that held on for an inch before falling into the ashtray.

Second Third

Into the second third of the Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte and the cigar has been pouring on the flavors, but in a very balanced format. Think of a heavy creamed coffee packed with pecan, honey, spice, cocoa, and sweetness poured of a spicy, smooth cigar. That analogy was dumb, I know, but it made sense in my head. Anyways, this cigar is great. The retrohale showcases more sharp spice and cedar and I find myself really enjoying it. I close out the second third with no nicotine hit whatsoever.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte and I was expecting it to keep creaming out, but it did the opposite and really started to ramp the body up landing in the full range for the first time during the experience. The flavors are loaded with lots of spice and honey, vanilla, cocoa, cedar, pecan, and some great natural tobacco flavors. It took me only a little over an hour to take this cigar down to the nub and while I’d like it to last longer, with the temperatures dropping it made for a perfect smoking time. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat.

Overview:

As I type of this recap Jawbreaker’s “Accident Prone” comes on my Spotify making for one of the best, relaxing Sundays I have had for a long time. Plus, Im on vacation all week, so I guess this is kind of kicking it off on a good note. Anyways, the Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte is one of the best damn cigars I have had all year, and there have been some great ones. That being said, this isn’t the typical cigar you see released by Black Label. Usually their cigars punch me in the face, kick me in the chest, then beat me when I’m down with both crazy bold flavor and strenght. This is a different cigar. It’s flavorful, complex, yet creamy and down to earth. There isn’t much strength, and it doesn’t need it. This is probably my favorite, if not one of my top cigars the company has released. It’s box worthy for sure and I’ll be seeking more out. Thanks again Jason!

Pairing:

Bourbon County day is less than a week away. To celebrate I broke out a coffee variant of last year’s release. Coming in at 13.4% ABV this bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with coffee added is a fantastic way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Brewed at the Goose Island Brewery in Chicago the Bourbon County Brand releases are some of the most sought after beers year after year. The beer leads with sweet caramel and malt, dark chocolate, acidic coffee, and some soft spice with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with a ton of sticky sweetness, coffee, vanilla, malt, and a whole mess of booze. The booze only becomes more dominant as the beer warms. The sweetness, coffee, cocoa and spice made for a wonderful pairing with the Black Label Trading Company Santa Muerte which I could see paired with just about any imperial stout, milk stout, spiced Christmas ale, or tawny port.

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The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2016

Tony Casas — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 14:30:43 +0000

Kicking off my vacation in my backyard is always a good way to start things. Including a incredible pairing is a FANTASTIC way to start things. This week I take a look at the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2016 paired with a bottle of Firestone Walker’s Anniversary Ale XX.

The Good Stuff:

2016 marks the 3rd release for the Crowned Head’s Las Calaveras. You can read my review of the 2014 here, and 2015 here. The blend was created to celebrate those who we have lost and each year I think back to those close to me, who are no longer with us. Each year the blend changes. This year the Las Calaveras features a Grade A Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with a Nicaraguan binder and fillers. As with the last releases the Las Calaveras is being produced at the My Father Cigars S.A. factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. The cigar is released in four sizes: LC50 (5 x 50), LC46 (6 x 46), LC54 (5 1/2 x 54), as well as a sampler exclusive Piramides (6 1/8 x 52). With the exception of the Piramides all cigars comes packaged in boxes of 24 with a total of 4,500 boxes released. There are also 2,000 sampler packs which include the 3 standard release sizes, and the already mentioned Piramides. The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras run between $9.25 and $11.25 a stick. Since these are so limited, and successful in the past, expect them to sell out very quickly, if they haven’t already. I picked up a bunch from out good friends at Smoke Inn.

Size: 6 x 46
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9.25
Pairing: Firestone Walker Anniversary Ale XX (American Strong Ale 13% ABV)

Prelight:

The Crowned Heads 2016 Las Calaveras starts out with a gorgeous, incredibly consistent milky-brown wrapper. This is a much darker wrapper than we saw last year. The texture of the wrapper is very toothy and gritty while it sheens brightly due to the large amount of oil coating the leaf. The wrapper is laid over itself seamlessly while there are only a few smaller veins running through the cigar’s body. The wrapper feels very thick and very hard while the cigar itself is incredibly firm and tightly packed. The Crowned Heads Las Calaveras is polished off with a round, double cap and the same band we have seen on the Las Calaveras releases in the past, only with the 2016 changed.

The wrapper on the Las Calaveras gives off a good amount of sharp cedar, espresso, and spice while the foot of the cigar carries a good amount of pepper and natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut like butter using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a really spicey, pepper-filled flavor profile with a decent amount of cocoa.

First Third:

Surprisingly the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras doesn’t start out with as much pepper as I was expecting. Instead I am greeted with some bold espresso and spice, vanilla, maple, cedar and musk. The Connecticut Broadleaf leaves behind a nice little tartness on the aftertaste as well. Despite being very tightly packed the draw is very fluid, and easy. Each little puff kicks out the perfect amount of very thick, white smoke while the cigar smokes like a chimney as it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is razor thin, and dead even leaving behind a perfectly compacted trail of light gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The flavors in the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2016 have really started to balance out and cream together into the second third. While the body remains in the upper medium/full area the leading flavor is now a bold spice and strong vanilla backed by musk, cedar, espresso, and cocoa. The retrohale brings forward a lot of the pepper that I didn’t get at the start of the experience along with a really deep cedar. The burnline is still absolutely perfect while I close out the second third with absolutely nothing in the nicotine department.

Finish:

The flavors have really started to ramp up in the final third of the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras 2016. The spice and vanilla are still leading the charge, with the cedar, musk, espresso, cocoa, and a bit of berry backing them up. The body is now dead center in what I would consider the full department. It took me 2 hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I thought every second was incredible. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat, and in fact this cigar finished off surprisingly smooth and creamy. I close out the cigar with almost no nicotine kick.

Overview:

Every year the Crowned Heads Las Calaveras is on my list of “must haves”, along with many other cigar smokers. Every year, it delivers. I especially enjoyed this years blend as I am a bit of Connecticut Broadleaf fan boy. The 2016 Las Calaveras is complex and bold without being overpowered by strength and hype. It also makes for a beautiful pairing cigar as it can easily keep up with even the more fullest of bodied beers. As we look down towards the end of the year I need to start making decisions on my favorite cigars of 2016, and the Las Calaveras is in the running for sure. While I picked up quite a few, I am on a hunt to find even more before they completely disappear from store shelves.

Pairing:

Brewed at the Firestone Walker brewery in California, the Anniversary Ale XX is a combination of 5 of Firestone Walker’s rarest, bourbon barrel releases. The blend includes the Parabola, Stickee Monkee, Velvet Merkin, Bravo, and Helldorado. The Anniversary Ale XX leads with a really bold sweetness, chocolate, vanilla, malt, espresso, apple and a good amount of bourbon booziness with a very light mouthfeel before finishing crips with more apple, espresso, bourbon, a good amount of spice, and honey. This is a crazy complex beer that’s much easier to drink than I was anticipating. I find it crazy how often mixing a bunch of different beers actually just works. This is a perfect example of that. It’s also a perfect example of a beer that you probably shouldn’t pair with most cigars as it could easily overpower almost any profile in a cigar. Luckily enough, the Las Calaveras easily holds it’s own and even adds a bunch of spice to the beer’s profile. This was an absolutely killer pairing and I’m glad I picked up quite a few of these beers.

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