I had great plans of fitting in several more cigar reviews before the close of 2014, but it was not possible with the busy holiday season and year-end work responsibilities. At the end of November, I received for review several samples of the King David by Alec Bradley from our good friends at Mike’s Cigars, which I will finally be reviewing today. King David is the third Mike’s Cigars exclusive that we have reviewed here at Casas Fumando. I was rather impressed by the other shops exclusives that I had the pleasure of smoking. You can find the two other reviews below:

• Romeo Y Julieta – Primer Lote 770
• La Gloria Cubana – Domino 758

Produced in Honduras, the King David by Alec Bradley is available in five frontmarks: Corona Extra (4 3/4 by 45), Gran Robusto (5 by 55), Gran Toro (6 by 54), Churchill (7 by 52), and Gordo (6 by 60). The price ranges from just above $6.00 for the Corona Extra up to $12.50 for the Gordo. The prices significantly decreases for five packs and 20-count boxes. Lenin Euceda, Social Media Manager of Mike’s Cigars, provided me the following background on today’s stick:

The new King David by Alec Bradley cigars is made in Honduras under the watchful eye of Alan Rubin, president of Alec Bradley cigars. All Alec Bradley cigars are high quality and made of premium aged tobacco and the King David is no different.  The cigar is finished with a silky golden roll of pure Connecticut leaf which paves the way for a perfectly light aroma that marries with the Honduras/Nicaraguan blend and the Sumatra binder. Just like other non-heavy smokes that feature light wrapper but  rich and complex flavors, the King David is easy on the palate and full of tastes at the same time.

The Facts

Samples Provided by Mike’s Cigars
Price: $7.85/single, $24.95/5-pack, and $94.95/20-Count Box
Vitola: Gran Robusto
Size: 5 by 55
Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Sumatran
Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 20 Minutes
Drink: Water

Pre-light

The King David is dressed in a very light tan Connecticut wrapper leaf. Small and medium-sized veins are easily seen against the light colored wrapper, as well as some bumps and color imperfections. When I first removed the cigar from its cellophane, I was met with big notes of barnyard/manure. Having the cigar outside of the cellophane for pictures, the aroma off the wrapper has significantly toned down.

There is now only faint notes of natural tobacco and cedar. I do not find much more off the unlit foot of the cigar, but feel a light spice sting in the sinuses. Upon clipping the neatly applied double cap, a just about perfect draw presents itself with notes of clove, cedar, and pickling spices.

First Third

The profile is very mild at the start with a subtle natural tobacco sweetness and some faint cedar notes. As the cigar warms, the woodsy notes come to the front of the profile and pepper is really showcased with each retrohale. A thick, eyeliner burn-line has a slight wave but behaving overly well. The ash has yet to drop as I close out the first third.

Middle Third

Moving into the second third, the texture of the smoke has evolved and is now much more creamy and thick in the mouth. The flavors are now in the medium range but remain very easy on the palate with the creamy feel, along with balanced notes of wood, leather, and natural tobacco sweetness. The burn has been a bit edgy through the middle third but nowhere near the point of requiring a touch-up. The second ash held half as long as the first and dropped in the middle of my keyboard.

Final third

The main flavors remain consistent with the previous two thirds. However, I am noticing some bitterness that I find on most Connecticut shade cigars, as well as a toasted quality. Lengthening the time between draws seems to minimize the bitterness. The smoke production is awesome. The smallest draw fills my mouth with the medium flavored smoke.

Wrap-up

The King David was very different than my typical go-to cigars. I could probably count on one hand the number Connecticut shade cigars I smoked in 2014 and even less Alec Bradley cigars, if any.  But I was pleasantly surprised by the King David. The mild to medium flavors were easy on the palate and the natural tobacco sweetness rounded out the profile. The performance was exceptional with a mostly even burn, firm ash, and copious amount of smoke production. The only downfall I noted was the bitterness in the final third that can be easily avoided by slowing my pace. This is a cigar I would  reach for first thing in the morning as the sweetness in the cigar would compliment a black cup o’ Joe.  Also, this would be a great cigar for mild cigar smokers and newbies to the cigar world.

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The Good Stuff: Making it’s debut during St. Patrick’s day 2013, Alec Bradley’s Filthy hooligan is the follow up to the well-received Black Market blend. Keeping with the St. Patrick’s day theme Alec Bradley decided to wrap the Filthy Hooligan with a Nicaraguan Candela wrapper giving it a bright green allure. These limited edition cigars are the exact same blend as last year’s only with one extra year of age on them. The Filthy Hooligan comes packed with Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Panamanian tobaccos and Nicaraguan and Honduran binders. The Filthy Hooligan only comes in one size, a 6 x 50 toro and is priced around $8.00 a stick. I picked these up at my local El Paso cigar lounge, La Casa Del Puro.  He’s been rotating his stock a lot lately so check in which him if you haven’t lately.

Size: 6 x 50
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Candela
Binder: Nicaraguan/Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan/Honduran/Panamanian
Strength: Mild
Body: Mild
Price: $8.00
Pairing: Magner’s Irish Cider (Hard Cider 4.5% ABV)

Prelight: The Alec Bradley Black Market Filthy Hooligan starts off with the obvious, a candela wrapper. Instead of the standard shades of brown we are all used to the Filthy Hooligan carries a very light, almost pastel/mint green wrapper. The wrapped if very webby and sports some darker green areas especially around the cap as well some brown areas scattered throughout the leaf. The wrapper is very smooth and oily. Light just shines off this thing. There are a few larger veins, but nothing too concerning. The cigar is polished of with a very round, double cap. This cigar feels incredibly dense and it’s heavy as hell. It almost feels as if it was filled with hard rubber. Like all the Black Market series the Filthy Hooligan has a brown, recycled cardboard band that runs from the center of the cigar down to the foot. It has the standard Black Market logo as well as the Alec Bradley crest with the addition of a green clover and the Filthy Hooligan banners. When you slide that huge band off there is a smaller one underneath with similar markings.

The wrapper of the Black Market Filthy Hooligan gives off a very slight aroma of tobacco and moss while the foot of the cigar carries much stronger notes of tobacco mixed with some soft spice. The cold draw produces some mild woodsy/earthy notes along with a lot of natural tobacco. I also got a lot of saltiness from the wrapper on my lips.

First Smoke: Alec Bradley’s Black Market Filthy Hooligan started out rather on the mild side with lots of natural tobacco and grassy notes backed my a bit of moss and cedar with just a splash of sweetness. I was surprised that there wasn’t any pepper or spice off the initial light up. I did however, continue to pull some saltiness from the wrapper onto my lips. The draw was a bit snug, but nothing too annoying. The burnline was all sorts of crazy with two really large waves forming right off the bat. I thought they may had been due to poor lighting techniques, but they continued to burn at a much faster rate than the rest of the burnline. The ash was pretty flaky mixed with both medium and dark gray which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: Not quite keeping with the theme a very nice floral flavor has began to introduce itself into the flavor experience of the Filthy Hooligan. The rest of the flavors remained pretty consistent with the soft cedar and moss, natural tobacco, and grassiness. The sweetness has completely dropped out. On the plus side, not only has the draw really opened up in the second third but after my first ash dropped the burnline has somehow corrected itself. It’s still not perfect, but I didn’t think anything short of my lighter would be able to fix that thing. The retrohale is really mild and coats my nasal passage with cedar and earthiness. It actually adds quite a bit to the flavor profile making it a bit bolder. I am feeling zero in the nicotine department as I close out the second third.

Finish: The finish of the Filthy Hooligan was identical to the second third. Lots of mild cedar and moss, earthiness and natural tobacco with some floral sprinkled over it. The flavor profile really didn’t change up much at all. The draw has been perfect and was great all the way through the cigar minus the tightness at the beginning. The burnline was solid after that point as well and astonishingly enough never required any extra attention from my lighter. The Filthy Hooligan burns at an incredibly slow rate. It took me over 2 hours to take this entire toro down. There was only a tiny bit of harshness in the final inch or so of the cigar.

Overview: I wasn’t really impressed with the Filthy Hooligan, but that’s not to say that it was a bad cigar. I think the main reason I didn’t enjoy this cigar more was the lack of flavors. It’s a pretty damn mild cigar and I knew that going into the experience being that it carried a candela wrapper. Outside of the first inch or so the burn actually preformed really well and the draw really opened up after the first half. The floral flavor really helped bring the body up a bit while the rest of the flavors remained mild and consistent. Now, in comparison to a lot of other candela wrapper cigars I have smoked in my short time on this planet, and the Filthy Hooligan is actually ranked pretty far up there. It was a lot more finished than other candela wrappers I have had and was actually a decent experience. If you are looking for something different or if you enjoy mild cigars and shy away from more complex experiences I think the Filthy Hooligan is perfect for you. If you are like me and like a little more body, or some body at all in your experience then this probably won’t do much for you. Stick with the standard Black Market.

Pairing: So yeah, I wanted to do something a bit different here. I decided to stick with the Irish theme and pair this Filthy Hooligan with a 4.5% ABV hard cider straight out of Ireland. Magner’s is different than most ciders I have had. First of all, it’s not very sweet. It taste’s much closer to natural apple juice than most ciders. Secondly, it’s pretty bitter. Most ciders are smooth and lead with sugar while this one has a strong apple front and a rather salty, bitter finish. This may sound bad, but when you string it all together it actually makes for a pretty smooth drink. Now, normally I would have went straight for a good Irish beer. I’m not a cider guy. I’ll try them, but not more than once usually. But being as it’s St. Patrick’s day I wanted to make sure this pairing was a bit different. I’ve only had Magner’s a handful of times and it’s pretty hard to find in these parts. But Shamrock’s Irish pub in El Paso on Ft. Bliss carries it in bottles and on tap. In fact, they even have a pear version (which I have yet to try) and are the only bar in El Paso at this point that carries either of them. If you’re in the area, hit them up. They are in a badass little area called “Freedom Crossing”, have an awesome patio, and some really kick ass bratwursts along with some Irish eats.

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Alec Bradley Prensado

I went through three of this sticks before formulating this review, two from trades that I had just resting in my humidor, and one was provided by one of our great sponsors Bonita Smoke Shop. All three were similar in vitola (Box Pressed Robusto), but oddly all of which changed up in color, from a dark, almost maduro to a soft light, creamy brown.

The Good Stuff: Alec Bradley’s Prensado was one of a number of much anticipated releases that went public during 2009’s IPCPR event in New Orleans this past year. It is create from a complex structure from  Honduran,  corojo wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder from Jalapa,  and a mixture of Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. It is also said to be Alec Bradley’s strongest cigar to date. 

Size:Robusto 5 x 50 boxpress  –  Wrapper: Honduran corojo  –  Binder: Nicaragua  –  Filler: Nicaragua/Honduras  –  Body: Medium/Full   

Alec Bradley Prensado

Prelight: The Prensado carries with is a very unique, and enticing band. The band itself is white, and gold embroidered with hints of black, brown, and an odd but pleasant mixture of teal. The band is is very large and has an image of what looks to be a medieval leather chest plate (not to be confused with a football). The color of the wrapper is very consistent, and a light, creamy brown. The cigar itself is very firm and only soft at the bottom-most foot portion. There is a very large vein running down the entire length of the cigar, and I’d be very surprised if this vein didn’t offset the burn of the cigar. The Prensado has a very sweet, organic tobacco smell around the wrapper, and an almost fruity cedar smell coming from the foot. The cap is rounded off with the triple cap that I would love see as a set standard on all my cigars.

Alec Bradley Prensado

First Smoke: This cigar was cut using my Palio double blade cutter, and lit up very easily under even my single flame torch that I hate, and hardly ever use. Alec Bradley’s Prensado started out with a slight hint of pepper, that only tingled my tongue for a few seconds before quickly diminishing. As the pepper faded flavors of cedar, cocoa, and tobacco became present. Despite giving off a massive, and very thick draw, the Prensado give off little to no stationary smoke. The stationary smoke is extremely pleasant, and smells of lightly burning cedar. The cigar is starting off extremely smooth. The ash is a very flaky, dark grey. The burnline is extremely sharp, but as expected it is burning a deep, offset crevice due to the massive vein running through the body of this cigar. Surprisingly enough, the ash held on for about an inch and a half before it gave out.

Alec Bradley Prensado

Halfway There: The Presando just keeps getting smoother, and creamier the further I smoke into it. The main flavor is that of cedar. It seriously tastes as if I chopped up my humidor and wrapped it in corojo. To me, this cigar reminds me a lot of Camacho’s 2009 Liberty, only at less than half the price. As stated in my introduction, this is supposed to be Alec Bradley’s strongest cigar to date, but oddly enough I am getting absolutely no nicotine buzz. I am drinking a pretty high alcohol content beer too and not feeling anything off this smoke, amazing. After a big touch up to the foot, the cigar is finally burning dead even, and just as sharp as when I began smoking it.

Alec Bradley Prensado

Finish: Wow, just wow. The smoothness of the Prensado is overwhelming. I usually enjoy robusto, or smaller vitolas, but I would be quite curious to see how a churchill of these bad boys panned out. I smoked this one incredibly fast (about 1.25 hours) to finish, and there were no signs of harshness all the way down to the nub. The flavor stayed very consistent with smooth cedar being the prominent flavor backed by a creamy, milky, cocoa. I had no problems with the burn after the touch up after the first ash and took this bad boy down until I could no longer hold it. My hands never got too warm which was incredible due to the loose draw.

Alec Bradley Prensado

Overview: Overall I was very impressed with this cigar. I loved the Camacho Liberty 2009, just hated the price tag and exclusiveness of it. Alec Bradley’s Prensado is a perfect replacement for an everyday rotation. The price is somewhere in between $7 and $10 and well worth it. All three that I smoked took a touch up or two, but not anything serious, and the overall experience made up for it. This is a perfect, everyday smoke for the experienced, and even casual smoker. Now I just need to get my hands on a few more.

Alec Bradley Prensado

This cigar was paired with one of my favorite beers, Chimay White Tripel. The strength, bitterness, and fruity undertones were a perfect pair for such a smooth cigar.

Alec Bradley Prensado

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Alec Bradley Vice Press

This line is not to be confused with the Maxx Vice, which is a different cigar but it’s assumed that this line was influenced by that cigar.  The similarities end there, you will not find a maduro wrapper or a full bodied smoke here.  The is a sweet Sungrown wrapper that was very pleasing to the eyes.  My biggest gripe with this cigar was the cutting.  I thought scissors would do the trick since they usually handle my larger gauge cigars but the rectangular size caused a big mess.  I found that my large gauge double bladed cutter did the best job.  Try not to cut too far in, keep it close to the end of the cap and it shouldn’t cause any major problems and there are no draw problems even with a short cut.

Alec Bradley Vice Press

This cigar is just now making it’s way into Canada and it seems that the online availability is quite limited.  I can’t speak for the B&M availability n the US, maybe some people could fill us in with some comments, I’m curious to know.  On to the review…

Alec Bradley Vice Press

Cigar: Alec Bradley Vice Press
Drink: Alexander Keith’s Dark Ale
Vitola: 6T4 (64×5)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sungrown
Binder: Costa Rican
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan and Mexican
Price: $7-$8
Burn Time: 1.75 Hours

Alec Bradley Vice Press

Construction:
-Middle is very firm but foot and cap are a perfect softness
-Dark brown color and a nice oily sheen
-Toasting took a bit longer than normal
-Heavily box pressed and rectangular shape
-Draw was dead-on perfect, surprising considering how firm the middle portion was
-The odd shape made it a little difficult to smoke properly

Alec Bradley Vice Press

Burn:
-Wrapper burn issues at the start, this was the same on all my samples
-Considering the size, the burn was rather quick for the first half but slowed down soon after that
-Required a few minor touch ups every once in awhile, probably related to the odd shape
-Wrapper stopped burning a few times near the end and needed to be touched up, this caused some bitterness

Alec Bradley Vice Press

Smoke:
-Tons of smoke in your mouth
-Lots of resting smoke
-Although there is a lot of smoke, it doesn’t feel very thick in your mouth
-The aroma had a nice sweetness to it

Alec Bradley Vice Press

Ash:
-Dark grey/black
-Not very strong and lots of flaking
-Barely passed the one inch mark before falling off

Alec Bradley Vice Press

Tasting Notes:
-Pre-light was a chocolaty barnyard scent
-Foot has more a prominent chocolate scent
-No flavor on my lips when dry
-Pre-light draw is more of the same flavors
-Initial draws were subtle with no strong flavors to mention
-After a few draws the chocolate flavors start to stand out, very nice
-Body for the first 3 inches or so was in the mild-medium range
-Retrohale had a small bite and a great finish with hints of coffee and chocolate
-About halfway through, it was leaving a dry itchy sensation on the back of my throat, nothing too bothersome but worth noting
-At about the half-way point, sweet tobacco and notes of coffee began to develop
-The bite in the retrohale got a little stronger after the halfway point, still a nice finish
-Body ramped up a bit to medium with about 2 inches left, the sweet tobacco and coffee flavors tapered off a bit
-The last few inches were mostly a mild chocolate flavor and a bit of sweet tobacco
-A little bit or bitterness crept in near the end, purging helped this a bit

Alec Bradley Vice Press

Final Thoughts:
-Correct the burn issues quickly cause the wrapper has some great flavors
-Great medium smoke for some daring beginners, but beware as the body gets to be a strong medium near the last bit
-The flavor profile was similar to a typical maduro, adding to it the natural sungrown flavors
-All of this line have very long burn time, the flavors are good but don’t change much and some people may find that boring

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