The Good Stuff:

Curivari isn’t a household name, yet every release they put out has been fantastic gaining them a ton of ground in the cigar community. In 2015 They released an update to their Achilles blend, the Mirmidones. Achilles was a Trojan war hero in Greek Mythology, while Mirmidones are the warriors who traded under Achilles. The Curivari Achilles Mirmidones features a Mexican San Andres wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan filler rolled at the Plesencia Cigar Factory. The blend is offered in three sizes: Achilles Mirmidones 52 (5 x 52), Achilles Mirmidones 54 (6 x 54), and the Archilles Mirmidones 58 (6 3/4 x 58). Each format features a soft-boxpres and come packaged in boxes of 10 ranging between $8.50 and $10 a stick. I purchased these over from out good friends at Ford on Fifth.

Size: 6 x 54
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $9.50
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Pairing: The Bruery The Grade (Baltic Porter 7.6% ABV)

Prelight:

The Curivari Achilles Mirmidones starts off with a very consistent, dark brown wrapper. The wrapper showcases a whole mess of very gritty, tough tooth as it almost feels like sand paper in my hand. There are some slight oils, and the wrapper itself is very thick, hard, and dense. As I mentioned before the Curivari Achilles Mirmidones features of very light soft-boxpress leading up to it’s round triple-wrapped cap. The cigar feels very firm, and very heavy with almost no give as I squeeze the cigar between my fingers. The cigar is polished off with a detailed red, white, and gold band with the words “Achilles”, and “Tabacaos Legendario” printed across the front.

The wrapper of the cigar gives off some spice, musk, and dirt while the foot of the cigar gives off much more sweetness, a bit of cedar, and more spice. The cap cut clean after a bit of strength clipping through the thick wrapper using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw features lots of musk, dirt, tartness, sweetness and spice.

First Third:

The Curivari Achilles Mirmidones started off with a bold little cayenne pepper punch which only lasted through the first few puffs before fading away letting the cigar showcase some great sweetness, musk, spice, tartness, maple, espresso, and plum. What an incredible way to start off a cigar. The draw on the cigar pumps out mouthful, after mouthful of thick, white smoke which lingers for what seems like forever before dissipating while the cigar lets loose a ton of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of semi-flaky white and light gray ash.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Curivari Achilles Mirmidones and the flavors are still blazing, leading with the maple, musk, and spice backed by sweetness, espresso, cocoa, and now a nice little floral flavor has ventured into the profile. The retrohale leaves behind a lot of pepper that I don’t really pick up in the smoking experience anymore as well as a good amount of spice and more maple. I am really glad I chose the pairing I did for this cigar as the maple flavors have been dominant in both the cigar and the beer. I close out the second third with nothin in terms of nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Curivari Achilles Mirmidones and this cigar is still pumping out the flavor. It leads now with Maple, cocoa, and spice backed by musk, sweetness, a bit of a tart, and more of that floral mixture. I love the flavor profile in this thing. The burn line has been flawless through the two hours it took me to take this cigar down to the nub. I never once had to reach for my torch to touch up, or relight the cigar. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat in the final inch and I took this cigar down until my fingers were burning.

Overview:

Curivari continues to impress me and the Curivari Achilles Mirmidones is probably top of my list in terms of their portfolio. I’ve smoked quite a few of these, but never fully gotten around to reviewing them. The flavor profile is incredible, bold, and extremely complex while the construction and experience were flawless. The price? Exactly what you’d think you’d pay for a cigar like this, even a bit lower. This is a cigar that can easily find it’s way into an everyday rotation for me and is box worthy for sure. I think seasoned cigar smokers who enjoy bold, full-bodied cigars will love this, as it might be a bit overwhelming for those new to cigar smoking.

Pairing:

Brewed in Pacentia, California the Bruery The Grade is a 7.6% ABV Baltic porter brewed with maple syrup and fenugreek. From the first time I smoked this cigar and tasted the maple in it I knew I wanted to pair it with this beer, let’s see how it matched up. The Grade leads with a whole mess of sweet maple syrup, roasted malt, cocoa, and espresso with a surprisingly light mouthfeel before finishing crisp with more maple syrup, black licorice, roasted malt, and a real light floral flavor. I don’t think I need to confirm it, but I will, this was a pairing made in heaven. The maple syrup, cocoa, malt, and floral flavors married up flawlessly to those flavors in the Curivari Achilles Mirmidones. Both the cigar, and the beer were very full bodied so neither one overpowered each other.

The post Curivari Achilles Mirmidones appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

-Tony

Back in January, Jeremy took a look at the Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet, an Ecuadorian wrapped stick made for Famous Smoke Shop, and gave it a positive review.  You can find his review here.  Recently, I was sent a handful of the Capulet’s brother, the House of Montague, which comes draped in a Brazilian Arapiraca “dark natural” leaf.  This blend is not simply a different wrapper around the same innards, however; it is an entirely different blend.

The House of Montague comes in six sizes:

Corona Gorda – 6 x46
Robusto – 5 x 54
Toro – 6 x 52
Churchill – 7 x 50
Magnum – 6 x 60
75^th Anniversary – 6 ½ x 54

Prices for singles run from $5.39 for the Robusto to $6.17 for the Magnum, with 5-pack and box prices bringing down the cost considerably.

Thanks to Cory Grover at Famous Smoke Shop for reaching out to me and providing these to me for review.

The Basics:

Samples provided by Famous Smoke Shop
Wrapper:  Brazilian Arapiraca dark natural
Binder:  Dominican Republic
Filler:  Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil
Size:  Robusto 5 x 54
Price:  Single $5.39; 5-pack $20.99; box of 20 $82.99
Smoking time:  One hour, fifteen minutes
Pairing:  Real Ale 19^th Anniversary XIX Baltic Porter (ABV 7.7%)

Pre-light:

Not surprisingly, the presentation is similar to what the House of Capulet delivers, but the band colors are reversed and the vellum sleeve reads “House of Montague” instead of “House of Capulet”.  As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of hiding the wrapper from the view of prospective buyers, but it is a nice look, nonetheless.  Sliding off the band and sleeve as one (not the easiest of tasks), I can now see that the dark ruddy brown wrapper is mottled with even darker, nearly black areas, has a couple of small to medium size veins, a stretch mark or two, and is very firm with a few softer spots in the middle of its length.  The scent off of the wrapper is a pungent, slightly sour barnyard, while the foot is redolent of rich earthy tobacco and wood.  The cold draw produces faint sweet spice on top of natural tobacco and some saltiness.

First third:

The Romeo y Julieta House of Montague opens with rich tobacco surrounded by oak, earth, and musk.  The smooth retrohale features nice musty tobacco and sweet woodiness with no peppery bite.  Each draw is producing a good volume of smoke and the burn, which started out a bit thick and wavy, is thinning out, leaving behind a solid, nearly white ash.  While the body of the cigar is on the mild side, the flavors are nicely balanced, with some saltiness coming on at the tail end.  The ash taps off in a solid chunk at 1 ½”, with the body now approaching medium.

Middle third:

A bright, nearly citrus note has moved in along with some coffee and cracker-like flavors.  The burn has by now completely evened itself out and is humming along nicely.  There is an increase in sweetness and a tiny bit of char has crept in, but doesn’t hang around for long.  The ash once again taps off at another 1 ½”, and the House of Montague concludes its center section at a solid medium body with not nicotine hit.

Final third:

As the Montague moves into its stretch run, the flavors have intensified, and some pepper has now entered the picture.  Other than a faint sweet nuttiness, no new flavors have come into play, but that’s okay by me, as the balance of those that are there have been pleasant and enjoyable.  The House of Montague smokes cool and very firm down to the nub, ending just past the medium mark in body with no nicotine punch, and not a hint of harshness.

Overview:

Romeo y Julieta is not a brand that I go after very much, since their core lines leave a bit to be desired to my taste, but as with many of the exclusive lines from Famous Smoke Shop that I have tried, I was impressed with the performance of the Romeo y Julieta House of Montague.  Construction and burn were great, and while not the most complex smoke out there, the flavors were enjoyable and presented themselves in a well balanced package.  I can easily see myself getting more of these to smoke on a regular basis, especially at the more than affordable prices they are going for, and recommend that mild to medium smokers give the House of Montague a shot.

Pairing:

Over the past couple of years, Tony and I have been trading beers, and I have been enjoying the brews from Real Ales of Blanco, Texas that he has sent me.  I have not had this particular beer before this, but the flavors of the Romeo y Julieta House of Montague suggested that the Real Ale Nineteenth Anniversary (XIX) Baltic Porter would be an ideal match-up.  After popping open the XIX, I found it to have a medium-bodied mouth feel, with dark dried fruitiness and some chocolate, with a tangy finish, all of which went very well indeed with the RyJ House of Montague.  This cigar would go well with a variety of beverages, including a strong ale or Scotch ale, a fruity and earthy Syrah wine, bourbon or rum, or a good cup of coffee.

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