Jeremy Hensley is a bean counter for a non-profit in El Paso, Texas.  He is married to the most understanding  wife (he still can’t figure out how she puts up with his cigar smoking hobby), and blessed with two beautiful children.   When he is not acting like a kid,  he enjoys everything outdoors, especially fishing with his dad in the Great Lakes. Also, he meets the criteria of being a Casa Fumando reviewer: being a hockey fan.  Feel free to contact Jeremy anytime via email (jmhensley13[at]gmail[dot]com). And make sure to follow him on twitter @pdn_jdog

And now… Onto his review of the 1502 Black Gold!

After a few days of smoking in cold weather, I now have a much deeper respect for Daniel T. and the suffering he goes through to get reviews up during the chilly Canadian winters….Kudos.  Following up with last week’s review of the 1502 Ruby, I will be smoking the 1502 Black Gold.  For a little background on the 1502 brand you can see my review of the 1502 Ruby here or visit http://globalpremiumcigars.com.  This is what Global Premium Cigars’ website has to say about the 1502 Black Gold: 

“If you like strong cigars, you’ll definitely love this one. This particular cigar is made to satisfy the discerning smoker who enjoys bold and strong flavors. It has a double binder and long filler from Nicaragua. With its natural Maduro sun-grown tobacco wrapper, nurtured with all the natural elements where it gets its flavor, especially its strength and character.”

The Facts
Price: Samples Provided by Emilio Cigars
Format: Box Pressed Torpedo
Size: 6 ½ by 52
Wrapper: Country Unknown (Maduro Sun-Grown)
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Pairing: Water
Smoke Time: 1 hour 27 minutes

* The 1502 Ruby reviewed last week was the torpedo measuring in at 6 ½ by 52, not the 6 by 50 (which is the toro) stated in the review.  My sincerest apologies.

Pre-light

The band on the Black Gold is identical to the Ruby other than the band being primarily black and, of course, containing the words “Black Gold” instead of “Ruby”.  As I remove the cellophane, I am greeted with a very acidic, pungent smell off the wrapper much like vinegar.   Laying behind the scenes are common maduro aromas of barnyard, black pepper, and a chocolatey sweetness. The wrapper is very dark, almost oscuro.  Not only do the oils on the wrapper come to life in the light, they are easily noticed on the touch.  Two prominent veins run down the entire side of the cigar and the wrapper seam is easily noticed.

To the touch, the cigar feels firmly packed, giving just slightly.  Like the 1502 Ruby, the wrapper hangs over the foot of the cigar.  Enrique Sanchez, owner of 1502 Cigars, informed me that they named this style of foot “The Cigar Lock”.  Stay on the lookout for a video explaining why and how it is made.  The foot highlights black tea with a touch of sweetness.  The cold draw brings out rich tobacco notes with a nice spice on the tongue.  Between the cold draw and the aromas off the wrapper,  I am really excited to give this bad boy a try.

First Third

The maduro richness is coming right through with notes of molasses, cocoa, pepper, yeast, and spice that rolls across the entire palette.  Going back to the vinegar off the wrapper, the spice is much like a pickled jalapeno.  Very enjoyable.  As I pass the smoke through my nasal passage, the pepper and woodsy notes are highlighted. However, the spice is a little much for me on the retrohale.  Each 1502 cigar I have smoked has had an almost perfect, if not perfect, draw and this cigar is no different.  The ash held strong for just over an inch before dropping in  the ashtray (that is extremely rare).    As the cigar burns, you can easily see how thick the wrapper is on the 1502 Black Gold, which is perfect for this winter like weather we have been experiencing in the 915.  As I conclude the first third, the flavors and strength are both on the high side of medium.

Middle Third

The flavors really begin to mesh and balance out as I enter into the second third.  My wife gifted me a french press coffee maker a few years back that I am absolutely in love with, and the profile is much like a french pressed Columbian roast.  Dark coffee notes balanced with a chocolate sweetness.  The smoke coats my mouth, leaving an oily texture across my palette.  Flavors have been jumping back in forth from the coffee and sweetness to the pepper and spice hit.  Coming to the end of this third, I have come across a black tea flavor that is very refreshing.  Smoke is creamy and full-bodied providing a depth of flavors.  The burn has stayed wavy up to this point requiring a few  touchups.

Final Third

I made a mighty entrance into the final third by dropping the ash on my lap. Did I mention how extremely rare it is for me to make it into the ashtray?  The filler tobacco is burning much quicker than the wrapper leaf.  The thickness of the sun-grown maduro wrapper leaf could be the contributing factor to this.  I am picking up toasty, bread-like notes.  Also, a flavor I picked up in the middle third, but was unable to identify, has come to the front.  Very car oil like.  The chocolate and spice are hanging in the background with a dusty chocolate on the finish. The cigar has shifted to the next level. The savoriness and richness of the Black Gold is intense. I am loving the oily texture the smoke is leaving in my mouth.  As I put this cigar to a close, I am feeling a nicotine buzz but it is not overwhelming.  The hearty dinner I ate (rib eye and mashed potatoes) has offset the nicotine I would normally be feeling at this point.  The burn line has corrected itself, leaving me with an ash just over an inch and half.

Wrap-up

First off, I want to give a big “Thank You” to Gary Griffith for providing the 1502 samples.  1502 Cigars really has something going for themselves with this stick.   The flavor profile and strength of this cigar was right up my alley.  The sweetness that pulled through made this cigar an excellent dessert right after a great dinner.  The 1502 Black Gold is a rich, savory smoke that I could see myself revisiting often.   The only issue I see is trying to find this cigar in the El Paso area. But hey, you never know.

The post The Casas Fumando Family Grows! (+ 1502 Black Gold Review) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Prelight: Woah, now this is a dark cigar. In the picture above  it’s even hard to make out where the cigar ends and my black dining room table begins. The wrapper of this cigar is one of the darkest I have ever seen, black and a very dark brown with an almost perfectly consistent color minus the extra darkness around the foot. The wrapper is very old and rustic looking, tooth, and full of thick veins. Hopefully they won’t be any burden as I smoke through this cigar. The wrapper shines like duct tape, reflecting tons of sunlight off the beaten body before leading up do the seamless round double cap. I may be wrong but this cigar really looks like it has had some better days. Well aged maybe? At this point only Brooks knows.

Outside of the cigars visual characteristics Cigar #7’s wrapper pumps out a very rich cedar and an almost sandalwood type aroma. It smells a lot like incense. The foot of the cigar only gives off a very slight leather and muddy type smell. The cigar cut easy and clean using my double bladed Palio cutter, although the wrapper seemed really thick. The cold draw on this cigar is rather interesting. It tastes much like I am eating a gingerbread cookie. Sweet sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of coffee. The draw is a bit tight though but hopefully that opens up as I smoke the cigar.

First Smoke: This cigar was crazy easy to light using only my single flame butane torch. The first surprise was the pepper. I really didn’t pull any signs of pepper form the scent of the cigar, nor from the cold draw, but this cigar threw out a little fit of pepper shortly after lighting up. After the pepper, the cigar gets rolling with nice cedar and strong espresso flavors. There is a bit of that brown sugar I mentioned in there but at this point the strong coffee flavors are dominating the experience. The draw is a little tight, but a whole lot easier than I was expecting. It only takes a view puffs to get a good thick draw from this cigar. The stationary smoke is crazy, giving off massive trails of smoke the entire time this cigar sits in my ashtray.  The burnline on this cigar is crazy and really has a mind of its own burning way deep on one side of the cigar while the other side struggles to keep up.  The ash is interesting too. It starts off very dark grey but then turns into this flaky mess of white and light grey ash with dark spots around the edges. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: I don’t know how it did it, but this cigar has almost completely self-corrected the train-wreck of a burnline into the second third. The main flavor is still the bold espresso, now with a ton of dark chocolate, and only a slight bit of cedar mixed in. The retrohale on this cigar quickly reveals there is still a ton of pepper and spice waiting to take part in this cigar’s experience. Outside of that, the more I smoke this cigar, the more the body builds. Another side note is this is a very dry cigar. What I mean by that is no matter how much water I drink I am still left with this sore dryness left in the back of my throat. Maybe it’s just the dry desert heat, or maybe it is in fact the cigar. Whatever the case may be I felt it was worth mentioning.

Finish: As quickly as the chocolate came, it faded. I am not left with a rich espresso flavor with the cedar, spice, and even the pepper creeping back into the picture. This cigar does have it’s share of change-ups. Maybe it’s just me, but the body of this cigar is ridiculous. It just keeps building and building in attempt to completely blow me off my feet by the end of the cigar. It really packs a punch. Sadly, with only an inch remaining in this cigar some blatant harshness began to find it’s way into the experience. All in all, this cigar took a little over an hour to take down.

Overview: Although this being a very interesting experience, cigar #7 didn’t go without flaw. The harshness, burn, flaky ash, and flavors didn’t wow me as much as I wish they would. My main complaint about the flavors were the pepper and espresso really dampened the nice cedar flavor that was dying to show through. I think if the cedar had more room to grow it would have resulted in a much more tasty, and smoother smoke. I did like the cigar’s ability to rapidly change up, and the full body that just continued to build and build. This isn’t a cigar I would go chasing after, but I wouldn’t mind having a few lying around for those days that I want to reach for something stronger.

So what did I think it was? I’d really have to coin this cigar as a La Flor Dominicana. The flavors matched, as well as the pepper, spice and body. But I am not completely sold on this being a Nicaraguan Puro cigar. The wrapper kicked out tons of flavors but the backing flavors weren’t as bold and straight forward as I come to expect from Nicaraguan tobacco. My second guess would have to be a CAO Maduro. I have had a few very well aged CAO Maduro’s lately, and despite them normally being flat experiences, age does them very well.

And the reveal! This cigar was a Padilla La Terraza Maduro! Yeah I wasn’t expecting that.

Padilla’s La Terraza line is the newest value line released earlier this year. The cigar is a Nicaraguan puro and each of these cigars run about $4.50 for a single, or roughly $80 for a box of twenty. With that in mind, does it change my thoughts on the cigar any? Not entirely. But what it does do is it take this cigar into a totally different spectrum. I was honestly expecting at least an $8 stick. That alone tells you that this is a hell of a cigar for the money! Now that I know the price I really do think this is a cigar I’d like to keep around. It’s the perfect “high volume” everyday cigar. It fits right up there with CAO Traviata, or even the Henry Clay that Brooks threw my way during our last set of blind reviews. Boxworthy? Totally.

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