The Good Stuff:

The La Mission Du L’Atelier made it’s debut just a month ago at the annual IPCPR trade show. The name “La Mission” comes from a French winery called Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion which is located in the Pessac-Leognan region just southeast of Bordeaux. This winery is known for offering bold, full bodied wines as the cigar is one of the more full-bodied offerings by L’Atelier. The La Mission Du L’Atelier features a Mexican San Andreas wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan Filler. As with all L’Atlier blends, La Mission contains Sancti Spiritus tobacco.

The La Mission Du L’Atelier comes in 3 sizes, the 1959 (4 3/4 x 52), the 1989 (5 5/8 x 54) and the 2009 (6 1/2 x 56). The cigars come packaged in boxes of 18 and run between $8 and $10 a stick. There are also line expansions already planned for future formats. The naming structure of the formats represents each year the winery received a 100 point rating by Robert Parker who offers the “Parker Points” scale of wine ratings. That being said, the future expansion vitolas will be carry the names 1955, 1982, 2000, and 2005. I picked up a handful of these over from out good friends at Smoke Inn.

Size: 4 3/4 x 52
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8
Pairing: Deschutes Not the Stoic (Belgian style Quad 12.1% ABV)

Prelight:

The La Mission Du L’Atelier features a stunningly dark, and consistent brown wrapper. The wrapper is so dark it almost looks black against hard light. There isn’t much color variation but I do see some slightly lighter areas around the smaller veins that run through the cigar’s body. The wrapper is a bit dry with some soft tooth leading up to a stubby, triple wrapped, pigtail cap. The La Mission Du L’Atelier is generously packed as the soft-box-pressed cigar has very little give when I squeeze it between my fingers. The wrapper feels very hard, and thick. The cigar is polished off with a very large decorative manilla, red, black, and gold embossed band which features a large red “M” wit the words “La Mission” and “L’Atelier” surrounding it in black.

The La Mission Du L’Atelier’s wrapper is extremely pungent kicking out some really strong molasses, spice, and oak aromas while the foot of the cigar is a bit more tame leading with spice and other natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut clean and easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a ton of spice, pepper, oak, and very bold tobacco.

First Third:

Right oft the bat the La Mission Du L’Atelier leads with a ton of black pepper. After a the first few draws the pepper begins to subside a bit while the cigar showcases some great bold oak and strong tobacco flavors backed by some dark chocolate, spice, black cherry, and molasses. The draw is absolutely perfect. Each little puff kicks out a ton of thick, white smoke while the cigar gives off only a slight amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor sharp with some slight waves, but nothing concerning as it leaves behind a trail of brilliant white ash which held on for a bit over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The La Mission Du L’Atelier is still rocking with lots of oak, black cherry, spice, molasses and some slight chocolate while the pepper has now faded out. This cigar is created to celebrate a winery, and I can’t help but think about how well this thing would pair with a bold wine. Good work. The retrohale is real sharp with lots of spice, pepper, and oak. I don’t find myself doing that too often. The burliness is still slightly wavy but I haven’t had to touch it up or relight at all so I’m not complaining. I close out the second third with only a slight nicotine kick.

Finish:

The flavors have remained both bold, and solid with a slight ramp up in body into the final third of the La Mission Du L’Atelier. The bold oak and spice are leading the way backed by the molasses, dark chocolate, and some interesting pine. I’ve really enjoyed how bold this cigar has been. It took me about an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experienced absolutely no harshness or extra heat. The La Mission Du L’Atelier did leave a slight nicotine kick, but never once overpowered the cigar smoking experience.

Overview:

L’Atelier has made some great blends in the past, but they have outdone themselves with the La Mission which has quickly become my favorite release by them to date. The cigar is bold, complex, and just all around enjoyable at a damn good price. L’Atelier has become increasingly easier to track down as well. This is a perfect cigar for a novice looking for a perfect bold, premium cigar that won’t break the bank, and the seasoned cigar smoker who enjoys more full-bodied cigars, especially those who tend to pair their cigars with wine.

Pairing:

Not the Stoic is a Belgian style Quad brewed by Deschutes in Bend, Oregon. This 12.1% ABV beer is brewed with pomegranate molasses and aged 11 months in 15% Pinot Noir and 15% Rye Whiskey Barrels .The Not the Stoic leads with a ton of cherry, spice, malt, and caramel with a very light mouthfeel before finishing with even more spice, fruit, cherry, molasses and some slight booziness. It’s really not as boozy I expected and probably the closest thing to a wine in terms of a beer. It almost reminds me of a light dessert wine like a ruby port. Like a port, this beer gets so much better as it warms.This cigar would pair perfect with any bold, red wine. I personally can’t wait to pair this with a big port. Mission accomplished. Pun intended.

The post La Mission Du L’Atelier appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: Unlike the original Cu-Avana Intenso which was originally created by the master blender Manuel Quesada, The Punisher is actually re-blended, and hyped up by another familiar face, Nestor Plasencia. It wasn’t that Quesada did a bad job, in fact the blend was widely popular. Some people were just craving a stronger, more robust cigar hence the re-blend.  These cigars come only in torpedo-tubo format. You can buy them in boxes of 13 for about $100 or about $14 a single.

Size: 6-52  –  Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero

Prelight: The Cu-Avana Intenso Punisher is a deadly looking cigar, from the branding down to the actually cigar itself. The cigar looks as if it has had better days. The wrapper is this crazy looking, extremely dark, baker’s chocolate brown color with a few lighter areas that seem to line the 2 or 3 larger veins the run the length of the cigar. The wrapper itself is tough as hell adding the cigars weight and firmness. This thing feels like it’s made from cement. The cap of the cigar is this strange torpedo cap. I call it strange cause it is actually tilted a bit on top (probably not on purpose) which makes it look kid of like the top of a garden gnome’s hat. The Punisher comes loaded in an all black metal tubo with simply the word “PVNISHER” painted on it. The first band on this cigar bears the same branding only with an extra “-MMXI-” added to it. The secondary foot band is identical to the gold, black, white and red foot band that you find on the standard Cu-Avana Intensos.

The wrapper gives off an almost motor oil aroma mixed in with some crazy harsh tobacco. I can already tell that I’m in for a doozy. The foot of the cigar is insanely peppery and because of that it’s pretty hard to pick anything else out of there. The cap cut clean using my double bladed Palio cutter. Before even trying to pull a cold draw off this cigar, I put it to my lips and tongue to moisten the cap. Holy hell!!! It was like sucking on a habanero. Seriously. It made my tongue burn for about 2 minutes and even made me second guess my beer selection swapping it with milk instead. Braving the pepper I went in for the cold draw. It was nearly as peppery and spicy as I was expecting, instead I was greeting with a nice, even draw filled with nice cedar, tobacco, and only a hint of spice.

First Smoke: The foot band on this Cu-Avana Intenso Punisher slid off with ease. Lighting up the cigar was a cake walk as well. As soon as the cigar hit my lips again they almost burned off from the immense amount of  pepper this thing packs. One interesting note is, the pepper isn’t necessarily coming form the filler or binder, its transferring from the wrapped cap straight to my lips. It’s like they coat the cap with jalapeno or something. Not very nice. Outside of the pepper I am picking up some nice spice, dark chocolate, earthy flavors and even some cinnamon. I just really wish the pepper wasn’t overpowering the hell out of the rest of the flavors as they are actually pretty enjoyable. The draw on this pepper machine is awesome kicking out huge clouds of thick white smoke with every puff. The Punisher also gives off a good amount of tobacco/cedar scented stationary smoke. The burnline is razor sharp and dead even leaving behind a beautifully compacted trail of white and light grey ash.

Halfway There: Halfway through this Cu-Avana Intenso Punisher and my lips are screaming for mercy. The pepper in this beast just will not give in. I live literally a stone throw from Mexico and this cigar beats the hell out of some of the spiciest of foods I’ve tasted. No joke. The main flavor is of course that pepper, although the underlying flavors are finally starting to show their colors with a very nice cedar, spice, cinnamon and chocolate. The retrohale on this cigar is awesome too boasting almost pure bittersweet chocolate which proves once again that the cap on this cigar is the pepper culprit. In the nicotine category, surprisingly, I’m not feeling anything at all at this point. I may just still be in shock by all the pepper setting my lips on fire to notice though.

Finish: At this point I am very pleased to say that the pepper has really subdued and I am left with the original flavor profile intended for this cigar. First of all, there is a TON of sweetness in this cigar that I wasn’t able to pick up until now. Sucks too cause it is very tasty! Matched with that is a whole ton of cedar, some strong tobacco, cinnamon, and even some clove. Needless to say what lies under the pepper is actually an amazing flavor combination. I am only feeling a slight nicotine kick, if any at all. I can’t tell if it was the beer or the cigar, but I really anticipated having trouble standing once this experience was done. That just wasn’t the case. It took me about an hour and a half to smoke this bad boy down to the nub with no harshness, and actually a very smooth experience within the final inch.

Overview: I really can’t wait till the next time I eat some spicy chili and get to say “I’ve smoked cigars spicier than this!”. Maybe they named it the “Punisher” cause you give it to your friends to punish them for being jerks (Thanks, Lupe). But in all seriousness, the Cu-Avana Intenso Punisher is no freaken joke, and not for the faint of heart. I really, truly think all the pepper ruined the experience for me. I like bolder cigars, but when you just tack on a bunch of crap to make you cigar feel bold it’s a total turn off. Especially considering just how wonderful the flavors hidden underneath all the pepper are. If you are considering buying one of these cigars, I would urge you to pass and consider the standard Cu-Avana Intenso while saving yourself some coin, unless you are looking for a crazy pepper and overall unique experience. I strongly urge any novice smoker to stay as far away from this cigar as you can. Unless you eat jalapenos on a regular basis.

One interesting note is on Cigar.com they actually state the following:  “Don’t expect sweetness from this powerhouse and we highly recommend you enjoy this one on a full stomach.” Although I agree with the full stomach portion, I highly disagree with the lack of sweetness. In the final third the cigar was full of sweet tobacco, and it wasn’t just a hint, there was a ton. Just something I found interesting.

 Interesting tidbit #2: It looks like my detective skills were spot-on when I stated that the pepper might actually be a pepper or chili coating. Our friends over at Cigar Inspector actually confirmed it.

Pairing: No surprise here pairing yet another cigar with a fine Belgian brew. Delirium Noel, part of the Delirium series (Delirium Tremmens and Delirium Nocturne) from the Brouwerij Huyghe in Belgium, is a 10% ABV winter seasonal Belgian dark strong ale and one of my favorite holiday treats. I will stalk my local spirit stores until I find these on the shelves every year as they fly right off the shelves. The beer pour a nice amber and copper red with some thick head. The taste profile pumps out some very nice citrus, zest, and almost vegetable flavors before finishing off with a smooth malty aftertaste. This beer REALLY helped tone down the Punisher. I wouldn’t recommend anything too strong with this cigar as the cigar is already strong enough, but something with some really nice balancing flavors. A Trippel, while very light, would pair great with this cigar. Hell even some heavily creamed coffee and dare I say milk?!

The post Cu-Avana Intenso Punisher – PVNISHER appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.