The Good Stuff:

The 10th anniversary cigar was released by Tatuaje in 2013 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the company. Fast forward 10 years later and Pete Johnson, founder of Tatuaje, released the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Tuxtla which featured the same blend with a wrapper change. This year, The company released the 10th Anniversary Capa Especial with the same idea. The blend remains the same however the new release features Tatuaje’s famous Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper. Produced at the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua, the blend features the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The cigar is released in only two sizes: Belle Encre (5 3/4 x 48) and the Bon Chasseur (5 3/8 x 52). Each size comes boxed in packages of 20 running $12 per cigar. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Cuenca Cigars.

• Size: 5 3/4 x 48
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $12
• Pairing: The Bruery Adios Matres (Imperial Stout 17.1% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial starts out with a rustic looking medium brown wrapper with splotches of darker brown and rich reddish hues scattered throughout. The wrapper’s texture is semi-toothy with a whole mess of oils coating it. The wrapper feels decently dense and the cigar is firm to a touch everywhere except the very tip of the foot. There are a few smaller veins running through the cigar’s body as the cigar’s tapered foot runs up through its slowly tapered cap. The cigar is finished off with a rounded, double-wrapped cap. The cigar includes the standard brown/gold tautly anniversary band as well as the added white and gold “Capa Especial” band that Pete has been including on his blends.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje 10th Annivarsary gives off bold plum and earthy aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a bit more spice over natural tobacco scents. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of pecan and raisin over mostly natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial starts out with a tiny black pepper punch which immediately fades after the first few draws allowing the cigar to release bold notes of dark chocolate, musk, and pecan over lighter notes of raisin, oak, and a nice grainy/earthiness. The draw is extremely tight. This happens often with perfecto formats and I hope it just opens up as the cigar burns along. I’ll be keeping my eye on it. The burn line is slightly wavy which is also expected, but razor thin leaving behind a trail of very compacted white gray ash which held on for an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial and I am happy to report that the draw is finally beginning to open up a bit allowing more flavor to flow through the cigar with each puff. The chocolate and pecan still lead the charge backed by musk and oak with lighter notes of raisin and earthiness. While the flavor profile remains mostly the same, there is this amazing spice that started to creep in and add that extra “umpth” to the profile. The retrohale really brings the spice out so I find myself doing it often. I close out the second third with only a light bit of nicotine.

Finish:

Again, not a big flavor change here in the final third of the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial, and I am happy for that. While the flavor profile has remained mostly the same from start to finish, it’s a very enjoyable profile and I don’t mind the consistency one bit. The cigar is still leading with dark chocolate and pecan over oak and musk with lighter notes of earthiness and spice. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub. Even though I did have to put extra effort into the draw at the start, I never experienced any harshness, sap, or extended heat along the way. I close out the cigar with only a minor nicotine kick.

Overview:

I really enjoyed the flavor profile in the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial. There is just something… well.. special about that Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper Pete uses. The flavors were not only enjoyable, but complex without being overpowering. After the draw opened up the cigar really started to shine. I smoked 3 total and all three were tight at the start so it’s by design and almost expected with perfecto formats. While these are very limited I do plan to keep a couple on hand for the times I am craving a cigar with an excellent flavor profile and delicate complexity.

Pairing:

Adios Martes is a 17.1% Imperial stout aged in Sherry casks for over 3 years. The sherry profile is very evident as the beer leads with loads of plum, cherry, sweet grape, and cocoa over a very stick and sweet mouthfeel before finishing with more fruit, cocoa and a dash of oak and malt. This is an incredible beer and really rides the line between a stout and a wine very nicely. The pairing with the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial was divine. The beer added extra complexity to the cigar experience with loads of sweet fruit flavors while the cigar added a great muskyness to the beer.

The post Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Capa Especial Belle Encre appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

El Fulao is one of the new kids in town. Based in the Dominican Republic, they recently debuted their first blend, the Malverde. Malverde was an old folklore hero similar to Robin Hood who was often called “generous bandit”, “angel of the poor”, or the “narco-saint”. The blend itself is composed of Dominican fillers in a Sumatran binder and Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper. The cigar is offered in three sizes: Robusto: (5 x 50), Boxpress (6 x 50), and Torpedo (size not mentioned). Each size comes package in boxes of 20 running between $12.99 and $16.99 per cigar. Big thanks to the El Fulao team for sending a few of these our ways to review. You can find more information about the company here.

• Size: 6 x 50
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro
• Binder: Sumatran
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $16.99
• Pairing: Side Project Pulling Nails Batch #10 (Sour Quad 13% ABV)

Prelight:

El Fulao’s Malverde starts out with an extremely consistent and extremely dark brown wrapper. There were only a few darker areas around the foot of the cigar. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy and gritty with a ton of oils coating it. The wrapper feels very thick and hard while the cigar as a whole is nicely packed. There are a few minor veins leading through the cigar’s soft box pressed body leading up to the cigar’s double wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with a gold embossed band with an image of Malverde on the front and the El Fulao crest.

The cap cut clean and easily using my xikar XO double bladed cutter. The wrapper gives off strong coffee and earth aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more grainy and earthy. The cold draw carries a ton of pepper and spice over dark chocolate and earthiness.

First Third:

The El Fulao Malverde starts out with a very quick black pepper pop which faded very quickly leaving behind bold notes of leather, coffee and vanilla over earthiness and musk. The draw on this cigar is absolutely perfect as each puff kicks out massive clouds of thick, white smoke while the cigar releases a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. the burnline is on the ticker side, but is burning even and smoothly with no issues leaving behind a trail of slightly compacted, white ash which held on for about 3/4 of a inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The body has started to ramp up in the second third of the El Fulao Malverde as it leads with vanilla, coffee, and dark chocolate over some great light red wine notes, earthiness, and musk. The retrohale brings out a bit of the spice I picked up on the cold draw. The burning started running a bit wild in the second third, however by the end of the second third it had corrected itself and is now burning perfectly. I close out with only a minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the El Fulao Malverde and the dark chocolate has really taken over the profile backed by coffee, musk, and earthiness. The cigar took me almost 2 hours to smoke down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, no sap, and no extended heat while the cigar did not leave me with much of a nicotine kick at all.

Overview:

The El Fulao Malverde was solid. There wasn’t a ton of complexity, nor did anything really stand out in terms of flavor, but it didn’t need to. The cigar offers a consistent and enjoyable profile while the construction was perfect and the cigar performed great from start to finish. My only gripe here would be cost, however with small boutique blends such as this I believe it’s priced right in the middle of where other comparable releases from other companies are.

Pairing:

Side Project’s Pulling Nails batch #10 is a mead-inspired sour quad aged in bourbon and red wine barrels with Raspberry, Cherry, and Black Currant. The beer leads with strong cherry and tart black current with huge notes of red wine, chocolate, and just the right amount of acidity. The mouthfeel is thin and fizzy while the beer finishes with heavy berry and black currant with just a hint of bourbon. I really enjoyed the way this beer paired with the El Fulao Malverde. The cigar kept telling me that berry would bring it up to the next level and the pairing did just that.

The post El Fulao Malverde Maduro appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Scandinavian Tobacco Group has teamed up with Sazerac Co. to bring forth yet another cigar that features tobacco aged in bourbon barrels. The Cigars International exclusive “Buffalo Trace Special F” is composed of fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua under a Brazilian Arapiraca binder that has spent 6 months in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels and then finished with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. The cigar is offered in a single 6 x 60 torpedo format and runs $11 per cigar. You can order yours directly from Cigars International.

• Size: 6 x 60
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Brazilian Arapiraca
• Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $11
• Pairing: Buffalo Trace Bourbon (Spec’s Single Barrel Pick)

Prelight:

The Buffalo Trace Special F starts out with a very messy, rustic looking wrapper. That’s not a bad thing, the Ecuadorian Sumatra just does a great job showing off all the characteristics in its tobacco leaf. It’s very dark brown with loads of lighter and darker areas scattered throughout the cigar. On top of that there is a ton of natural webbing and light veins running through the leaf. The wrapper’s texture is very oily and very toothy while the cigar feels a bit spongy to the touch. The torpedo shape on this cigar is quite long as the cigar starts to taper shortly after the foot leading to the sharp cap. The cigar carries matching branding to the Buffalo Trace bottle with a band that features the buffalo image and a secondary band with the Buffalo Trace logo which is laid over a very elegant green ribbon for an awesome added touch.

The wrapper on the Buffalo Trace Special F gives off notes of black cherry and musk while the foot of the cigar is much more spicy with loads of earthy aromas. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw is straight up chocolate with earthy undertones.

First Third:

The Buffalo Trace Special F leads with loads of chocolate, spice, and cardamom over lighter notes of leather, floral, and a nice woodsy mixture. It wasn’t until I was a few draws in that a great cayenne pepper entered the mix only powerful enough to tingle my lips. The draw is phenomenal as each puff kicks out huge clouds of thick gray smoke while the cigar releases a great amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is mostly even and very thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white and lighter gray ash which held on for about an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Buffalo Trace Special F and the spice and woodsy flavors have really picked up along with a blast of floral hints. This makes for an amazing pairing with the leading flavors in the Buffalo Trace bourbon I paired it with. The chocolate, spice, and leather are all still factored into the profile, however they have taken a back seat at this point. The retrohale really brings out the spice in this cigar. I close out the second third with no type of nicotine hit.

Finish:

As I get into the final third of the Buffalo Trace Special F I am impressed with just how much spice is still in the flavor profile. I think it’s important to note for two reasons: 1) The spice matches up identically to the spice in the paired Buffalo Trace bourbon and 2) in my cigar experiences that spice has long been gone by the time you get to the final third. The backing flavors are still very woodsy with lighter notes of chocolate and leather with hints of floral. It took me almost two hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor extended heat although the final third did leave me with a slight nicotine kick.

Overview:

I was a bit pessimistic about another bourbon-themed cigar, but I am happy to report that I truly enjoyed the Buffalo Trace Special F. I am a fan of Buffalo Trace bourbon, especially since it is very easy to obtain at MSRP in these parts. While I am unsure how much of an impacted the barrel-aged tobacco had, the blend itself made for a perfect pairing with the bourbon. I even think that if I smoked this cigar without the bourbon, and instead paired it with water that I would still be able to pick up the complimenting notes in the cigar. The pricing is also very reasonable for the cigar especially given its burn time. I was surprised, and I would definitely find myself going back to this one.

Pairing:

Naturally I decided to pair the Buffalo Trace Special F with a bottle of Buffalo Trace Spec’s Single Barrel pick bourbon. The bourbon leads with tons of spice, wood mixture, and floral flavors over lighter notes of orange, caramel, vanilla, and sweetness. It’s easy to see why the pairing makes so much sense as the flavors found in the bourbon not only marry up with the Buffalo Trace Special F, but compliment the cigar without overpowering it.

The post Buffalo Trace Special F appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Allegiance is one of the newest offerings from the famed cigar producer/blender E.P. Carrillo. For this blend, Carrillo paired up with Oliva Cigars in Nicaraguan to created the Allegiance. The blend features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The E.P. Carrillo Allegiance comes in four sizes: Sidekick (5 x 50), Confidant (6 x 52), Wingman Corona (6 7/8 x 54) and the Chaperone ( 6 1/4 x 58). The cigar comes package in boxes of 20 ranging between $12 and $14 per stick. I picked mine up from our good friends at Cuenca Cigars who still have quite a few options in stock in both singles and boxes.

• Size: 5 x 50
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatran
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $12
• Pairing: Firestone Walker Parabolita (Imperial Stout 9.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The E.P. Carrillo Allegiance starts out with a a deep, dark, milk chocolate brown wrapper that is extremely consistent in color. The wrapper’s texture is toothy and gritty with only a light amount of oils coating it. The wrapper feels very thick and dense while the cigar as a whole it pretty well-packed and heavy. There are some slight veins running their course through the cigar’s soft-box pressed body leading up to the cigar’s round, double wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with an extravagant green, black and gold E.P. Carrillo crest, a secondary green and gold band with the “Allegiance” logo across the front and a nice, dark green ribbon around the foot.

The wrapper on the E.P. Carrillo Allegiance gives off mostly sweet, and spicy aromas while the foot of the cigar carries more musk and earthiness. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces heavy milk chocolate and grain flavors.

First Third:

The E.P. Carrillo Allegiance starts out with a heft, unexpected hit of bold pepper which left my lips screaming through the first few puffs. After the pepper faded loads of milk chocolate and caramel over light spice, musk, and pecan came out of the profile. There is a little bit of leather under there as well. The draw on this cigar is so perfect. Every little puff kicks out a huge cloud of white smoke while the cigar releases only a slight amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. I really love how comfortable the soft-box press is in both my hand and mouth. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white and dark gray ash which held on for about an inch before giving way, seconds before taking this first pic. Ugh.

Second Third:

Into the second third of The E.P. Carrillo Allegiance and the chocolate is dominating the experience. Under the chocolate are notes of caramel, pecan, spice and sweet brown sugar. This is a great tasting cigar. The retrohale brings out more of the chocolate and spice and I actually find myself doing it often as I really like the way the spice pairs with the chocolate. It almost reminds me of a nice cup of Abuela Mexico hot cocoa. I close out the second third with no signs of any nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final third of the E.P. Carrillo Allegiance and the chocolate is still rocking away. Backed by caramel, pecan, spice, and brown sugar with just a touch of creamed coffee. It took me a little over an hour to smoke this down to the nub and I loved it. Such a solid experience. I experienced no harshness nor extended heat. I closed out with zilch in the nicotine department as well.

Overview:

E.P. Carrillo’s Allegiance is a chocolate bomb in the best possible way. I really liked the flavor profile and feel that it its something I could find myself coming back to time and time again. This would be perfect for a novice smoker looking to try a premium cigar, but also for a seasoned smoker that is looking for a cigar that will always deliver. I will be keeping quite a few of these on hand and in my regular rotation.

Pairing:

Firestone Walker’s Parabolita is a 9.2% Imperial stout brewed out of California. The beer is a result of blending two of Firestone Walker’s famous beers together; Parabola and Velvet Merlin before adding Madagascar vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, and sea salt. The beer leads with a nice creamy milk chocolate over a potent raw vanilla, caramel and malt with a light mouthfeel (for a stout) before finishing with more vanilla and just a pinch of salt on the aftertaste. It’s not a complex beer, but the straight-forward flavor profile is very enjoyable. I paired this with the E.P. Carrillo Allegiance as the sweetness, chocolate, and caramel paired wonderfully with the flavors in the cigar.

The post E.P. Carrillo Allegiance appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The limited edition Tatuaje Capa Especial DB is a spinoff of the limited edition Tatuaje tobacco plaza DB. The cigar features the same all Nicaraguan blend except utilizes Tatuaje’s “Capa Especial” or Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper instead of the Connecticut Broadleaf featured on the Tobacco Plaza DB. Created at the My Father factory in Nicaragua, the Capa Especial DB comes in a single 6 x 58 format which comes packaged in boxes of 10 with only 2,000 boxes released. Each stick runs $17 per. I picked mine up over from our friends at Cuenca Cigars who are currently out of stock.

• Size: 6 x 58
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $17
• Pairing: The Answer Apple Brandy Coconut Diablo Bunch (Imperial Stout 13.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB starts out with a rustic-looking wrapper that ranges in color from dark brown to lots of lighter brown splotches scattered throughout. The wrapper itself feels thick and dense while the cigar as a whole feels a bit soft and squishy, yet is very heavy and thick. There are a few smaller veins located throughout the cigar’s meaty body as the wrapper is laid over the foot of the cigar leading up to the cigar’s stubby, tapered cap. The Cigar features the red, white, blue, green, and black “Tatuaje Limited” band as well as the secondary white and gold “Capa Especial” band we’ve come to expect.

The wrapper on the Tatuaje Capa Especial gives off sweet berry and cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar is mostly the same only with a good amount of natural tobacco added. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of sweetness, berry, cedar, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB starts out with a nice blast of cayenne pepper which hit me right on the tongue and lips. After the first few draws the pepper began to fade away allowing the cigar to release notes of bold sweetness, black cherry, black licorice, brown sugar, and cedar over notes of pecan, musk, and spice. The flavor profile kinda reminds me of a Dr. Pepper cigar in the best way possible. The draw is beautiful. Each and every little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, gray smoke which hangs out forever before dissipating while the cigar release a whole ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line started a bit wild which is to be expected with closed-foot cigars, but has completely corrected itself and is now burning clean while leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white and gray ash which held on for 3/4 of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Capa Especial DB and the flavors have started to balance out more while still rocking in the center of full-bodied. The profile leads with black cherry, sweet brown sugar, black licorice and pecan over lighter notes of musk, spice, and cedar. I am totally into the flavor combination. The retrohale brings out more of the spice which honestly I can do without so I don’t find myself doing it too often. There has been some slight sap build up so I clipped a tiny bit off the cap and slowed down my smoking pace which seemed to resolve the issue. I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Ah, the final third of this monster of a cigar. The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB is still pouring on the flavors. While they haven’t changed up too much, I don’t think I’d have it any other way. The profile is still lead by black cherry and sweet brown sugar with a good mixture of cedar and pecan with lighter notes of black licorice. It took me 2 and a half hours to take this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat. After adjusting my pace the sap never returned. Sometimes I feel like I just smoke too fast and as enjoyable as this cigar was, this was one of those times. I close out with a pretty hefty little nicotine kick.

Overview:

I am a huge fan of anything with Tatuaje’s Capa Especial wrapper and I am glad to see that Pete is putting it into use more. The Tatuaje Capa Especial DB is a hell of a cigar and I feel like it was created for my own personal palate. I love the flavors, the boldness, and the complexity not to mention the long burn time which made me happy to pay $17 per cigar on this one. This is a stick that I am glad I have a few more of as it’s not really available anymore and will not be remade. I’ll save these for special occasions or when I am really craving a unique experience I know I’ll love.

Pairing:

Brewed in Richmond, Virginia, the Answer’s Apple Brandy Coconut Diablo Bunch is a 13.5% Imperial stout brewed with Kona coffee, toasted Hazelnut/Macadamia, Vermont maple syrup, Tahitian vanilla, Saigon cinnamon and toasted coconut which is then aged in my favorite barrels, apple brandy. The beer leads with a ton of sweetness, coconut, black cherry, roasted malt, milk chocolate, maple and red apple with an incredibly heavy and sticky mouthfeel before finishing with even more sweetness, brown sugar, coconut, cherry, chocolate, raw vanilla and this awesome artificial banana type flavor. This is a true pastry stout. While I am not too big on coconut in beer I felt that the other flavors were bold enough to balance it out, even as it was one of the bolder flavors in the profile. I decided to pair this particular beer with the Tatuaje Capa Especial DB as the cigar carried so many bold, sweet flavors and had enough body to keep up with the beer without being overpowered. The woodsy/musky flavors from the cigar completed the pairing and created a very pleasant and bold experience.

The post Tatuaje DB Capa Especial appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal was released alongside this year’s World Cup in Qatar. Yes, I am late to the game. But it’s better late than never? Right? Ehtëfal translates to “Celebration” in Arabic although the company does note that this cigar is not a World Cup cigar. Whatever the celebration is, I am excited to see what this cigar has to offer. The blend features an organic sun grown wrapper from the Jalapan region in Nicaragua, and binder / fillers that are aged 10 years from the Plasencia farms in Nicaragua and Honduras. The cigar is offered in a single 6 x 54 toro format which comes packaged in boxes if 10, with only 5,000 boxes produced the cigar runs an astonishing $65 per stick. Let’s see if it can live up to that price tag. We purchased ours over from our friends at Cuenca Cigars who still have both boxes and singles in stock right now.

• Size: 6 x 54
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan / Honduran
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $65
• Pairing: Pinthouse Pizza Autobahn (Imperial Stout 10.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal starts out with an absolutely stunning, medium-brown/orange wrapper which is extremely consistent in color. The wrapper’s texture is very smooth and absolutely covered in thick oils. The wrapper feels normally dense while the cigar is packed very tightly and extremely heavy. The cigar showcases some very mild veining as the body leads up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar features two main bands and a third foot bad all of which are bright green, gold, and the foot band caries a bit of red. The first one carries the Plasencia logo and crest with the words “Edicion Especial Qatar 22” in the front. The small secondary band simply carries multiple Plasencia crests while the foot of band has the word “Ehtëfal” printed in the front.

The wrapper on the Plasencia Ehtëfal gives off a very bold floral arrangement of scents over natural tobacco while the foot of the cigar is much more oak and earth focused in terms of aroma. The cap cut clean and easily with my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces lots of floral and earthy flavors with a soft soapy hint.

First Third:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal starts out with some mild black pepper over notes of floral, musk, oak, walnut, and spice. As I continue to smoke on the cigar becomes much more woodsy-focused with a great berry note that keeps popping in and out. This flavor profile is fantastic right off the bat. The draw is fantastic even with how tightly the cigar is packed. Each puff kicks out massive clouds of thick white smoke which take forever to dissipate while the cigar releases a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of very tightly compacted white ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Plasencia Ehtëfal and a really awesome and bold vanilla flavor has taken really taken hold of the flavor profile backed by bold coffee, floral, musk, and oak over light notes of berry and walnut. This profile is just so good. The retrohale really bring the spice and berry out of the experience. The cigar is burning absolutely brilliant and I close out the second third with only a very minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Everything just kinda comes together for the Plasencia Ehtëfal into the final third. The flavors are more balanced, yet still very complex with bolder notes of walnut, vanilla, coffee, and musk over lighter flavors of oak, berry, and floral. It took me two hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I exrpeinced no hardness nor extended heat. The cigar burned liked a dream from start to finish with no extra attention needed from my torch. I close out the cigar with a normal level of nicotine.

Overview:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal is such a fantastic cigar. The flavor profile is just incredible and offers not only bold, interesting flavors but also so much complexity without making is an overly-cerebral experience. The cigar performed liked a dream from start to finish. This is a great cigar. Is it $65 good? I’m not sure. I don’t know that I’d pay $65 for very many cigars to keep in rotation so take from that wha you will. If you want to try something very premium, very good, and very unique then this is worth a go.

Pairing:

Pinthouse Pizza’s Autobahn is a 10.5% imperial stout aged in Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrels, and infused with Houndstooth/Tweed Foxtrot Coffee, blueberries, maple syrup, and vanilla bean. The beer leads with sweet malt, creamed coffee, honey, toffee, maple, and a very light blueberry with a very, very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with even more toffee and maple, light coffee, and a great vanilla finish with an awesome oak aftertaste. The coffee, berry, vanilla, and oak all paired beautifully with the flavors found in the Plasencia Ehtëfal while the cigar really held it’s own due to it’s bold body again a beer that could easily overpower almost any other cigar. What a wonderful pairing.

The post Plasencia Ehtëfal appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Aganorsa Leaf’s Aniversario Madruo. In fact, they have released it multiple times over the past few years. The new iteration of the cigar is now a full-production release versus the limited runs in the past, and comes in three new box-pressed sizes: The Gran Robusto (5 x 54), Toro (6 1/4 x 52), and the Gran Toro (6 x 58). Each come packaged in boxes of 10 running between $13.50 and $15.50 per cigar. I purchased mine over from our friends at Cuenca cigars. The blend remains the same. Produced at the Agricola Ganadera Nortena S.A. factory the Aniversario Maduro carries a Nicaraguan shade grown Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers.

• Size: 5 x 54
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Shade Grown Maduro
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13.50
• Pairing: Sierra Nevada E.H. Taylor Barrel-Aged Bigfoot (Barleywine 15% ABV)

Prelight:

The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro starts out with an extremely deep, dark, consistent brown wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy with a decent amount of oils. The wrapper itself feels very dense and hard while the cigar as a whole is packed nicely with a few soft spots located around the foot. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself showcasing a few very minor veins leading through the cigar’s soft box-pressed body to its round, double-wrapped cap. A majority of the cigar is covered in an opaque white wrap with silver Aganorsa Leaf markings along with a a huge black and silver band and even a secondary band with some medallions embossed into the font.

The wrapper the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro gives off very little aroma outside of some earthy/natural tobacco scents while the foot of the cigar carries sweet spice and cedar. The cold draw produces notes of cedar, musk, and dark chocolate.

First Third:

The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro starts off with a quick blast of cayenne pepper that quickly fades allowing the flavor profile to transition into bold cedar and musk over dark chocolate, pecan, toffee and spice notes. As I smoke through the first third a dry red wine flavor really starts to become a force in the profile. The draw is perfect. Each puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs around on my patio for a while before dissipating while the cigar just unleashes a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro and the flavors are still popping off. The Musk and cedar still lead with charge over bold dark chocolate, raisin, and berry with lighter notes of red wine, pecan, and toffee. The retrohale pulls out a ton of spice that isn’t as present in the experience into the second third. I close out the second third with a minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro and the dark chocolate has really taken ahold of the flavor profile backed by the musk and cedar over notes of vanilla, raisin, and pecan. The red wine dropped out of the profile, however it did return in force into the final inch to say its goodbyes. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat. I never once had to touchup or relight the cigar and it left me with only a very minor nicotine kick which surprised me due to how fast I smoked, and how flavorful it was.

Overview:

I have always been a huge fan of Aganorsa Leaf. I feel like each time they kick out a cigar I know what to expect, yet they are constantly raising their own bar. The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro is a great example of a beautifully blended, complex cigar that doesn’t kick your ass in strength. The flavors are bold, yet not too much to overload your palate. While it’s leaning on the pricier side, I think this cigar delivers enough of an experience to make it a box-worthy purchase and I am really glad they decided to keep this one around as an ongoing full-production line.

Pairing:

One of the most highly anticipated beer releases this year is Sierra Nevada’s Colonel E.H. Taylor Bourbon Barrel-Aged Bigfoot. Coming in at 15% ABV, Sierra Nevada aged its famous Bigfoot barleywine for 4-6 years in bourbon barrels before finishing it off for an additional year in Buffalo Trace’s Colonel E.H. Taylor bourbon barrels. The extra age in the bourbon barrels really tames the bitterness I normally expect from Bigfoot and replaces it with a bunch of sticky sweetness and a very complex experience. The beer leads with great earthy-hopping flavors that quickly transition into notes of caramel, vanilla, berry, and raisin with a shocking light and fizzy mouthfeel. The beer finishes with more of the raisin, berry and vanilla along with a good amount of woodsy flavors and a hell of an alcohol bite. The earthiness, raisin, berry and vanilla notes married up with the existing flavors in the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro while the cigar really assisted in pulling out some great tobacco flavors from the beer that I didn’t initially pickup. I think that most other Bigfoot offerings would easily overpower most cigars, but this one was made to pair with a great cigar.

The post Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Bewitched was originally released last year to celebrate Owl Shop Tobacconists’ 75th anniversary as a store exclusive before joining the Muestra de Saka lineup earlier this year. While it’s not uncommon to see cigars created as shop exclusives eventually hit the market, the quick turnaround on The Bewitched caught my attention. In a press release Steve Saka, founder of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust stated that not only did the shop’s owner Zach Photakis give his blessing, but actually encouraged Saka to release the cigar as he felt it was too good not to share with other Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust accounts. The cigar is created at the Fabrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A. in Nicaragua the cigar is identical to the original release featuring an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Mexican San Andres Cultivo Tonto negro binder, and fillers from both the United States and Nicaragua. The Bewitched is offered in a single 6 5/8 x 48 box-pressed format. Each cigar comes packaged in single coffin boxes that then come packed in boxes of seven running $19.75 per cigar. This is a normal production line so unlike the original, will not be limited to a set number of boxes being produced. While Steve Sara’s team sent a few of these over in a media pack to review, this particular cigar and the previous ones I smoked for this review were purchased over from our friends at Cuenca Cigars who currently have them in stock for box and single purchases.

• Size: 6 5/8 x 48
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Mexican San Adres Cultivo Tonto Negro
• Filler: United States and Nicaragua
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $19.75
• Pairing: The Bruery Halftime Shuffle (Imperial Stout 9.9% ABV)

Prelight:

The Bewitched starts out with a deep, dark brown wrapper which is mostly consistent in color outside of a few lighter, orange-tinted areas scattered in a few areas. The wrapper’s texture is decently toothy and gritty with a good amount of oils coating it. The wrapper itself feels decently hard and dense with the entire cigar being packed perfectly as it carries no soft spots what so ever. The Bewitched features a nice, soft box-pressed format with a beautifully spiraled pig tail cap. The cigar is polished off with a simple, yet elegant yellow foot ribbon which comes on most of the Muestra de Saka releases, with the words “The Bewitched” printed in black in across the front.

Whoa, the wrapper on this cigar gives off such a unique aroma of fig, floral cologne and leather. The foot of the cigar is much more earthy with notes of musk, natural tobacco, and grain. The awesome wrapper aromas come through on the cold draw producing notes of fig, musk, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Muestra de Saka Bewitched starts out with a mild black pepper burst which fades very quickly allowing the cigar to release notes of deep oak, musk, fig, and tobacco over lighter notes of leather, pecan, and dark chocolate. The cologne/floral flavor that I picked up on the aroma pops its head into the experience every so often. The draw is perfect. Each and every puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs around for a pretty long time before dissipating while the cigar releases a whole mess of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. Note, I really enjoy the comfort in both hand and mouth of the soft box-press format. The burn line is slightly choppy, but not concerning leaving behind a compacted trail of dark gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Muestra de Saka The Bewitched and this cigar is still just rolling with flavor. The bold musk and fig currently lead the charge backed by a good amount of tobacco and honey over lighter notes of pecan and leather. The floral flavor and dark chocolate seem to be exchanging blows as both kinda creep in and out of the flavor profile. The retrohale really brings that floral flavor out and I find myself doing it quite often. I close out the second third with noting in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish:

Wow, the dark chocolate really ramped up into the final third of The Bewitched and now takes over the lead roll backed by pecan, fig and musk over lighter honey, leather, and cedar notes. The complexity and flavor profile on this cigar is both unique and enjoyable. It took me almost 2 hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat, and never once had to reach for my torch to touchup or relight the cigar. It burned great from start to finish. I close out the cigar with only a minor nicotine hit putting in in the medium-full arena when it comes to strength.

Overview:

I think I have smoked most of if not all of the Muestra de Saka releases to date with the exception of the unicorn. I really look forward to these releases as they usually showcase the uniqueness of Saka’s craft. The Bewitched is probably my favorite release in this set so far. The flavor profile is very unique with that amazing fig over great floral / cologne and awesome backing flavors. It smoked perfect from start to finish, and the fact that this is regular production means no hunting. This is box worthy, especially at the 7 count box format and something I’ll keep around when I am craving a break from the norm.

Pairing:

The Bruery’s Halftime Shuffle is a 9.9% bourbon barrel aged imperial stout brewed with milk sugar, peanuts, cocoa power, waffle cone, and vanilla. The beer leads with sweet chocolate, peanut, malt and caramel with a very sticky mouthfeel before finishing even sweeter with more chocolate, peanut, and finally a dash of vanilla. After my very first experience smoking the Bewitched with water, I knew I needed to pair the cigar with something that had enough flavor to keep up with it. The Half Time Shuffle’s bold flavors with a sweet composure married up well with the Bewitched, but even then it quickly became outclassed. This is a perfect example of a cigar that needs absolutely nothing else other than itself. In fact, over the four that I smoked the best pairing was actually a simple, unsweetened black tea.

The post Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Muestra de Saka Bewitched appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Killer Bee line has evolved quite a bit over time. At this year’s PCA show James Brown, owner of Black Label Trading Co./Black Works Studio released the Shaolin, an extensively modified version of the Killer Bee. Created at the Fabrica Oveja Negra in Esteli, Nicaragua the blend features all Nicaraguan fillers, Honduran Habano binder and a mixture of Mexican San Andrés Maduro and Connecticut Shade wrappers with Candela accents. The cigar comes in a single 5 1/2 x 46 belicoso format. The Killer Bee Shaolin comes packaged in boxes of 24 and runs $13.50 a stick with only 950 boxes released. I purchased a few over from Atlantic Cigar and my body JG hooked it up with the one I am reviewing today.

• Size: 5 1/2 x 46
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés, Connecticut Shade, and Candela
• Binder: Honduran Habano
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $13.50
• Pairing: The Bruery Sundae Sunday (Imperial Stout – 17.8% ABV)

Prelight:

The Black Works Studio Killer Beer Shaolin starts out with the crazy looking wrappers we’ve come to expect from the brand. In the case of the Shaolin the tapered belicoso cap stars with a very deep, dark brown tightly spiraled around a lighter consistent orangish-brown leaf which widens out once you past the cap. The barber-pole style spiral continues through the cigar’s body down to the sealed, green, candela wrapper foot. Even with the complexities of the wrapper, it’s constructed perfectly as each leaf is seamless laid over another. There are almost no veins in any of the wrapper leaf. The texture is pretty toothy and gritty in the darker brown areas and silky smooth where the Connecticut shade is laid. The cigar is packed very tightly and is pretty damn heavy. The cigar is polished off with a black and gold band with the Killer Bee crest and artwork.

The wrapper on the Killer Bee Shaolin gives off a lot of sweet honey over some lighter spice notes while the foot of the cigar is mostly the same with a bit of earthiness from the candela. covering. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of honey, earthy grain, and soft spice.

First Third:

The Black Works Studio Killer Beer Shaolin leads with some soft black pepper over rich dark chocolate, honey, and musk with light notes of caramel, black cherry and a nice tartness left on my lips. The draw is absolutely perfect. Each puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs out for a while even in the breeze before dissipating. The burn line is razor thin and mostly even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for about 3/4 of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Black Works Studio Killer Beer Shaolin and the chocolate is just pouring on. Underneath are great tart cherry notes, musk, and honey with lighter notes of caramel, vanilla, spice and earthiness. The retrohale really piles on the spice and considering how sweet the flavors are in the standard smoking experience I don’t find find myself doing it too often. I close out the second third with a minor nicotine kick, but it’s noticeable.

Note: Into the second third a pretty big tunnel opened up. Luckily, this didn’t impact the experience too much and I was able to smoke through it pretty easily. I smoked 3 of these cigars total and it only happened to one. I add this as a note that these things happen since these are handmade items and even then, sometimes you’re able to smoke right through them.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Black Works Studio Killer Bee Shaolin and the flavors are mostly the same, and there are no complaints here. The cigar carries bold notes of dark chocolate, black cherry, and honey over lighter notes of musk, caramel, vanilla and spice. It took me about an hour and a half to smoke the Shaolin down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat. I had to relight the cigar once, which is no big deal, and despite the tunnel it burned great from start to finish.

Overview:

The Black Works Studio Killer Bee Shaolin is easily one of the better cigars I smoked all year. The flavor profile is absolutely beautiful, and matches exactly what I look for in a cigar. The complexity was great. The burn was flawless from start to finish even considering the tunnel that popped up about halfway through. It always surprised me how complex the manufacturing of a lot of Black Label cigars are, and how well put together the final product is. My only gripe, as you can guess, is that these are pretty much sold out absolutely everywhere. Happy Hunting.

Pairing:

The Bruery’s Sundae Sunday features Black Tuesday as a base, aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans and boysenberries. The 17.7% ABV beer leads with loads of tartness, black cherry/berry, dark chocolate, caramel, malt, and a heavy and very noticeable dose of vanilla with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more tart berry, dark chocolate, and vanilla. This is a big beer, that’s scarily easy to drink. The dark chocolate, caramel, and berry married up perfectly with the flavors found in the Black Works Studio Killer Bee Shaolin while the cigar added a nice bit of earthiness to the overall experience.

The post Black Works Studio Killer Bee Shaolin appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Weller by Cohiba is actually the second time the two have collaborated on a cigar. Different from the first version, Weller by Cohiba actually utilizes tobacco that was treated with Weller bourbon. The binder on the cigar was actually aged in Weller 12 barrels that General Cigar Co. transported from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky to the factory in Dominican Republic. This is actually the first time a Cohiba cigar utilized barrel-aged tobacco. The blend features an Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper over a Connecticut Broadleaf binder aged in Weller 12 bourbon barrels and filler tobacco from Dominican Republic, Nicaraguan, and Honduras. The cigar comes in a single 6 x 50 format packed in boxes of 10 running $24.99 a stick. I purchased mine over from out good friends at Cuenca Cigars who at the time of writing this, still have some in stock.

• Size: 6 x 50
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf aged in Waller 12 barrels
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $24.99
• Pairing: Weller 12

Prelight:

The wrapper on the Weller by Cohiba is a deep, dark brown with a few lighter brown areas specially around the veining in the leaf. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy and slightly oily. As mentioned previously there are quite a few smaller veins running through the wrapper. The wrapper is laid seamlessly on itself leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar sports two matching black and gold stylized band. The first carries the Cohiba crest along with the Weller logo. The second simply carries the Weller crest.

The wrapper on the Weller by Cohiba gives off mostly hay/earthy and musky aromas while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of sweetness, spice, and natural tobacco. The cap took some convincing from my Xikar XO double bladed cutter, but eventually sliced clean. The cold draw produces nice notes of spice, oats, musk and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Weller by Cohiba starts out with a quick black pepper punch which fades very quickly allowing the cigar to release notes of deep musk, oak, spice and pecan over lighter notes of cherry, vanilla, and earthiness. While the bourbon flavor isn’t very dominant, I do pick it up lightly at this point. I feel I need to also point out that I smoked this cigar without the Weller 12 and this time with, and I feel like pairing it with the bourbon really allowed me to pick up more of the bourbon-flavors from within the cigar. Of course, that could just be a placebo but I thought it was worth mentioning. The daw on the Weller by Cohiba is fantastic and every tiny puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke that hangs around for quite some time before dissipating. The burn line is dead even and razor thin and slightly wavy leaving behind a trail of very tightly compacted white and light gray ash which held on for an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Weller by Cohiba and the flavors are very similar only with some added dryness to it. The profile leads with musk, oak, and spice backed by pecan, vanilla and cherry. There is also a great red-wine dryness that keeps peeking in and out of the experience. The retrohale really helps bring that out. The cigar is still burning great without and assistance from my torch and I close out the second third with only a very mild nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Weller by Cohiba and the flavors are much of the same. Lots of musk, oak, and spice backed up by pecan, vanilla, and cherry. That red-wine flavor keeps coming in and out to he experience as well as a nice dark chocolate note that I wish was just a little more prominent. It took me almost 2 hours to smoke the Weller by Cohiba down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat and closed out the cigar with little more than a very mild nicotine kick.

Overview:

When I smoked the Weller by Cohiba by itself I could only get whiffs and notes of the bourbon barrel aged tobacco used in the blend. It was still an enjoyable cigar on it’s own, however once I paired it with a dram of Weller 12 the cigar really opened up quite a bit and I was able to gain more of an appreciation of the cigar’s ability to pair with the bourbon. If you’re looking for a cigar that’s going to taste like bourbon, this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for a great cigar that will pair at an exceptional level with your favorite dram then look no further. It’s a pricey one, but is unique enough to be able to appreciate.

Pairing:

Created at the famous Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky Weller 12 is a 90 proof bourbon aged 12 years in barrels. The bourbon gives off notes of caramel, vanilla, white cherry, light candy corn and a great lasting spice.

From Above: When I smoked the Weller by Cohiba by itself I could only get whiffs and notes of the bourbon barrel aged tobacco used in the blend. It was still an enjoyable cigar on it’s own, however once I paired it with a dram of Weller 12 the cigar really opened up quite a bit and I was able to gain more of an appreciation of the cigar’s ability to pair with the bourbon.

I feel like the complimenting flavors found in the cigar pair perfectly with the cigar itself and to fully understand the blend you’d need to pair with with a dram of Weller 12 or a similar bourbon.

The post Weller by Cohiba 2022 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Olmec is the newest release from Foundation Cigar Co. showcased at this year’s PCA event. Olmec is an homage to the Mesoamerican people who inhabited the San Andrés Valley area in Veracruz. As you can guess the cigar features Mexican San Andrés wrappers and is offered with two different version of that wrapper, the Claro which is a lighter color and the Maduro version which is the one I am taking a look at today. Underneath the Mexican San Andrés Maduro wrapper is a binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. Blended by Foundation Cigar Co.’s founder Nick Melillo, these cigars are produced by A.J. Fernandez and offered in five sizes: Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 48), Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 52), Grande (6 x 60), and the Double Corona (7 x 52). Each offering is packaged in boxes of 12 running between $12.50 and $16 per cigar. I purchased mine over from our good finds at Cuenca Cigars who have them available both in boxes and singles currently.

• Size: 6 x 52
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Maduro
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13.50
• Pairing: Modern Times Dragon Master (Imperial Stout 13.6% ABV)

Prelight:

The Olmec Maduro starts out with a gorgeous, extremely consistent, extremely dark brown wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is extremely gritty and toothy with a decent amount of oils coating it. The wrapper feels very thick and hard while the cigar as a whole is nicely packed and carries a great weight. Th wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself. There are a few mild veins running their course through the cigar’s long, soft-boxed pressed body leading up the it’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with an orange, black, white and gold band showcasing the “Olmec” crest on the front.

The wrapper on the Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro gives off notes of hazelnut, floral, and spice while the foot of the cigar is very cedar forward with some backing spice and nut. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of graham cracker, musk and hazelnut.

First Third:

The Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro starts out with a crazy amount of dark chocolate over hazelnut, oak, soft spice and graham cracker with an overall pretty dry profile. Thats dry as in the absence of sweetness by the way, not mouthfeel. The draw is flawless as each little puff kicks out huge clouds of white smoke which really stick around for a while as the cigar releases a good amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. Also as a note, I love soft box-pressed cigars. They are so comfortable in both hand feel and in my mouth. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for an inch before giving way and falling into my lap.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro and the balance in this profile is really something. It reminds me of a really balanced Mexican Abuelita Hot chocolate. For those unfamiliar its a dark chocolate with cinnamon. On top of that is some great cedar, hazelnut, and musk. Its a great profile. The retrohale brings out spice and ramps up the spice so I find myself doing it pretty often. The burn line is still perfect and I close out the second third with nothing in terms of nicotine.

Finish:

The cedar/oak and musk really start to come out and dominate the floor profile in the final third of the Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro backed by dark chocolate, hazelnut, and spice. It took me about and hour and a half to smoke the Olmec Maduro down to the nub and I loved every minute of it. the cigar burned like a dream from start to finish with no harshness, sap, or extended heat. I closed out with the cigar’s strength and body in the medium/full range with only a little nicotine kick that I didn’t really feel until the very end.

Overview:

The Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro has been on my radar most of the year and not only am I glad to finally get my hands on it, but I am also glad that it lived up to the hype. The cigar delivered in flavor profile, performance, and price. Emphasis on flavor profile here as Nick hit the nail on the head. I have a few of these left and they won’t last long so I will be picking up at least another box to keep these in my regular rotation. Be on the lookout for the Olmec Claro version being reviewed on Casas Fumando very soon.

Pairing:

I have been waiting for a cigar that carries a good amount of hazelnut flavors to pair this beer with. Modern Times Dragon Master is a 13.6% ABV Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with hazelnuts, vanilla, and cocoa added. Brewed in San Diego, California Dragon Master leads with a nice berry tartness under a good amount of chocolate and coconut, hazelnut, light brown sugar, roasted malt, and toffee with a very heavy and sticky mouthfeel before finishing with more chocolate and toffee over a real nice hazelnut and light bourbon finish. This beer paired perfectly with the flavor found in the Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro as so many of the flavors were nearly identical while the sweetness in the beer helped balance out some of the dryness from the cigar.

The post Foundation Cigar Co. Olmec Maduro appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Unveiled at this year’s PCA show Steve Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust showcased the first release in the upcoming Mi Querida Black blend, the SakaKhan. The Mi Querida Black is destined to be released in 2023. As he told Halfwheel, he currently does not have enough tobacco to release it as a full-production release so look for a very limited run. Saka referenced the unique name on Facebook:

“It was the 80’s when Chaka Khan became known as an artist and I was getting certified to Con(n) as a JOOD Underway on my ship – the enlisted guys who worked the Bridge started calling me this… kinda funny as my middle name ‘Temujin’ is also the birth name of Ghengis Khan… so this is double dip when it comes to why this nickname stuck… my Dad obviously had some pretty lofty expectations.”

https://www.facebook.com/steve.saka.31/posts/10228672103328068?comment_id=821751955655115&reply_comment_id=578747967206896

Created at the Nicaragua American Cigars S.A in Esteli, Nicaragua the blend starts out with a Connecticut Broadleaf No. 1 wrapper over a Mexican San Andres Negro binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The cigar comes packaged in boxes of 10 and runs $14.95 a stick. I purchased mine over from our good friends at Cuenca Cigars who now offer mail order single cigars and the SakaKhan happens to be one of those current offerings.

• Size: 7 1/4 x 54
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf No. 1
• Binder: Mexican San Andres Negro
• Filler: Dominican, Honduran, Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $14.95
• Pairing: The Bruery Mocha Wednesday 2021 (Imperial Stout 19.1% ABV)

Prelight:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida SakaKhan starts out with a beautiful, consistent, dark brown wrapper with only a few darker areas splotched around the foot of the cigar. The wrapper’s texture is incredibly toothy and just covered with rich oils. The wrapper itself feels very thick and very hard and the rest of the cigar is very heavy and tightly packed. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap which is finished off with a small little pigtail. The cigar is polished off with a black and silver version of the standard Mi Querida band. A band which I think is exceptionally elegant and beautiful.

The wrapper on the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida SakaKhan gives off a very nice mixture of perfume-like floral scents over chocolate and musk while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of that floral aroma over much more earth-forward musk and natural tobacco scents. The cap cut with a little extra effort from my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of immediate notes of black cherry, chocolate, earthiness, and tobacco.

First Third:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida SakaKhan starts out with an awesome blast of that perfume-like floral flavor I picked up on the cold draw over notes of black cherry, dark chocolate, and oak over lighter notes of musk, coffee, and pecan. Despite being so tightly packed the draw on this cigar is flawless. Each little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke which sticks around for quite some time before dissipating while the cigar releases a standard amount of stationary smoke while it rest in my ashtray. The burn line is slightly wavy, but nothing concerning as it leaves behind a very tightly trail of white ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida SakaKhan and the leading flavors are the floral mixture, spice, musk and chocolate over coffee, oak, and cinnamon. The retrohale really brings out the spice and cherry and I find myself doing it quite often. The cigar is now burning brilliantly as the burn line is completely solid and I close out the second third with only a minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida SakaKhan and the flavors are just pouring out at this point. the black cherry is shockingly still a potent player in the mix backed by strong spice, pecan, and chocolate with lighter notes of oak, coffee, and that awesome perfume-floral flavor that has hung on from start to finish. This cigar took me a two and a half hours to take down to the nub and despite the long burn time, I wasn’t ready for it to finish. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat, but the cigar did leave me with a decent little nicotine kick.

Overview:

I swear, Saka came out swinging when he released the first Mi Querida line and each release since has eclipsed the previous and if this is any indication of what to expected from the Mi Querida Black then count me in. The SakaKhan carries a unique, flavorful, and extremely enjoyable flavor profile at least by my personal palate’s standards. The gigantic cigar smoked perfectly from start to finish with no issues or extra attention needed. The price point is also pretty affordable considering the quality of the experience as well as how well and long this cigar performed. My only grip is, you guess it, availability since these will be a limited run. I’ll just have to make sure I get my share before they disappear.

Pairing:

A beast of a cigar calls for a beast of a beer. Bruery’s Mocha Wednesday is a 19.1% ABV Imperial Stout which utilizes Black Tuesday as the base, aged in bourbon barrels with TCHO cacao nibs and Mostra coffee. The beer leads with a nice tartness and dark berry from the Black Tuesday which is then smoothed out be notes of chocolate, coffee, malt, toffee, and pecan with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more coffee, chocolate, berry and malt with a very nice lasting bourbon/berry aftertaste. What a great pairing with the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida SakaKhan as many of the flavors married up perfectly. I was also surprised with just how potent the flavors are in the cigar as it was able to not only keep up with such a bold beer, but actually compliment it from start to finish.

The post Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida SakaKhan appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Le Patissier is the newest full-production line coming from The Crowned Heads. Originally showcased in 2021 to PCA attendees the Patissier is a bit of a sister brand to the much acclaimed “Le Careme”. Meaning “Pastry Chef” in French, the La Patissier starts out with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over a Jalapan Nicaraguan binder and filler tobacco from Costa Rica and the Pueblo Nuevo and Ometepe regions of Nicaragua. Produced at the Tabacalera Pichardo factory in Nicaragua the cigar was originally showcased in a single 6 1/2 x 44 Lonsdale format to 2021 PCA attendees, the full production version comes in four sizes: Senadores (6 1/8 x 48), No. 50 (4 3/8 x 50), Canonazo (5 7/8 x 52), and the No. 54 (5 3/8 x 54). Each come packaged in boxes of 20 running between $10.50 and $12 a stick. Note that the original 6 1/2 x 44 is still available for purchase at many online retailers at the time of writing this article. I purchased mine over from our friends at Cuenca Cigars who now offer online ordering of cigar singles. This particular cigar is one of those offerings currently.

• Size: 4 3/8 x 50
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Costa Rican and Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $10.50
• Pairing: Firestone Walker Brandy Barrel Barley Wine (Barleywine 13.8% ABV)

Prelight:

The Crowned Heads Le Patissier starts out with a deep, dark brown wrapper with lots of darker areas as well as reddish brown areas scattered throughout. The wrapper’s texture is very gritter and toothy with a good amount of oils coating it. The wrapper itself feels very rich and hard while the cigar as a whole is extremely hard and tightly packed. There are a few smaller veins and one larger one running the length of the cigar’s short body leading up to it’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off with a beautiful manilla, gold, black and pastel green band which features a beautiful French-inspired design carrying the Le Patissier crest embossed on the front, and a secondary gold foot band with the Crowned Heads logo.

The wrapper on the Le Patissier gives off a light tobacco aroma while the foot of the cigar carries musk, tobacco, and earthiness. The cap cut with a bit of extra effort using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces mostly earth and deep tobacco with a few lighter berry notes.

First Half:

Due to the small size of this cigar I’ll be reviewing it in halves instead of the traditional thirds. the Le Patissier starts out with a very minor bit of black pepper and spice over bold musk, oak, light black cherry and dirt over natural tobacco flavors. The draw is slightly tight on the few that I smoked, but nothing unmanageable so no points taken there. the cigar releases very little stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead event and very thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for about 3/4 of an inch before falling in my ashtray.

Second Half:

Into the second half of the Le Patisseir and the body has started to ramp up now as I find it right in the mid-range of medium/full. The flavor profile is still mostly musk and oak with some light spice and lots of underlying earthiness. The retrohale helps brings out the spice as well as a little cinnamon. It took me a little over and hour to take this cigar down to the nub. I am actually pretty impressed with how slow this burned. I experienced No harness, no extended heat and the cigar burned absolutely perfectly from start to finish.

Overview:

The Crowned Head Patissier is a solid offering. The cigar performed beautifully and offered some good, straightforward flavors. My only complaint lies a bit more on the subjective side of things as I wished the cigar just had a bit more dimension and flavors that matched my personal palate a bit more. I think some subtle sweetness could really push this cigar to the next level. Overall I enjoyed it, will smoke it again, but won’t likely keep this one in my regular rotation. However if you are a smoker who really enjoys musk and oak forward cigars this one is right up your alley. Not to mention it’s regular production and quite affordable.

Pairing:

Firestone Walker’s Brandy Barrel Barley Wine is a Brewmaster’s Collective exclusive beer which features a special barleywine co-fermented with Paso Robles grown white wine grapes which is then barrel aged in brandy barrels. Coming in at 13.8% ABV the beautiful orange beer leads with loads of brandy and wine flavors. I’m actually impressed with how potent the grapes are. Underneath there are nice notes of berry, honey, and really light hoppiness. The beer finishes with even more wine and brandy over mixed fruits. This beer doesn’t carry many characteristics you usually find in a barleywine, predominantly the absence of bitterness. Instead this beer is sweet, crisp, and incredibly smooth with a hell of a brandy bite to it. The fruit really paired well with the flavors in the Crowned Heads Le Patissier while the sweetness really helped bring the cigar out of it’s shell.

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The Good Stuff:

By now everyone knows of and has likely smoke a My Father Le Bijou. This was one of my favorite cigars when it first came out and I smoked it for years, but I can’t say I smoked too many recently. That all changed when My Father dropped the 100 Anos a few weeks ago which celebrates what would be the 100th birth of Don Pepin Garcia’s father, Jose Garcia Alayon. the 1922 name moniker is also Jose’s birth year. Created at the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua, the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos contains tobacco from the Garcia families San Rafael, Las Quebradas and San Jose farms. The blend is a tweaked version of the original Le Bijou featuring a special Habano wrapper leaf that the company calls “Oscuro Oscuro” or “Habnao My Father”. The cigar is offered in only two sizes: Corona Especial (6 1/2 x 44) and a Corona Extra (soft-box-pressed 5 1/2 x 48). Each size comes packaged in boxes of 22 with only 1922 boxes being produced running $13 per cigar. I purchased mine over from Cuenca Cigars who has them in stock now in boxes as well as singles.

• Size: 5 1/2 x 48
• Wrapper: Oscuro Oscuro – Habano My Father
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $13
• Pairing: Bruery Terreux Graciano (Wild Ale 12.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos start with a deep, dark, consistent brown wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy and very oily as it glistens under light. The wrapper itself feels very thick and durable while the cigar as a whole is packed nicely, has a good weight to it, and carries no soft spots that I could find. The wrapper is laid beautifully over itself while the larger veins and tobacco webbing lead up to the cigar’s triple-wrapped pigtail capped. I love the soft-box pressing on this cigar. It makes it very comfortable in the hand. The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos carries the same intricate bands found on the standard Le Bijou 1922 only with an additional orange ribbon around the foot with “100 ANOS” printed across the front.

The wrapper on the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos gives off deep cedar and raisin aromas while the foot of the cigar is very sharp with spice, earthiness, and natural tobacco. The cap cut clean with a little extra effort from my Xikar XO double bladed cuter. The cold draw produces mostly musky cedar, earthiness, and strong pepper flavors.

First Third:

The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos start out with a bang nailing me with a pretty potent blast of cayenne pepper which sent my lips and tongue on fire for a few seconds before starting to step back. After a few more draws the pepper fades away and I am left with a powerful dose of cedar, espresso, and dry dark chocolate over lighter notes of earthiness, musk, and pecan with a subtle cinnamon aftertaste. This cigar started out with a bang in both body and straight. The draw is perfect as each little puff kicks out the desired amount of thick, gray smoke which really takes some time to dissipate while the cigar releases the expected amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of perfectly compacted white ash which held on for almost an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos and the dry mixture of flavors are still hitting with loads of dark chocolate, cedar, and espresso over earthiness, musk and pecan with a great dry cherry flavor that has snuck its way in. The retrohale brings in a ton of the pepper and spice I picked up at the start so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The cigar is still burning like a dream and I actually feel a decent little nicotine kick closing out the second third.

Finish:

Into the final third of the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos and this is where the cigar really shines. That mild cinnamon I picked up throughout the experience has really taken off and is now the leading flavor backed by dry dark chocolate, black cherry and espresso with lighter notes of cinnamon and earthiness. This is such a great profile. I took me two hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat. No burnishes at all either. It’s mainly the hella nicotine kick that the cigar left me with which urged me to slow down my pace and take my time with it.

Overview:

The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos makes me remember why I loved the Le Bijou blend so much. While the cigar caries much of the same flavors and experience I feel the 100 Anos version has a bit more oomph to it in both body and strength. The complexities are still there, the flavors are fantastic and really keep me on my toes, and with such a long burn time on this cigar the price point is completely worth it. If you are a fan of the Le Bijou 1922 or any My Father cigars in general then this is totally worth picking up before they are no longer available.

Pairing:

Sticking with the beer-wine hybrids, The Bruery Terreux’s Graciano is another hybrid still-beer which leans much more heavily on the sour, fruity, dry side. The 12.2% Sour ale is brewed with Graciano grapes and then aged in French Oak puncheons. The beer lead with notes of dry grape, tannis, stone fruit, tartness, and even a tiny bit of funk with a very light and refreshing mouthfeel before finishing with more tartness, grape, black cherry and a really well balanced funk. This beer is a perfect balance of dryness, tartness, and funk which doesn’t leave behind any residual acidic flavors or burn. I found the fruit flavors to be very refreshing and bold. The fruit and sourness really helped bring a different experience to the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Anos by adding completely different flavors to the experience. They slotted in perfectly with the dry earthiness and musk that the cigar had to offer.

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The Good Stuff:

While Dion Giolito of Illusione cigars is no stranger to doing collaborations, the cigar community was caught off guard and quite surprised when word hit of a new collaboration with Hoyo de Monterrey hitting the market. Dion and Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s business development manager Justin Andrews spent over a year working together on the new blend and here is what they had to say about it:

“Dion Giolito and Illusione’s success in the premium cigar category has been driven by his rigorous standards for tobacco and his ability to create cigars that wow the market. So when it came to developing a blend for Excalibur, Dion was our hands-down first choice. I’m very proud of how this project came together. My only regret is that we couldn’t make this a full-time launch.”

Justin Andrews

“When GCC asked me to do a collaboration and offered up Excalibur, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. In college, the Excalibur #1 Maduro was my go-to when I could afford them on a college budget. My buddy George and I would enjoy them after class or band practice. They were a real treat back then, and they still are to this day. For my part, I wanted to make a cigar in the spirit of Excalibur with a bold character and packaging that pays homage to the brand’s origins. I believe this blend really hits the mark.”

Dion Giolito

Produced at Aganorsa’s Agricola Ganadera Nortena S.A. (Previously TABSA), the all Nicaraguan blend starts out with a Corojo ’99 wrapper and Corojo 2012 binder both from the Jalapa region over Corojo and Criollo fillers from Esteli. The cigar is offered in a single Double Corona 7 1/4 x 54 format which comes packaged in boxes of 10 with only 4,960 boxes being reduced. The Illusione of Excalibur runs $19.99 a stick and is available now. I picked mine up from our friends at Cuenca cigars who are now offering cigars in singles for shipping. Think of it as shopping in a brick and mortar store only online where you can mix and match your own bundles.

• Size: 7 1/4 x 54
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo ’99
• Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo 2012
• Filler: Nicaraguan Esteli Corojo and Criollo
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $19.99
• Pairing: Bruery 2econd (Imperial Stout 17.6% ABV)

Prelight:

First lets just get this out of the way. The Illusione of Excalibur is a very big, beefy cigar. The wrapper is a very consistent dark brown with a bit of a reddish tint to it. The wrapper’s texture is a bit toothy and gritty with a ton of thick oils coating it. The wrapper feels decently thick while the cigar as a whole is very hard and heavy. I think I could using this to hammer a few nails in the wall without taking any damage. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself while the cigar showcases a few larger veins leading up to it’s round, triple-wrapped cap. The band design leans more towards the Hoyo de Monterrey brand than Illusione’s. The classic Hoyo de Monterrey crest is laid in royal blue, white, and gold across the front of the band with a secondary band underneath that says “The Illusione of Excalibur” and the Illusione logos across the sides. There is an additional foot band that is identical to the secondary band described above.

The wrapper on the Illusion of Excalibur gives off mostly caramel and earthy scents while the foot of the cigar carries a great fruit-forward mixture of aromas over natural tobacco and earthiness. the cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of oat and grain over vanilla, honey, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Illusione of Excalibur starts out pretty mild with a quick black pepper hit which only lasted a few puffs before quickly fading away allowing the cigar to release notes of vanilla, honey, and cinnamon over lighter notes of coconut, light coffee, and dirt/earthiness. The draw is flawless. Each little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick white smoke while the cigar releases only a slight trail of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The ash left behind id decently compacted and dark gray in color which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Illusione of Excalibur and the vanilla and honey are still going strong while the cinnamon has morphed into a lighter all-spice type flavor mixed with coconut and light coffee. There is a great deep, floral/cologne flavor that comes out on the aftertaste. When I retrohale the cigar the all-spice and floral/cologne flavor become much more prominent. The cigar is still burning like a dream and I close out the second third (after over an hour) with only a very slight nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Illusione of Excalibur and the all-spice flavor has really ramped up and is now up there with the vanilla and honey backed by coffee and coconut. This was a great flavor profile. It took me about two hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, no sap, and no extended heat. I never once had to reach for my torch to touchup or relight the cigar. Despite the lower strength of the cigar I still felt a pretty good nicotine kick towards the end which was likely due to the massive amount of tobacco in this cigar.

Overview:

I was a bit worried going into the Illusione of Excalibur thinking that it would burn way too long and I’d get bored with it halfway through, but I quite enjoyed the cigar, the overall experience and what the Illusione of Excalibur had to offer. And yes, it was a long burn. A lot longer than I am used to, however the flavor profile was both enjoyable and engaging enough that I never really got tired of it which was my biggest fear going in. The price point is up there, but you also get a lot of bang for your buck. While I enjoyed this cigar I don’t think it would find it’s way into my everyday rotation. It would be more of a treat yo’ self type experience when you have a few hours to just sit back and relax.

Pairing:

The Bruery’s 2econd is the second collaboration with Three Chiefs brewing. This 17.6% Imperial stout is double barrel aged in both coconut rum and spiced rum barrels as well as treated with toasted coconut, cacao, Tahitian Vanilla beans and bananas. I am such a fiend for banana barrel aged stouts. The beer leads with sweet coconut over molasses, caramel, rich vanilla, milk chocolate, some light fig and light banana with a very heavy and sticky mouthfeel before finishing with more fig, caramel, cinnamon, chocolate, and the banana is much more pronounced on the finish and aftertaste. Many of the flavors in the beer were also found in the Hoyo de Monterrey / Illusione collaboration “Illusione of Excalibur” while the sweetness and rich flavors in the beer added even more complexity to the experience creating a great pairing.

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