The Good Stuff:

The Mbombay Gaaja is the latest offering by Mbombay Tobak which is due out later this month. The word “Gaaja” comes from the Sanskrit word for elephant. The Gaaja is comprised of a hybrid Connecticut desflorado and mejorado 2004 wrapper, Ecuadorian HVA mejorado seco under and a filler blend packed with Dominican HVA mejorado ligero, Dominican criollo 98 viso, Peruvian hybrid habano and a hybrid habano 2000 viso from Paraguay. The cigar is offered in a singly 6 x 54 box-pressed format which comes packaged in boxes of 24 and will run $15.50 a stick. A big thanks goes out to the Mbombay Tobak team for sending a few samples our way.

Size: 6 x 54
Wrapper: Connecticut desflorado/mejorado 2004
Binder: Ecuadorian HVA mejorado seco
Filler: Dominican, Peru, Paraguay
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $15.50
Pairing: Ommegang 2015 Belgian Independence Day (Tripel 9.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The first thing that caught my attention is this is the first Mbombay cigar in my memory that carries a different band. The band on the Gaaja is copper/gold in color with a red, blue, and teal wateresque medallion on the front. The wrapper on the cigar is a very, very consistent light to medium brown with a slightly yellow sheen.  The wrapper is laid seamlessly with only a few very small veins. The wrapper’s texture is extremely smooth and silky with a decent amount of oil while the wrapper itself feels very thin and delicate. The cigar is packed tightly with the only softer spots located around the foot of the cigar. The soft box-press body leads up to a round triple cap.

The wrapper gives off some spice and caramel aromas while the foot of the cigar carries much more spice and pepper around some earthiness and natural tobacco aromas.  The cap cut very clean and like butter using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw showcases a very grainy/oaty mixture of flavors coated with tons of spice and pepper.

First Third:

The MBombay Gaaja starts out with a great, powerful pepper blast which only lasted for a few puffs before it dissipated leaving behind a decent amount of spice, cedar, sweetness, caramel and vanilla over some soft earthiness. The flavor profile isn’t bold, but the flavors compliment each other really well. The draw is perfect which each little puff creating a thick cloud of white smoke while the cigar gives off very little stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is slightly wavy, but not too concerning as it leaves behind a decently compacted trail of medium to dark grey ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Mbombay Gaaja and not too much has changed. The cedar is the most dominant flavor now backed by spice, caramel, a bit of sweetness, and a bunch of grainy earthiness. The retrohale brings the spice and cedar up a notch. The burn line is still a bit wavy but I haven’t had to reach for my lighter yet so I’m not complaining. I close out the second third with absolutely nothing in the nicotine department.

Finish:

While I wished the flavors would mix up a bit, or the body would ramp up, the Mbombay Gaaja is still burning pretty much status quo. The cedar and spice are the main flavors in the mixture backed by some soft sweetness and more caramel. The flavor profile has been pretty much the same from start to finish, except they started to cream out a bit halfway through. It took me an hour and forty five minutes to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experience no extra harshness, no extra heat, and never once had to reach for my torch despite the wavy burn-line.

Overview:

The Gaaja is a solid offering from Mbombay that just didn’t do it for me. There wasn’t anything really special with this cigar, and quite honestly I think I’ve just been spoiled with how much I enjoyed all the other cigars in Mbombay’s portfolio. This cigar was milder, and a bit soft in the dimension department in comparison to some of the others. I know what you’re thinking, that’s not a bad thing at all. It really isn’t. I think this cigar is going to be outstanding for those out there who really enjoy the milder smokes, but me personally crave a bit more body and flavor in my experiences. The cigar’s burn, and construction, all flawless. The price point is a bit too steep for me considering that it didn’t quite do it for me in terms of my personal wants in flavor. Have you smoked this one yet? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Note (added after reading a few other reviews after finishing mine): An interesting take on this, was the completely different experience that our buddy Coop at cigar-coop.com experienced when doing his review. Always been a huge fan of his work and its really great to see just how subjective two different people with different palates/likes can be. I mean, the dude said he’d fight Chuck Norris for these cigars. Check out his review here: http://cigar-coop.com/2016/06/cigar-review-gaaja-toro-by-bombay-tobak.html

Pairing:

Today I decided to get a bit cliche and pair the Mbombay Gaaja with a 2015 Belgian Independence day by Ommegang. Sure, its not technically a beer celebrating our independence, but hell, its close enough. Brewed at the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, New York this Dry-Hopped tripel comes in at 9.2% ABV. The 2015 Belgian Independence Day starts off with a bit of tartness, apple, spice, and caramel with a very light mouthfeel before finishing off with some light hoppiness, more apple, lots of spice, and some grainy malt with a brett-type aftertaste. This is an amazing summer beer and the caramel, tartness, and spice paired perfectly with the Gaaja. Another ideal pairing for this cigar would be some creamed coffee, or a malty marzen.

The post Mbombay Gaaja appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Epicurean Carnavale is one of the newest offerings from Epicurean to hit the market. Created at the Plasencia Cigars S.A. factory in Esteli, Nicaragua the cigar features a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper from the Jalapa region of Nicaragua, American Broadleaf and Honduran dual binder, with Nicaraguan Ligero fillers. The Epicurean Carnavale is offered in four sizes: Lancero (6.5 x 38), Petite Corona (5.5 x 48), Toro (6 x 52), and the Trabajdor (5 x 56) all coming in boxes of 20 with a total of 1,000 boxes of each released ranging from $8.60 to $10 a stick.

Size: 5.5 x 48
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
Binder: American Broadleaf and Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Funky Gold Amarillo (Sour Ale 7.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Epicurean Carnaval Petite Corona is a pretty small cigar, but the box pressed format makes it fit comfortably in your hand without it feeling too tiny. The cigar starts out with a very consistent, very dark brown wrapper. There is a bit of darker splotches around both the foot and the cap o the cigar. The wrapper features some very minor veins along with a lot of natural webbing in the tobacco leaf. The cigar has a nice firm, oily texture to it with a decent amount of tooth. The long, slender, box-pressed body leads up with a stubby, round double cap. The Carnaval is very firm and only carries a few softer areas around the foot of the cigar. The cigar is polished off with a beautifully designed band featured a mask similar to those that you’d see at a Carnival event along with a gold “Carnavale” logo embossed into the front.

The wrapper on the Epicurean Carnavale gives off nothing more than a slight cocoa aroma while the foot of the cigar has some soft spice, pepper, and a bit of natural grassiness.  The cap cut very clean and very easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a really mild mixture of cocoa and tobacco and not a whole lot else.

First Third:

The Epicurean Carnavale lit up with easy using my S.T. Dupont Maxijet torch. The cigar starts off with a very mild black pepper blast followed by some strong brown sugar, grassiness, cocoa, and honey with some slight woodiness and bitterness on the finish. I love how comfortable this small, box-pressed cigar fits in my mouth as it produces a perfect, massive cloud of thick smoke with every little puff.  The burn line has a few smaller waves but is running razor thin. The ash is pretty flaky and only held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The cocoa has really taken over the flavor profile in the Epicurean Carnavale. Backing the cocoa is some light woody flavors, a bit of spice, some sweet brown sugar, and light pepper. It almost seems as the flavors have become more muted in the second third as I was expecting the opposite. The retrohale is great as it coats my nasal passage with some potent cedar and spice. The burn line has completely corrected itself and is now burning dead even and razor thin. I am feeling nothing in the nicotine department as I close out the second third.

Final Third:

Into the final third of the Epicurean Carnavale and much is the same. Lots of cocoa and wood flavors mixed with spice and sweetness. While those flavors are great, it would be nice to see a bit more change ups throughout the experience. It took me about an hour and a half to take this cigar down to the nub and I experience no harshness what so ever. The cigar always burned on it’s own and I never once had to reach for my lighter to touch up, or relight the cigar. I close out the final third feeling only a slight nicotine kick.

Overview:

The Epicurean Carnavale is a good cigar. It produces some great flavors, and a great experience. It’s not as complex as I was hoping for, and that’s probably my only gripe about it, but that falls on the subjective side as the cigar preformed flawlessly. I love the format, and the quality of the construction was perfect. I think this cigar is perfect for someone who likes solid smokes, and doesn’t normally reach for the more complex cigars. One note is going in, and knowing the blend, I was surprised with how modest the strength was. I was expecting a much stronger experience but was pleased with how balanced they were able to create the body/strength ratio in this cigar. Would I buy it again? Absolutely. While it won’t be in my regular rotation I would love to have this cigar around for those relaxing nights when I want a solid smoke to relax and enjoy some time in my backyard.

Pairing:

I took a bit of a risk on the pairing and boy did it ever pay off. Going into the smoke I knew that there was just something missing, something that a beer could easily replace making this an incredible experience. To me, that “thing” was citrus. That being said I decided to go as citrusy as it gets pairing the Epicurean Carnavale with a bottle of Prairie Artisan Ales’ Funky Gold Amarillo. The Funky Gold Amarillo is a dry-hopped sour ale brewed at the Prairie Artisan Brewery in Oklahoma. Coming in at 7.5% this sour ale leads with a nice, nippy sour punch backed by strong orange and lemon notes, with a smooth, light mouthfeel before finishing very crisp with a nice hop, citrus and spice. This is by far one of the best sour ales I have ever had the pleasure of drinking and it really helped feel that gap in the cigar’s flavor profile.

The post Epicurean Carnavale appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.