Blended by Pete Johnson and the rest of the L’Atelier crew, all of the cigars in the Surrogates brand are manufactured at My Father Cigars in Esteli, Nicaragua, which contains Skull Breaker, Bone Crusher, Tramp Stamp, Satin Glove Crystal Baller, Animal Cracker, and Cracker Crumbs. The Cracker Crumbs launched at the 2014 trade show alongside the L’Atelier Travailleurs, El Suelo Vuelos, and Trocadero Ruelles.  Each of these releases come packaged in soft-packs containing five 4 ½ by 38 cigars. The most similar packaging I have seen to this is the J. Fuego Originals. And I absolutely love it! The blend of the Cracker Crumbs in based on the Surrogates Animal Cracker.

THE FACTS

Price: $14.50 per 5-pack
Vitola: Petite Corona
Size: 4 ½ by 38
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 55 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Surrogates Cracker Crumbs wears a medium to dark brown wrapper that has some color variations and is rustic in appearance. The leaf is covered in veins, bumps, stretch marks, and oils. The cigar feels solid as I examine it for any soft spot, but I can feel the contours of the underlying binder leaf. As I bring the cigar to my nose, mild aromas of cedar and earth are first to greet me, followed but a very light syrupy sweetness, while the foot aroma is mainly of rich cedar. The pre-cut Cracker Crumbs has an open draw, maybe too free, showing off a mild cedar and a spice heat lingers on the lips and in the mouth.

FIRST THIRD

Right of the bat, this little cigar comes out kicking with a full amount bright spice against a sweet generic woodsy flavor as each draw brings forth a mouth-full of smoke. Due to the level of spice that is hitting the back of my throat, it is necessary to exhale some of the smoke from my mouth prior to retro-haling. But with that said, the retrohale is a must as it shows off a different dimension of the spice. Closer to a cayenne pepper. The Surrogates Cracker Crumbs is burning remarkably well as a light gray ash is formed.

MIDDLE THIRD

Being still early in the cigar, I am caught off guard by the amount of strength the Surrogates Cracker Crumbs brings to the table. The flavors appear to have settled, most noticeably in the spice department, and  the sweetness in the first third has calmed allowing for more  of an earthy flavor to move in. There is a somewhat sour quality to the smoke that comes across every so often. Near the midway point, a small section of the wrapper is lagging behind the rest of the burn, but I expect it to self-correct. In addition to the lopsided burn, the ash is not nearly as pretty as earlier

FINAL THIRD

As move into the final inch and half of the Surrogates Cracker Crumbs, this Petite Corona is coming across much richer but with less body than earlier. The cigar remain pretty consistent with the second third and the nicotine is really hitting me. As expected, a touch-up was not necessary as the burn self-corrected. 

WRAP-UP

Coming in at less than $3 a cigar, the Surrogates Cracker Crumbs by L’Atelier Imports is the perfect little cigar to accompany you on a commute or fill in those limited time slots during the day that won’t allow for a larger cigar. But don’t let the size trick you. This 4 1/2 by 38 Petite Corona packs a punch in spice and strength. It may be best reserved for later in the day.

You can order yourself some Cracker Crumbs from our good friends at Ford on Fifth HERE .

The post L’Atelier Imports – Surrogates Cracker Crumbs appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The first line released by Serino Cigars is the Serino Royale which features 4 blends in total, the Connecticut, Medio, Madruo, and Madruo XX. I have had a go with each of the blends and will drop the details as well as a few quick thoughts on each below.

The Blend: Each of the four blends feature binders from Jalapa, Nicaragua and 5 year aged fillers from Gonzalez-Aleman’s farming Esteli and Jalapa Nicaragua. The cigars are then aged in the “La Corona” humidor since 2014.

Connecticut

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Shade Grown Connecticut

The Serino Royale Connecticut starts out with a silky smooth, consistently light brown wrapper. The wrapper is very thin and delicate with no tooth at all. The texture is very smooth with only a few rougher areas around the very light veins running through the cigar’s body. The entire cigar is very heavy, and very well packed leading up to the cigar’s pointy, tapered cap.

The Serino Royale Connecticut lights up quickly and starts out with some great cashew, honey, and light cedar flavors. As I pushed through the cigar the flavors became a bit more bold with the addition of some great creamed coffee. Into the final third of the Serino Royale Connecticut the cigar started to develop this off-putting char flavor. At first, I suspected I was possibly smoking the cigar too fast, but even after slowing down the char flavor ramped up until I finally put the cigar down with a little over an inch left. This cigar burned flawlessly and never once had to reach for my lighter. While I enjoyed this cigar, I only smoked one, and that charred flavor was just a bit too rough for me.

Medio

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Claro from Habano 2000 Seed

The Serino Royale Medio sports a incredibly consistent medium brown wrapper. It’s crazy how consistent the color in this wrapper is. The wrapper’s texture is really toothy with some slight oil, and a few medium sized veins running through the cigar’s thick body to it’s round double cap.

The Serino Royale Medio starts out with some great sweetness, brown sugar, coffee, soft pepper, and spice with just a splash of oak. As I progress through the cigar the oak becomes much more prominent as a bit of a piney flavor has began to pop it’s head in. Into the final third the Medio really starts to shine as both the body and strength has really ramped up with the addition to a great floral flavor as the oak has really taken control of the flavor profile. Unlike the Connecticut, the Medio finished incredible smooth and clean while the burn was again flawless.

Maduro

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro from Habano 2000

The Serino Royale Maduro carries a very rich, very dark, very consistently dark brown wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is incredibly oily with some slight tooth and a good amount of natural leaf webbing skated around the very minor vein with lead up to the cigar’s round, snubby, tapered cap.

The Serino Royale Maduro starts out with some sweetness, cocoa, coffee, black cherry, cayenne pepper and soft spice. I’m really impressed with how bold this cigar starts out. As I make my way through the cigar the flavor profile begins to cream out a bit, while some interesting floral flavors come in and out. Like the Medio, the cigar really takes off in the final third as the cigar reaches the “full bodied” area with the cocoa and coffee leading backed by the cherry and a ton of spice. I really dug this blend and it’s by far my favorite int eh Serino Royale series. The wrapper burned a bit funky at times causing me to touch it up every now and then, but not enough to really complain about it.

Maduro XX

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro from Habano 2000

The Serino Royale Maduro XX sports a incredibly dark, consistent wrapper. The wrapper not he Maduro XX is pretty much identical in appearance as the Serino Maduro. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy with a good amount of oil, and some larger veins running through the body of the cigar.

The Serino Royale Maduro XX starts out with a massive pepper bang which quickly faded after the first few draws leaving behind some great coffee and cocoa, cherry, sweetness and spice. The flavor profile is pretty much identical to the Serino Maduro with a bit more bite. Halfway through I can start to feel a bit of a nicotine kick while the pepper has made a bit of a resurgence. The Royale Maduro XX finishes a bit harsh while the strength of the cigar had really picked up. It seems like they concentrated a bit more on brining the body/strength of the cigar up in this one, and a bit less on keeping it balanced. Otherwise, I enjoyed it, but would probably reach for the Serino Maduro before this one.

The post Serino Cigars – Serino Royale Quick Draw appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.