The Good Stuff:

El Galan Vegas Del Purial is the newest offering to make it’s way onto shelved from El Galan. The cigar is named to honor Felix A. Mesa’s family legacy as well as the name of the farm in Cuba where his grandparents grew tobacco. The El Galan Vegas Del Purial is composed of Nicaraguan filler, and Nicaraguan binder called FFMC96, warped in an Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper. The cigars are produced at the El Galan Cigars S.A. factory in Esteli Nicaragua and come in four sizes: Robusto (5 x 50), Belicoso (5 1/2 x 52), Lancero (7 x 38), and Super Toro (6 3/4 x 52). All come packaged in 20 count boxes ranging between $8.90 and $10 a stick. Our great friends over at Cuenca Cigars sent a few of these our way to review and you can order them directly from the site here.

Size: 5 1/2 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan FFMC96
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.40
Pairing: Bruery Coconut Macadoom (Imperial Stout 19.3% ABV)

Prelight:

The wrapper on the El Galan Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva is a beautifully consistent, milky brown with only some darker, more orangish areas around the cap. The wrapper is seamlessly laid over itself while it sports some minor tooth, a good amount of oil, very minor veining, and some natural leaf webbing. The cigar is packed generously as the cigar feels very thick and tough with no soft spots. The wrapper however feels very thin and delicate so I didn’t want to handle the cigar too much prior to smoking it. The cigar is polished off with a tapered, belicoso style cap, and an manilla band carrying the colorful Vegas del Purial crest along with a secondary maroon band with the words “Gran Reserva” spelled out across the front.

The wrapper on the Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva gives off very sweet honey, oat, and cashew aromas while the foot of the cigar carries more earthiness, spice, and natural tobacco scents. The Cold draw produces some great honey, cashew, coffee, and natural tobacco flavors with just a hint of pepper. 

First Third:

The Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva starts off with some very minor black pepper which faded pretty much completely after the first few puffs leaving behind some soft spice and vanilla with a good amount of creamed coffee, cashew, honey, and really nice natural tobacco flavors. As I smoke on a bit there is some interesting pine notes that pop in and out. The draw is slightly tight but opens up the more that I smoke the cigar. The burn line is razor thin and even for the most part leaving behind a trail of semi-compacted medium gray ash which held one or about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the El Galan Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva and the flavors have really balanced out. The cashew, honey, and earthiness lead the charge backed by spice, cedar, and some soft cinnamon. The retrohale really bings out the spice and cedar and I find myself retrohaling this bad boy quite often. The burn line is still slightly wavy but haven’t had to reach for my torch, the draw has completely opened up and have been smoking like a dream. I close out the second third with nothing in terms of a nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final half of the El Galan Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva and this is where I believe the cigar really begins to shine. The body has ramped up to the medium/full arena while it lets loose a ton of cedar, honey, and earthiness backed by vanilla, spice, pine, and cinnamon. The flavor profile is really enjoyable and extremely well balanced. I feel only the slightest nicotine kick as it took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat. 

Overview:

The El Galan Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva is a solid cigar. It offers a great profile, which isn’t the most complex but is perfectly balanced creating a fantastic experience. The burn was slightly wavy but I never once had to reach for my torch to touch up or relight the cigar. The price is spot-on for a cigar that preforms this way and the overall construction of the cigar was flawless. This is, and will be a solid addition to my everyday rotation.

Pairing:

Coconut Macadoom is a 19.3% Imperial Stout Aged in bourbon barrels with lactose, vanilla, and coconut. This is a Bruery Hoarders Society exclusive beer with only a couple hundred bottles ever produced. The beer leads with a ton of sweet vanilla, bold coconut, tangy cherry, caramel, roasted malt, and dark, rich chocolate and a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing even sweeter with a ton more vanilla and coconut, dark chocolate, boozy bourbon, oak, and coffee. What a flavor bomb. In most cases this beer could easily overpower a cigar but the El Galan Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva held it’s own and the flavors really complimented each other.

The post El Galan Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva Belicoso appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

-Tony

Back in July, I reviewed the Doña Nieves by El Galan, which I found quite enjoyable (the review can be found here).  In August, El Galan launched an extension to the line that honors brand owner Felix A. Mesa’s grandmother, the Doña Nieves Sentimiento.  While the original line utilizes an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, the new extension comes wrapped in a Nicaraguan Jalapa Oscuro.  All sizes of the Sentimiento are box-pressed, as opposed to just one of the three sizes in the original blend.  The sizes are:  Emocion 6 x 50, Aprecio 6 x 52, and Temura 6 x 54 Torpedo; with MSRPs running from $6.70 – $7.00 per cigar in boxes of 21.  I picked up a handful of the Aprecios from the good folks at Cuenca Cigars, and while I was confused at the similarity in size of the Emocion and Aprecio, I was told by Ana Cuenca that she was assured that there is a discernible difference between the two.  For now, I’ll just have to go by what the Aprecio shows me.

The Basics:

Wrapper:  Nicaraguan Jalapa Oscuro
Binder:  Nicaragua
Filler:  Nicaragua
Size:  Aprecio 6 x 52 box-pressed
Price:  $6.80
Smoking time:  One hour, thirty minutes
Pairing:  Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double Abbey-style Ale (ABV 9%)

Pre-light:

The Doña Nieves Sentimiento is covered in a dark brown wrapper mottled with darker, nearly black, spots and a reddish cast to it.  With fine to medium veins and a slight oily sheen, it has a hard feel to it with no soft spots.  The band is basically the original Doña Nieves band with the addition of a “Sentimiento” designation below in dark yellow and blue.  The aroma off of the wrapper is a sour, earthy barnyard, while the foot shows barnyard laced tobacco.  The cap cuts easily, but it does a little unraveling and reveals a draw that is on the snug side.  Spice and wood note show on the cold draw.

First third:

The Doña Nieves Sentimiento toasts up nicely and fives up a copious mouthful of medium-bodied smoke that shows earth, mesquite/hickory, and a meaty savoriness.  There is a bit of cardboard mustiness on the retrohale, along with some sinus searing spiciness.  The thick burn line has started out at a slant, and I have given it a quick correction to keep things on track.  A semi-sweet floral spice has emerged, while the cardboard on the retrohale has vanished, much to my relief.

Middle third:

As the Doña Nieves Sentimiento pulls into the middle third, the pepper has stepped back and the wood has turned to more of an oak.  The sweet spice has moved to the background, where it has been joined by a bit of bread.  I am finding that this stick is requiring a bit of attention to keep the smoke volume up, which is causing me to smoke it a little hot.  Despite that, the cigar has no harshness to it, and in fact, is settling in to a smoother texture as it inches its way toward medium-full with a bump in strength to medium.  Toward the end of this section, light coffee notes and a faint caramel sweetness waft in and out to mingle with the bread notes on the finish and the burn has long ago evened itself out.

Final third:

Entering the home stretch, the Doña Nieves Sentimiento has not exhibited much in the way of a change in flavors, other than the addition of a slight bit of char, but things continue to get even smoother, even as it perches itself at a solid medium-full with medium-plus strength.  While I found myself having to babysit the Sentimiento in the second third to keep the burn going well, I have not had that problem since the middle of that portion.  The pepper suddenly ramps up and pushes the remnants of sweetness back, and with a little over an inch left, I decide to put it down.

Final thoughts:

While I found the Doña Nieves Sentimiento to be an enjoyable smoke, I still prefer the original, which may be more of a reflection on my personal tastes.  The Sentimiento is a well constructed cigar with solid, if not particularly complex flavors that transition well, and the price is certainly right.  I suspect that more humidor time will bring out more in this cigar, and I intend to find out if that is true.  It is still a cigar that I feel is worthy of picking up and trying out.

Pairing:

I hadn’t had this brew before, but I figured that an American version of a Belgian Abbey dubbel would be a good way to go with this cigar.  Anderson Valley’s Brother David’s Double is an Abbey style ale that pours a clear mahogany red, and displays a medium bodied, slightly sweet entry with plum ad berry fruit (and surprisingly little banana) and a good amount of maltiness, finishing tangy and slightly bitter.  It also hides its 9% alcohol well until it sneaks up from behind and hits you over the head when you least expect it.  It paired very well with the Sentimiento, complementing the spice notes of the cigar, while adding an acidic backbone.  Having said that, I would like to see how a bright tawny port would match up with this cigar.

– Jeff Oda

The post El Galan Doña Nieves Sentimiento appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.