For those who don’t know, Gran Habano had recently formed a series called the S.T.K. series. The cigars in this special series are limited production, limited release cigars that were created for the sole consumption of George A. Rico and family. Needless to say these are extraordinary cigars and Rico felt the public deserved to try them out as well, thus creating the S.T.K. series. The S.T.K. series will initially only be available at 50 retailers across the U.S.  and limited to no more than 100. Luckily our friends over at Gran Habano Cigars (@ghcigars) where kind enough to send a few of them our way.

After numerous blends and prototypes, George A. Rico has finally came up with a cigar he deemed worthy of the Opium name. This cigar is composed of a Nicaraguan Habano Corojo hybrid wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and an unknown mix of fillers. These cigars come in just one size, 6×52, will run $9 a stick, and will only be available at S.T.K. authorized retailers.

Size: 6×52  –  Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano/Corojo  –  Binder: Nicaraguan  –  Filler: Unknown

Prelight: First and foremost, the band on this G.A.R. Opium is impossible to ignore. The cigar sports a crazy elegant, attention calling double gold, red, and white band along with a third black and gold foot band that simply states that this cigar is part of the S.T.K. series and is a “Limited Edition” “by George A. Rico”. The first band is a huge red and gold crest with the G.A.R. branding followed by a smaller secondary band with a similar design that has the blend’s name “Opium”. The wrapper on this cigar is a beautify dark and medium brown with tons of oils coating the entire body. There are only one or two short, wider veins running through the body of this cigar leading up to the perfectly round triple cap. The cigar in general is extremely firm with no soft spots. The wrapper feels really durable as it didn’t tear or break when I squeezed it. It did however leave a really neat coating of oils on my finger tips. The wrapper on this cigar gives off a very interesting sweet pine aroma while the foot produces nothing more than a bold tobacco scent. The cap cut clean and easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw is interesting. Instead of getting the run of the mill tobacco flavor I was anticipating the G.A.R. Opium let loose this crazy spicy, sweet, cedar flavor with even a bit of pepper on just the cold draw alone.

First Smoke: Instead of this G.A.R. Opium greeting me with the pepper I was expecting due to the cold draw flavors, I was welcomed with a very sweet tobacco flavor with a bit of honey, cinnamon and some subtle cedar with a bit of pepper that only teased my lips and tongue. The draw on this cigar is dead on, filling my mouth with tons of thick smoke with every puff. The burnline is razor sharp and even for the most part with only some very small waves. The ash left behind is white and light grey and extremely tightly compacted. The ash held on for well over an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The G.A.R. Opium is really starting to open up now. Along with the sweet tobacco, cedar, and honey I am not picking up some interesting floral and citrus notes. I had to double check my hands to make sure they didn’t have soap on them. This cigar is very smooth and has some really interesting flavors. The retrohale is a nice addition to the experience to coating my nasal passage with a very bold, sweet cedar. I’m not really feeling any nicotine at this point, and the cigar is still burning dead even with amazingly white, compact ash.

Finish: Despite the larger bands on this G.A.R. Opium, all three of them slid right off the cigar without a hitch. That always gets huge brownie points with me. The Opium really smoothed out into the final third while the body ramped up a bit. Most of the flavors have dampened with the exception of the sweet tobacco and cedar which are rocking pretty hard at this point. There was no harshness at all, even into the final inch where I felt only a slight nicotine buzz before a smooth, creamy finish.

Overview: Gran Habano is a company that sometimes gets passed by cigar smokers. Just because they are affordable doesn’t mean they aren’t supburb cigars and the Opium is a perfect example of that. Perfect construction, great flavors, complex yet smooth. It really doesn’t get better than that. This is a perfect cigar for any occasion. Light enough to smoke in the morning, flavorful enough for an after meal smoke, and affordable enough for an everyday smoke. Need I say more?

Pairing: Coming in with another Lips of Faith series brew form New Belgium brewing, I paired this G.A.R. Opium with the new “Prickly Passion Saison”. I’ve said it so many times, but Saisons are my poison. I could drink these all day long. This isn’t your standard Saison though, it’s actually a 8.5% ABV beer brewed with natural Prickly Pear Cactus and Passion fruit juices. Usually the fruit would be the focal point of the brew, but in this case it’s nothing more than a slight aftertaste that really helps make this beer one of the smoothest I can say I have ever had. Sweet and citrusy up front with a nice smooth, creamy, fruity finish. This was a PERFECT pairing. I can’t stress that enough. Now that the Opium’s will be easily obtained, I recommend trying this pairing out if you can find the beer. Usually this time of the season I’d be pairing with some nice winter seasonal porters or stouts, but after trying this beer I knew it would go perfect with this cigar. You know what else goes great with this cigar and the beer? The Bouncing Souls. I got some “True Believers” playing as I enjoy the weekend before the chaos on my back porch.

The post Gran Habano G.A.R. Opium S.T.K. appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

We’ll begin with the review, so you know just what you are going to be getting.

The Good Stuff: Most of you are already aware of Bonita Smokeshop, a great little cigar shop ran by amazing people located in Bonita Springs Florida. For those of you who aren’t, you can visit their site here for more information, or to place an order. They carry just about anything any cigar enthusiast could ask for. Bonita Smokeshop has earned a well respected place in this nations cigar community. Not only are they some of the nicest, most sincere people around, but recently they got rated #9 on Cigarcyclopedia’s National retailer ranking. To celebrate their 18th year anniversary Jackie decided it was time to produce a celebratory blend. She worked on this thoroughly and injected her excitement through onto us. The Bonita Smokeshop 18th anniversary cigar was created by the mind of Jackie and the hands of Willie Herrera of ETB Cigars and his level 9 rollers, trained in the traditional Entubado style of rolling. The Entubado method of rolling each filler leaf into a tube before bunching resulting in a much smoother and effortless draw. The blend starts with an aged Ecuadorian Sumatra Wrapper, bound by Nicaraguan tobacco, encasing Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. For more information visit Bonita’s site.

Size: 6 x 50 – Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra – Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan/Dominican

Prelight: Bonita Smokeshop’s 18th anniversary is a very heavy, beefy little stick. The Ecuadorian wrapper is a beautifully consistent, silky, milky light brown. I always that Ecuadorian wrappers were beautiful but I am always a bit weary as they always seem too delicate and prone to damage, and construction issues. This isn’t the case on any of the samples that I have. The cigar is very firm to the touch, tightly compacted, and has quite a few noticeable veins running the length of the cigar. The 18th anniversary is polished off with a traditional Cuban triple cap. I said it before, but I really don’t see why all manufacturers are triple capping their cigars. The aroma given off by the wrapper supplied me with an abundant compound of spice and tobacco paired with a nutty undertone. The foot of the cigar only escalates the aromas. The cap clipped off with ease using my trusty Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw was very fluid and left behind a very creamy and sweet tobacco taste with just a hint of spice.

First Smoke: Bonita Smokeshop’s 18th Anniversary lit up with ease using my single flame butane torch lighter. The first flavors I was hit with began with a sweet tobacco that then transitioned off to a very creamy, woodsy flavor, backed by tons of sweet spice, and just enough pepper to tease my lips and the back of my throat. The draw is effortless and produces’ a massive cloud of pleasantly cedar scented smoke. The smoke didn’t linger for too long as its 97 degrees out and I have the ceiling fans on my patio up full blast. The burline is extremely solid and consistent leaving behind a light to medium grey trail of nicely compacted ash. The ash held on for two inches before giving way.

Halfway There: The pepper faded away quickly into the second third of this Bonita Smokeshop 18th Anniversary cigar. The main flavor is this really strong, comforting, woodsy flavor complimented by a creamy and sweet spice and cinnamon. The experience is very relaxing and creamy. I’m not feeling any nicotine at this point. The burnline is still dead even and the draw is plentiful. The retrohale is very pleasant as well adding a nice woodsy prime to the pallet.

Finish: Into the final third the flavor profile hasn’t changed up much. Still smooth woodsy, with a dash of spice. There is really no noticeable harshness built up, nor am I feeling any sort of nic-kick despite the length of this cigar and faster speed in which I smoke at.. This is a smooth, well balanced experience. I never had to relight nor even touch up this cigar. It burned clean all the way though the hour and a half experience.

Overview: All in all, I like to consider myself a maduro guy. I see lighter wrappers and my crappy judgment tends to kick in as I try to convince myself that it not as flavorful as darker wrappers. No idea why I do this, but if this 18th anniversary isn’t a kick to my ego I don’t know what is. Packed with tons of flavor I can honestly say this house blend is in a league of its own.

Pairing: I decided to pair this cigar with my everyday beer. New Belgium’s Fat Tire amber ale. Fat Tire is one of those beers that can pair well with anything. Food, cigars, other beers, yard work, whatever the case may be. The biscuit and nutty flavored beer is the perfect compliment to any mild or medium cigar. This cigar would also pair well with any light wine, black coffee, or apple juice.

And now for the contest:
Casas Fumando and Bonita Smoke Shop will be giving one lucky reader not only a chance to sample the 18th anniversary blend, but a little place to store it as well.

We are giving away 5 of Bonita Smoke Shop’s 18th anniversary cigars and this beautiful 50 count, glass top humidor.

Entering is simple:
There are 3 different ways to enter. Each one counts as 1 entry and a winner will be chosen at random and notified Sunday September 12th. Sorry but this contest is limited to US residents only. Winners must be 18 or over.

1. Sign up for our newsletter. You can find the newsletter sign up on the right side navigation bar. If you are already signed up, consider yourself entered.

2. Leave a Comment on this post. Simply leave a comment on this post. No theme this time, but if you comment on how much you’d like to see Daniel in his infamous fun-manchu I’ll give you a cyber hi-five.

3. Retweet the following message: “Visit Casas Fumando and enter to win a humidor and 5pk of @bonitasmokeshop’s 18th anni. Cigars: http://tinyurl.com/2cpzljl @tonycasas” be sure to include the @tonycasas so I can track the RT’s.

That’s it! We are excited to share these with one lucky reader, so let the games begin!

The post Bonita Smoke Shop’s 18th Anniversary Review and Giveaway appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.