Flor de Valle Archives - Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando

Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle

Tony Casas — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:30:00 +0000

Happy Monday everyone! This week I stay on schedule bringing by you a review of the Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle paired with a bottle of Modern Times Tequila Barrel Aged Monster’s Park Imperial Stout.

The Good Stuff:

One of the very few cigars released this year by Warped at the IPCPR show in Vegas was the line extension to the Flor De Valle line called the Seleccion de Valle. This 6 x 52, 109 style capped cigar, originally called “Flor de Valle Ghost Orhid before having to change it’s name due to trademark issues features an all Aganorsa makeup of a Nicaraguan Corojo 99 wrapper from the Jalapa region along with Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 binder, and all Nicaraguan fillers.

The format is slated for regular production, runs $12.59 a stick, and comes in boxes of 20. The cigar is produced at Aganorsa Lead Factory (formally TABSA). I picked mine up over from our friends at Fox Cigar who have them in stock now, and offer free shipping on all orders, no minimum.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo 99
Binder: Nicaraguan Corojo 99 / Criollo 98
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $12.95
Pairing: Modern Times Tequila Barrel Aged Monster’s Park (Imperial Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight:

The Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle starts out with a splotchy milk-chocolate brown wrapper scattered with darker brown areas throughout. The wrapper’s texture is mostly smooth with a very slight amount of tooth and soft oils. The wrapper itself feels very thin and fragile. The wrapper is laid so smoothly over itself that its hard to even find the seam. The wrapper showcases only very mild veining and small webbing in the tobacco leaf as you lead up the cigar’s thick body to the stubby tapered 109 style cap.

The Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle carries the beautiful white, gold, and cyan Flor de Valle band we’ve come to expect on this blend. Seriously, this is a gorgeous band. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces lots of earthy/dirt flavors with a good amount of pepper coating the profile.

First Third:

The Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle starts out with an initial blast of black pepper that was only present for the first few draws. After the pepper faded the cigar greeted me with a good amount of earthiness, cashew, cedar, and soft spice. As I continue to smoke through the first third more and more of the cashew flavor pushes itself to the forefront of the flavor profile. The draw is absolutely perfect. Each little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick, white smoke. The burn line is dead even and razor thing leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white/light gray ash which held on for about an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle and the flavor remain mostly the same. The cashew and cedar lead the charge backed by notes of earth and dirt along with a nice lightly creamed coffee which has entered the mix. The retrohale really brings out the pepper I encountered when I first lit up the cigar so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burn line is still dead even and razor thin as I close out the second third with nothing from the nicotine department.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle and things remain the same, and I like that. The main flavors are still the cedar and cashew backed by earthiness, dirt and creamed coffee. It took me an hour and a half to take the Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat. I closed out the cigar with only a very mild hit of nicotine.

Overview:

The Seleccion de Valle is an excellent extension to an already vast, and great Flor de Valle line. The 109 format is one coveted by aficionados and easily the most prominent vitola in the line. The flavors offered in the Flor de Valle are not overly complex, but extremely enjoyable and just complex enough to keep you thinking about the cigar as you’re smoking it. I for one really enjoy the flavor profile and often reach for the blend when I want a just all around great cigar. After smoking quite a few different vitoilas in the line I have to say the Seleccion de Valle is my favorite, and I usually gravitate towards smaller ring gauges. The flavors are a bit more balanced, and the stubby tapered cap is incredible comfortable in my mouth.

Pairing:

Brewed at the Modern Times brewery in California this version of Monster’s Park is aged in tequila barrels and comes in at 13% ABV. The beer leads with loads of cocoa, vanilla, brown sugar, and roasted malt with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing rather sweet with more cocoa vanilla and brown sugar. The Tequila flavor is very mild and really just adds an awesome floral flavor to the aftertaste. With the nutty flavors Warped Flor de Valle Seleccion de Valle I figured combining the two of these would lead to a complimentary, yet complex pairing and that’s exactly what the end result was.

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Warped Flor de Valle Skyflower

Tony Casas — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:30:53 +0000

I know I’ve been a bit spotty lately. I had a pretty rough cold followed by yet another death in the family. This week, I took time to be grateful for everything and everyone I have in my life. Taking a break for everything I ventured out back with a Warped Flor de Valle Skyflower and a Chimay Premiere.

The Good Stuff:

The Flor de Valle blend was originally released by Warped cigars back in 2014 and was the first cigar Warped collaborated on with Casa Fernandez’s TABSA factory. Fast forward a bit and the company is released a new spin-off of the blend featuring Casa Fernandez’s famous High-Priming Medio Tiempo tobacco in the blend. Medio Tiempo is a high priming leaf that only grows on some tobacco plants eating up more sunlight and nutrients which results in a more full-bodied, flavorful leaf. This also explains the rarity of the leaf as well.

Along with the Media Tiempo the blend features a similar make up to the rest of the Flor de Valle blend: a Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo 99 wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 fillers. The Skyflower is released in a single 5 5/8 x 48 Gran Corojo format packaged in boxes of 10 running $15 per stick. This is a limited edition cigar and it will go fast, so get them while you still can. We got ours over at Fox Cigar who still have some in stock last time I checked and offer free shipping on everything, no minimum.

Size: 5 5/8 x 48
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Jalapa Corojo 99
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo 99 and Criollo 98
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $15
Pairing: Chimay Premiere (Belgian Dubbel 7% ABV)

Prelight:

The Warped Flor de Valle Skyflower starts out with a very meaty, rustic looking wrapper thats sports lots of different medium to dark browns as well as splotches of orange scattered throughout. The wrapper itself feels semi-dense and hard while the cigar as a whole is very tightly packed and heavy as a rock. The wrapper carries lots of natural tobacco leaf webbing as well as some very minor veins running their course through the cigar’s body up to the round, triple-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with a very beautiful, complex, black gold and blue wrapper carrying the Flor de Valle crest.

The wrapper on the Wrapped Flor de Valle carries a very sweet aroma with notes of chocolate and spice while the foot of the cigar is much more earthy with musk and natural tobacco aromas along with a very sharp spice. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces bold musk, dirt, and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Warped Flor de Valle Skyflower starts out with a massive cayenne pepper zing that really did a number on my lips and tongue. Once the pepper finally started letting up the cigar released bold notes of musk and pecan over caramel, earthiness, and a ton of spice. This start really gets off and running right from the start. The draw is absolutely brilliant as every little puff kicks out huge clouds of thick, white smoke that really hang out for a while before slowly dissipating while the cigar itself releases an average amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is pretty wavy but razor thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted medium gray ash which held on for almost an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Warped Flor de Valle Skyflower and man, this cigar is just pumping out flavor. The pecan is still leading the charge along with musk and caramel over notes of earthiness, espresso, spice, and a nice floral flavor that seems to pop up every now and again. The retrohale is very sharp with tons of pepper and spice and I can’t stomach doing it very often. The burn line is still a bit wavy but it hasn’t needed any additional attention from my torch yet as I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick already.

Finish:

Deep into the final third of the Warped Flor de Valle Skyflower and the flavors have began to balance out. There is a great, bold cedar that has entered the arena paired with the pecan make for a great leading profile backed by caramel, spice, espresso and musk with a strong reemergence to the cayenne pepper I picked up at the start of the experience. It took me two hours to take this cigar down to the nub and wow did it leave me with a very heavy nicotine kick. I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat and despite the wavy burn line I never once had to break out my torch to touchup or relight the cigar.

Overview:

I have always enjoyed the cigars that Warped has offered and over the past year or so I have really started to fall in love with the company and the Skyflower is a perfect example of why. Warped, especially when teamed up with TABSA create some deeply complex cigars utilizing many rare tobaccos resulting in very unique experiences. The Skyflower is bold, complex, and tasty. While the price point is pretty expensive, it’s justified considering the use if Medio Tiempo tobacco and something I don’t mind paying for considering the result.

Pairing:

Over time Chimay has became and household name and in many cases tends to get overlooked when choosing what beer to drink. I love how great these beers hold up and am always pleased when I go back and revisit them. Premiere Ale is Chimay’s standard Belgian Dubbel release. The beer starts off with lots of malt, sweet brown sugar, spice, apple and caramel with a very light mouthfeel before finishing with even more brown sugar and apple with a nice malty finish. The Warped Flor de Valle Skyflower is a bold cigar with lots of overpowering flavors so I wanted to pair it with something that complimented the flavors while adding some sweetness to the experience and the Chimay accomplished just that.

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