As mentioned in last week’s review, Felix Assouline Cigars currently has four brands under their belt: EGO, Ringo, Something Special, and Havana Sunrise Reserve. The Limited Reserve Something special is produced in six vitolas at Felix Assouline’s factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. Available vitolas include the Elegant (5 ½ by 44), Sublime ( 5 by 52), Phoenix (6 ½ by 54 Belicoso), Virtuoso (6 ½ by 54), Exquisite (6 ½ by 58 Torpedo), and Majestic (6 ½ by 58).

The Facts

Samples Provided by Felix Assouline Cigars
MSRP: $4.50
Vitola: Sublime
Size: 5 by 52
Wrapper: Habano Criollo 98
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran
Drink: Water
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 30 Minutes

Pre-light

As I remove the Limited Reserve Something Special from the cellophane, I am greeted with a pungent aroma of musty earth and manure, with an underlying sweetness.  The color on the Habano Criollo 98 wrapper is mostly consistent in its rusty-brown color.  I do not encounter any soft spots as I press lightly down the stick.

The foot aroma reminds me of potpourri that is common around the winter holidays with a rich, warm, welcoming aroma of  cinnamon, nutmeg, and cedar. A shallow cut of the large double cap opens up a free draw.   The cold draw is much of the same flavors as the foot aroma and a spice can be felt on my lips.

First Third

The Limited Reserve Something Special opens with a beautiful, rich cedar flavor. The smoke has a slight tartness to it that is actually complimenting the richness quite nicely. Some mild spice can be felt in my mouth and bright, white pepper notes show-off on the retrohale. At the one inch point, a lot of sweetness has entered the mix but quickly fades. The cigar has a  clean cedar finish. The burn-line is thick and edgy but no need for a touch-up so far. The Something Special is burning slow with the first gray, flaky ash dropping at twenty-five minutes.

Middle Third

The cigar is producing a satisfying amount of smoke with each small draw. The cedar remains at the core of the smoke into the second third. The mustyness that I picked up during the pre-light inspection has found its way into the profile, along with some coffee. Wow, the cinnamon and spice have picked up a couple of notches making this one rich cigar. Once again the sweetness  that I experienced in the first third arrived and departed quickly. This sweetness is different than a chocolate or sugar-cane. To me, it tastes more artificial. The burn is mostly in-line as I put a close to the middle third.

Final Third

The spice feel in the mouth has changed from a peppery spice to more of a jalapeno heat that is somewhat acidic. The woodsy cedar notes have shifted to more of a hickory wood, especially in the room aroma.  Toasty bread-like notes , along with a faint chocolate sweetness are entering the mix as the cigar begins to wind down. The flavors are staying enjoyable to the end.  Only one  quick touch-up was required in the last third.

Wrap-up

This 5 by 52 cigar smoked incredibly slow and delivered some excellent flavors for one and a half hours. The woodsy cedar made up the core of the smoke with shifts and variations of the rich spice notes throughout the experience. Due to the richness in the Something Special, I could see this pairing incredibly well with a drink that would offset the richness……maybe some COFFEE! Prior to smoking the L.R. Something Special I was unaware of the price. Now knowing the $4.50 MSRP, this is an easy buy in my book.  I am not sure how readily available Felix Assouline cigars are, but if you happen to stumble across this stick, give it a whirl and let us know what you think.

The post Felix Assouline Cigars – L.R. Something Special appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

As mentioned, I had absolutely zero knowledge of Felix Assouline Cigars prior to Michel Malek reaching out to me. While this was the first time that I heard of this company, Felix Assouline, owner, is not a newcomer to industry. Felix first entered in the cigar world in 1997, opened his first factory in Honduras in 2004, and achieved a 90 rating in Smoke Magazine in 2006 with their original release of the EGO.  After nine years in the industry, Felix took a six-year hiatus to focus on his family. Felix found his way back into the industry in 2013 and opened a factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. This is what Felix Assouline Cigars’ website has to say about the company now:.

Felix Assouline Cigars is proud to introduce four new premium cigar brands. Made in our factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, the Capital of Tobacco, our cigars marry the perfect mix of tobacco from the richest fields in Nicaragua and Honduras. Each blend is created to enrich your smoking experience leaving you wanting more. Through careful craftsmanship, we roll our cigars the traditional Cuban way using the knowledge learned from one of the great masters, Alejandro Robaina. We then take the extra time to box press our cigars to fuse the flavors of the different leaves together. The results are 4 distinctly rich flavors found in our introductory brands: EGO, Havana Sunrise Reserve and Ringo.

The EGO is available in three vitolas: Shot (5 by 25 Cigarillo), Perfect (5 by 52 Perfecto), and Passion (6 ½ by 58 Torpedo).

The Facts

Samples Provided by Felix Assouline Cigars
Vitola: Perfect (Perfecto)
Size: 5 by 52
Wrapper: Habano 98
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran
Drink: Water
Smoke Time: 1 Hour

Pre-light

The EGO that I am smoking is the Perfect, which is a box-pressed perfecto. The Habano wrapper on the Felix Assouline EGO is mostly consistent in its medium brown color and it has a light reddish hue. There are only a couple color imperfections on the leaf. Tons of small veins web across the stick but to the touch they can barely be felt.  The wrapper has a wonderful aroma of  sweet barnyard.

The aroma off of the tapered foot of the cigar is rich with the same sweet barnyard and additional dark notes of earth, cocoa, and faint cedar. I find a firm draw upon cutting the somewhat sloppy double cap. I expect the draw to open up as I burn past the tapered foot. The cold draw is rich with earth and cinnamon notes.

First third

 A quick flame on the foot is all it takes to get the EGO started, but hardly any smoke is being produced and I am having to take several firm draws to get any sort of smoke in my mouth. The smoke that I am getting is bitter and burnt tasting. After about eight minutes, the draw is beginning to loosen and I am able to discern some much better flavors. Full spicy, woodsy notes saturate my palate. The flavors are much fuller than I expected. A spice sting can be felt at the back of my throat. I am still in the first third and there is already some development in the flavor department taking place. The smoke has become creamy with a light butterscotch flavor. The burn line is extremely thick and wavy requiring one touch-up in the first third.  The flaky ash is light in color but easily holding passed an inch.

Middle Third

The spice remains at the core of the smoke and black pepper notes have arrived. The black pepper is very noticeable on the retrohale. The intensity of the woodsy notes are picking up and a sugar-cane sweetness is peeking through but not on a consistent basis.  The finish has some dusty cocoa notes. At the forty minute mark, I have already arrived at the large band on the EGO. Another touch-up in second third was required  to keep the burn on path. The flavors are medium/full and strength at the high-end of medium.

Final Third

The spice is not at all shy. My mouth and lips tingle with a nice little spice sting for quite sometime after each draw. The flavors remain very dark and a toastiness  is beginning to overpower the rest of the flavors. The woodsy notes have shifted down and the sweetness has not shown back up. The burn line is a bit edgy at this point but overall burning well. The strength is pushing full.

Wrap-up

Felix Assouline’s EGO is a hard stick to fully evaluate. While the cigar I smoked for this review opened up after I burned passed the nipple foot, the draw on the other sample remained restricted throughout the experience causing shallow, bitter/burnt flavors.  If I only focus on the cigar that I smoked for this review, I really enjoyed the cigar after the first eight minutes through the second third. However, the toastyness I encountered in the final third overshadowed the flavors I enjoyed in the previous two thirds. A couple of touch-ups were required and the ash was rather flaky. I am interested in smoking a few more EGO’s before making my final judgement on the stick. Also, I think I will just clip past the tapered foot and skip right to the portion of the smoke I really enjoyed the next time I light one up. Finally, I want to say “Thank You” to Michel Malek and Felix Assouline Cigars for providing the samples.

The post Felix Assouline Cigars – EGO appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.