The Good Stuff: By now, most of you are familiar with My Father’s La Reloba line. The La Reloba line is the Pepin’s line of more reasonable priced cigars. Most of the cigars from the line run between $5.00 and $7.00 while not skimping on the product. From what I know, there have been a total of 4 blends released in the series. Three Nicaraguan Puros: The Sumatra (which Daniel reviewed here), the Habano, the Oscuro, and the non-Nica-Puro Mexico. While the binder and fillers remain true to form with the Nicaraguan-based La Reloba line, Don Pepin through a wrench in wrapper this cigar with a Mexican San Andreas wrapper. Like the other cigars in the La Reloba line, the cigar is released in four different sizes: Corona: 5  x 46 Robusto: 5 x 50 Toro: 6 1/4 x 52 and the Torpedo: 6 1/8 x 52.

 Wrapper: San Andreas Mexican  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan  –  Body: Medium

Prelight: The first thing I personally noticed about My Father’s La Reloba Seleccion Mexico is the crazy amount of patches on the wrapper. They didn’t try to hide them either. You can see a few in the picture above, but I counted a total of 4, just on this cigar alone. And I’m not the only one who has noticed them. Although they are ugly, they don’t bother me at all if they don’t effect the experience. We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out. The wrapper itself is absolutely stunning. Extremely dark, consistent, chocolaty brown and incredibly toothy. Seriously, this cigar feels like sandpaper. There seems too be a bit of oil on the wrapper, but it’s much more pronounced as I get towards the cap of this Seleccion Mexico. There are really only a handful of very shallow, very small veins running through the body of the cigar leading up to the round double cap.  The band is identical to all the other cigars in the La Reloba Line. Black band, with gold embossed ink and the “La Reloba” crest. The only difference is the green, white, and red “Seleccion MEXICO” logo underneath it. The green and red portions also carry into the Le Reloba Crest.  The cigar is very thick, very heavy, and hard as a rock. I really hope it isn’t packed too tightly

The wrapper smells just as it looks, straight up chocolate with a bit of mixed in tobacco. The foot of the cigar gives off a really mild pepper and graham aroma. The cap was a pain in the ass to cut on this cigar. Not due to the wrapper, but there was so much tobacco packed so tightly into this thing that it took a lot more effort to clip. The cold draw was crazy tight, but produced a lot of chocolate and oak flavors.

First Smoke: Just as I expected given how tight this My Father La Reloba Seleccion Mexico was packed, the draw was very tight. I’s manageable, but it really takes some effort to get the right amount of smoke in my mouth. The flavors in this cigar were exactly what I was expecting, tons and tons of dark chocolate, a bit of espresso, some nice cashew with a bit of spice over a bit of tobacco. The burnline on this cigar started out really crazy, but started to correct itself as I neared the end of the first third leaving behind a brilliant trail of white, tightly compacted ash which held on for about an inch and a half before giving way.

Halfway There: The chocolate in this Seleccion Mexico has ramped up to a whole new level. The beer is probably helping bring that out. The spice has really started to settle down as the chocolate and espresso ramp up for an overall smooth and creamy experience in the second third. More good news is that the draw has began to open up a bit. It’s still quite tight, but I can live with it. The retrohale is delightful kicking out tons of chocolate and woodsy flavors. The burnline has became slightly wavy again, but I haven’t had to relight or touch up the cigar yet so I am totally ok with that. There was a bit of wrapper cracking, but it really didn’t effect the experience at all. I am feeling absolutely no nicotine at this point.

Finish:  The chocolate and coffee have really taken turns jabbing at each other, but into the final third of this La Reloba Seleccion Mexico, I found the coffee to be much more dominant  while the chocolate simmered down and mixed in with the woodsy, spicy, tobacco flavors. The cigar finished just, absolutely, pleasantly smooth. I was expecting a much bolder, spicier cigar coming from the Pepin family. Even the final inch was just as smooth as the start of the cigar. The nicotine levels may have been low, but the flavor category was off the charts.

Overview: If it wasn’t for the type draw and the patches, I would be giving My Father’s La Reloba Seleccion Mexico a paramount review. The flavors are amazing, the burn was spot on, and the price is right where it should be. This is a very good stick, and I really recommend picking a few up. Despite it’s flaws, I really thing this cigar held it’s own and would make a perfect addition to anyone’s regular rotation. Since there wasn’t a whole lot of strength this cigar is perfect for not only seasoned cigar smokers, but for those new to the game who really want to try a premium cigar without breaking the bank.

Pairing: I hit the nail on the head with this pairing. Not only did it complete the Cinco De Mayo theme, but New Belgium’s Cocoa Mole was the ideal pairing for the strong chocolate, coffee, and spice flavors of the Seleccion Mexico.  Brewed at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, this installment of the Lips of Faith Series took beer to a whole new level. Experimenting with Mexican ingredients, New Belgium produced a dark brown, 9% ABV ale with a creamy, chocolaty, spicy “Mole” type character. For those of you who have never had Mole (pronounce Mole-eh) it’s basically a spicy, chocolate type sauce used on various Mexican dishes such as chicken or enchiladas. Sounds weird, but it’s really good. Needless to say this ale was the epitome of a perfect pairing when it matched up almost identically to flavor profile in the La Reloba Seleccion Mexico.

The post My Father – La Reloba Seleccion Mexico appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Now I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with the My Father Cigars brand, they are synonymous with awesome cigars. Jaime Garcia decided a long while ago to create a more wallet friendly line to add to the My Father Cigars inventory, and this is how the La Reloba line was born.

Just like most brands from the My Father lines, the La Reloba is a Nicaraguan puro made with high quality and aged tobacco leafs from their various farms. There are 3 wrappers offered in the La Reloba line which are Seleccion Sumatra, Seleccion Habano and Seleccion Mexico(Maduro). I also found some inklings online about a limited release Seleccion Oscura although I only can find them at one online source and they aren’t listed on the My Father Cigars website.

In the line of La Reloba we have 4 sizes which include the Corona, Robusto, Toro and Torpedo. Today’s cigar up for review is the Corona vitola which I’ve had the chance to smoke a few of. I had the Habano on hand but I haven’t had as many of them plus I decided to settle on a slightly milder blend since I was lighting this up just after lunch time.

Cigar: La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra by My Father Cigars
Drink: Unibroue Raftman
Vitola: Corona (5.625 x 46)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Around $4
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra is wrapped with a fairly smooth leaf to the touch but the cigar itself is rather bumpy
• There are quite a few visible veins on the wrapper but none of them are very large, medium sized at most, and don’t look like they will cause any burn issues
• The orangey-chocolate colored wrapper has a nice oily sheen to it and the triple cap is finished with a couple loose edges
• From a little squeezing it’s easy to tell this is a very firm cigar and I hope that doesn’t cause any issues
• The foot looks extremely well packed, tons of leaf in there
• Cutting this cigar with my double bladed guillotine cutter was fairly easy but it caused a huge explosion of little pieces of tobacco

Burn:
• The toasting was very nice, even on this windy day it glowed evenly without much effort
• The initial burn looks promising and is keeping a razor sharp and even line
• The razor sharp burn continues through the first half, no touch ups needed at all and it’s letting me enjoy it nice and slow
• Great burn continued right to the end, nothing much else to report here!

Smoke & Ash:
• For a fairly small cigar this La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra is pumping out a ton of smoke from every draw
• Surprisingly though, the resting smoke is almost non-existent, as if it’s saving it all for me! lol
• The ash has a wonderful light grey, almost white color to it and is very smooth
• Despite being a smaller ring gauge cigar, the ash here is very strong and clean and held on over an inch before I tapped it off
• The crazy winds knocked off my next ash just short of an inch, missed a picture opportunity too
• Also realized the wind blew most of the ash right out of the ashtray!

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper is giving off a barnyard and cedar aroma
• The foot brings a ton more barnyard aroma with almost no cedar, maybe just a touch of spice in there too
• The pre-light draw brings more of the barnyard and woodsy aromas, and maybe a touch of earth now too
• The initial flavors coming from this cigar are all about the woodsiness and spices, I’m getting an interesting punch of cloves along with a mild paprika maybe
• The spice died down a bit and I’m left with a bit of a leathery flavor to go with the cedar notes
• At nearly the halfway mark I’m starting to get some of the baking spice flavors that I find in almost every Sumatra wrapped cigar I have, sort of like some molasses and cinnamon
• The body on this cigar has been mostly in the low medium range and the retro hale has been giving a tiny bite with a smooth cedar finish
• The cedar and baking spices stuck through to the end and made for a nice enjoyable experience right to the nub
• No harshness or bitter buildup right to the finish

Final Thoughts:
This isn’t my first foray into the La Reloba series and it definitely won’t be my last. The La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra was a tasty treat that had a nice array of flavors to keep me interested the whole way through. It wasn’t as complex or dimensional as some of the other My Father Cigars but it was definitely enjoyable and fits nicely into their inventory. The burn was also spot on the whole way through which is always a big plus for me. The price is also very attractive for a quality cigar from the My Father Factory. I also have to admit I was surprised to see such a great burn and draw from this cigar when my initial inspection led to some concerns. Can’t complain at all about this cigar and I definitely will be picking up more in the future!

Pairings:
Next to the Scottish brewery of Innis & Gunn that I paired last week, another of my favorite breweries is none other than Canada’s own Unibroue. This place is based out of Quebec and has a HUGE inventory of brews with a ton of different and unique beers that are a rare find. Today’s brew is called Raftman and I only found a case of these while actually in Quebec, I’ve never seen it in any other stores so far. Now this brew was very interesting as the label says it is brewed with Whisky Malts so I just had to pick it up and give it a try. Well I’m glad I did cause this is one tasty brew and yet again another winner from Unibroue. It’s a fairly light amber beer but it packs in a ton of flavor. The whisky malts are very obvious as they give a classic touch of whisky, as if you just put a little whisky inside a good beer. Along with that it also has a delicious malty finish and some notes of sweetness as well. I found that it paired very well with the La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra as it added some flavors to the whole experience without either the cigar or the beer being overbearing on each other. Any medium bodied brew would go well here such as an Amber lager or even a dark ale, a nice coffee would definitely pair nicely here too.

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