Familia Rodriguez Tobacos LLC is a father and son operation launched in 2015. The initial releases under their Ohana brand included the M13, The First Generation, and The Friends and Family. The brand grew in 2016 with the addition of the Ohana Pulse and the Ohana Pulse Maduro. The Ohana Pulse utilizes a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, while the Pulse Maduro has a Mexican San Andres maduro leaf. Manufactured at Noel Rojas’ NOA factor in Nicaragua,  the Ohana Pulse features Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos and produced in two vitolas: Robusto (5 by 50) and Toro (6 by 52).

THE FACTS

Price: $9.50
Vitola: Toro
Size: 6 by 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 30 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Ohana Pulse is draped in a medium brown Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that has an orangish tint and is covered in small to medium veins, coated in bumps, and there are several color variations and imperfections on the leaf. The cigar is rolled well with no soft spots to be found.

The Ohana Pulse carries an aroma of earth, a generic woodiness, and barnyard on the wrapper of the cigar. Since the cigar has a completely closed foot, nothing new is found on the foot of the cigar. The head of the cigar comes to an end with a spiral pig-tailed cap. Upon clipping, I can hardly manage a draw due to the interference of the closed foot. However, I am able to pick up some faint woodsy flavors and a mild to medium spice heat is felt on the lips.

FIRST THIRD

After a couple of seconds toasting the closed foot of the cigar, a beautiful draw opens up on the Ohana Pulse filling my mouth with a copious amount of smoke. The introductory flavors are full and rich with a heavy black pepper, bread, and a woodsy flavor. The spice is full in the mouth and quickly overshadows the other flavors. Around the half inch mark, the spice gives way bringing balance to the profile. There is an unidentifiable fruitiness that is pairing well with the other flavors. A light gray ash is being formed as the cigar burns evenly through the first third.

MIDDLE THIRD

Pulling into the second third of the Ohana Pulse, the cigar has a medium flavor profile that is mostly of heavier, darker flavors of pepper, pencil shavings, and coffee. That earlier fruitiness  has more of a citrus quality to it. While the spice has settled in the mouth, as I pass the smoke through my nose, the pepper remains sharp. As I approach the midway point, the flavor evolve to more of an earth and coffee.

FINAL THIRD

The flavors remain consistent with the end of the prior third with an added touch of char, and the strength of the cigar is finally beginning to hit me. The cigar continues to behave well through the final third with a mostly even burn and a solid ash being formed. The smoke production has decreased from the first third, but each draw still satisfies. With only an inch left, the smoke remains cool and the flavors are not at all harsh.

WRAP-UP

As I near in on 10 years of cigar smoking, one of the things that still gets me excited is trying new cigars, especially from up-and-coming companies like Familia Rodriguez Tobacos LLC. The Ohana Pulse immediately pumped out bold and rich flavors with a hefty amount of spice. As the spice settled, dark and heavier flavor on the palate began to take center stage with those flavors not giving any ground through the middle and last third. But, it was the last two thirds of the cigar that were very monotone and lacked in complexity and balance. The cigar performed well with a decently even burn and solid ash throughout. The second sample smoked for review did require a couple of touch-ups, but the profile was identical. For a stick that runs $9.50, this would be a hard buy in my book. But even with that said, I hope to smoke through the other cigars offered by this company in the future.

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The Good Stuff:

The Guayacan Sabor de Esteli is a tribute to Nicaragua’s cigar making capital Esteli which made its debut at the 2014 IPCPR show in Las Vegas. The Sabor de Esteli line are produced by Noel Rojas, at Rojas’ Aromas de Jalapa factory in Nicaragua. The Sabor de Esteli features a Nicaraguan binder fan filler while the Natural version showcases an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and the Maduro carries a Mexican San Andreas wrapper.

Both lines are offered in three different sizes, the natural features a standard round format while the maduro sports box-pressed formats: The Toro (6 x 52), Gordo (6 x 60), Robusto (5 x 50), and the an additional limited edition Corona (6.5 x 42) which is only offered int he Natural. Prices range between $8 and $9.50 for boxes of 20.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $8.50
Pairing: Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 15 (Imperial Stout 10.1% ABV)

Prelight:

The wrapper on the Sabor de Esteli is really thick and dense sporting lots of tooth and a few larger veins. The wrapper is a deep brown in color and extremely consistent with the exception of a small area around the cap. The Sabor de Esteli’s long, thin, boxpressed body leading up to a round double cap which in both samples I received, were affixed quite loosely. The Sabor de Esteli has a very nice, painting type band that features a woman in a tobacco field which actually comes off very easily despite the size of it. I always hate when cigars carry massive bands with tons of glue which ultimately comes off on the wrapper leaf. Luckily we are good there. Outside of the loose cap the cigar is very well constructed and quite firm as I squeeze it between my fingers.

The wrapper gives off lots of spice and cedar while the foot gives off some strong pepper, tobacco, and wood aromas. The cap cut clean but the remainder was so loosely laid on the cigar that it come off on my lips once I put the cigar in my mouth. The cold draw produces some real nice plum, spice, and oak.

First Third:

Right off the bat the Sabor de Esteli stats off with some potent peppers and spice. Once the black pepper began to fizzle out the spice gained more grand backed by some plum, sweetness, brown sugar, natural tobacco and lots of deep oakiness and a sharp tartness on the finish. The draw is awesome, each little puff kicks out a good amount of thin smoke. The burn line is a bit wavy, but manageable while the ash is almost black and very, very thin and flaky only holding on for about a half inch before falling into my lap. Be aware of that.

Second Third:

That tartness has been rocking the flavor department in the Sabor de Esteli. The backing flavors are still a deep oakiness, plum, and spice while the sweetness has completely disappeared. The retrohale showcases some really strong pepper and spice with a bit of that oak on the aftertaste. The burn line is still a bit wild, but I haven’t had to reach for my lighter quite yet. I close out the second third feeling nothing in the nicotine department.

Final Third:

Man the tart flavor is really taking over this experience as I venture into the final third of the Guayacan Sabor de Esteli Maduro. Outside of the tartness there is some good spice, coffee, oak, and natural tobacco flavors. The burn lines has been while the whole time but with only one or two touch ups, I’m not complaining. The Sabor de Esteli Maduro took me almost two hours to take down and I experienced only some minor harshness at the end, and not heat down to the nub.

Overview:

The Guayacan Sabor de Esteli is a good cigar, but it does have it’s nuances. First, that tartness was a bit much for me. While that’s strictly subjective something that isn’t is the massive amounts of sap that built up on both samples I smoked. The sap appeared a little more than halfway end requiring me to frequently clip the cap to get rid of it. Some time in the humidor may do wonders for this cigar as the tartness would mellow out and the sap would be absorbed. I’ve smoked and loved the natural version of this cigar and at this point would recommend that one over this cigar, but I’ll have to revisit this one in a few months to see how it shapes up with a bit of age.

Pairing:

This was a another moment where as soon as I lit up the Guayacan Sabor Esteli I knew exactly what I wanted to pair it with. Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve 15 is the 15th installment in the divine reserve series. Each year Saint Arnold pumps out a different limited edition style and this year the Divine Reserve features a 10.1% Imperial Stout. The Divine Reserve leads with spice, chocolate and malt with a very heavy mouthful, lots of chocolate and sweetness and tons of creaminess. The flavors in this beer marry up perfectly with the flavors of the Sabor de Esteli Maduro. I could see this cigar paired with some black coffee all day, sweet tea, or a strong porter.

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