The Good Stuff:

The My Father The Judge has been one of the most highly touted releases as of late. While it was initially released in 2016 the cigar really didn’t find it’s way into the public hands until last year. The Judge is an extension of the popular My Father line created by Don Pepin Garcia and his son Jaime Garcia. The Judge is advertised as a more full-bodied version of the blend mostly due to the Ecuadorian Sumatra seed wrapper over a Nicaraguan criollo/corojo dual binder and Nicaraguan fillers from 3 different My Father-owned farms. The Judge come in three different box-pressed sizes: Toro Fino: 6 x 52, Grand Robusto: 5 x 60, and Toro: 6 x 56. Each format comes packaged in boxes of 23 running between $11.70 and $12.40 a stick. I got mine over from our good friends at Cuenca Cigars who is having an awesome sampler sale including 10 of Cigar Aficionado’s top cigars of 2017.

Size: 5 x 60
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo/Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Pairing: Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast (Oatment Stout 7.5% ABV)
Price: $12.40

Prelight:

The My Father The Judge starts out with a very consistent, very dark brown wrapper. The wrapper only showcases a few darker areas located around the natural webbing of the tobacco leaf. The texture on the cigar is very firm, and very toothy with a small amount of oils coating the wrapper. The cigar as a whole feels pretty firm, with no soft spots while the wrapper is very thick and dense as it leads up to the cigar’s round, double wrapped cap. The cigar is polished off by the beautiful intricate My Father band we all know, and the addition of a secondary brown band with “The Judge” embossed in gold on the front.

The wrapper on the judge releases some great cedar, leather, and spice aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more natural with an overall dirt aroma. The cap cut like butter using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter.  The cold draw produces a ton of bold spice, deep cedar, and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The My Father The Judge starts out with a hell of a cayenne pepper blast which left my lips and tongue tingling for quite some time. Once the pepper fades out the cigar hits you with bold, deep cedar, plum, black coffee, spice, a bit of tartness, and some bittersweet chocolate. It’s an interesting flavor profile and it’s pretty bold so it’s a bit difficult to pick apart. No complaints there. The draw is incredible. Each little puff kicks out so much thick, white smoke. The box-pressed format makes both the mouth and handfeel extremely comfortable. The burnline is pretty even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted black and dark gray ash which held on for almost an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the My Father The Judge the flavor profile becomes much more focused on the chocolate notes. With chocolate leading the charge the flavors are backed by bold cedar, plum and spice with great notes of honey, natural tobacco, and even some slight notes of orange peel here and there. The retrohale brings all the pepper back to the front of the taste so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burnline is still pretty solid and I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the My Father The Judge and the cigar is still pumping out the flavors. The chocolate is still front and center backed by bold spice and cedar along with some light coffee and vanilla. I love the flavor profile in this little beast. It took me an hour and a half to smoke it down to the nub and I experienced no harshness nor extended heat. The burnline was flawless and I never once had to reach for my light to touch up or relight the cigar. The cigar also left me with a memorable little nicotine kick.

Overview:

It’s easy to see the the My Father The Judge received so many accolades this past year. This is an exceptional cigar. I am a huge fan of the My Father line so anything less than exceptional would have pissed me off. Seriously though, it’s bold, its flavorful, it’s strong, it burns like a dream, and the flavors are incredible. My only gripe is it’s a bit pricey, but it’s a price I wouldn’t mind paying when I am craving a next level cigar experience.

Pairing:

Mikkeller’s Beer Geek breakfast is a simple Coffee Infused Oatmeal stout. Coming in at a modest 7.5% ABV the beer leads with some rich dark chocolate, milk, oat, roasted malt, and vanilla with a light mouthfeel before finishing with even more milk chocolate, oat, and a ton of sweetness with a bold vanilla aftertaste. This beer is so smooth and lacks the acidity that I normally expect when it comes to coffee stouts. The flavors mashed seamlessly with the coffee, cocoa, and oat resident in the My Father the Judge. I would also pair this cigar with just about any stout or double bock.

The post My Father The Judge appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Well, thanks to a great friend I finally got my hands on some Caldwell cigars. They are pretty hard to find in these parts. Robert Caldwell, owner of Caldwell cigars is best known for his partnership with Christian Eiroa running Wynwood cigars. Last year the partnership had dissolved and Robert has since teamed up with Henderson and William Ventura of Tabacalera Ventura in the Dominican Republic to create his newest blends. One note is that Caldwell cigars often uses rare tobaccos and vintages to create their blends. The Long Live the King features a Dominican Corojo wrapper from 2008, and Dominican Corojo Binder from 2009, and a flock of rare fillers: Dominican Corojo Ligero from 2006 (50%), Viso Pelo Oro Peruno from 2008 (10%), and a Nicaraguan Habano from 2007 (40%).

The Caldwell Long Live the Kings is offered in 4 sizes: The Heater: (5 3/4 x 46), The Petit Double Wide Short Churchill: (6 x 52), The Marquis: (6 x 60) and the My Style is Jalapeño: (7 1/4 x 40). Each size comes in boxes of 24 and run from $9 to $12 a stick. I got a handful of these from out great friends over at Fox Cigar Bar in Gilbert, Arizona.

Size: 5 3/4 x 46
Wrapper: 2008 Dominican Corojo
Binder: 2009 Dominican Corojo
Filler: 2006 Dominican Corojo Ligero, 2008 Viso Pelo de Oro Peruno, 2007 Nicaraguan Habano
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $9
Pairing: Ninkasi Vanilla Oatis (Oatmeal Stout 7.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The Caldwell Long Live the King starts out with an absolutely gorgeous, consistent dark brown wrapper. There are a few noticeable darker areas surrounding the foot and the natural webbing in the cigar. The cigar carries a very rugged texture with some soft tooth, and a whole ass-ton of oils. The wrapper sports only a few smaller veins through its slender body as it leads up to a beautiful round, triple cap with a stubby little pig tail at the end of it. The cigar feels very firm, and very tightly packed with no soft spots at all while the wrapper feels pretty stable and thick.

The wrapper on the Caldwell Long Live the King gives off a bold pepper, spice, and cashew aroma while the foot of the cigar releases a very sharp pepper which made my nose tingle with some great cedar underneath. The cap cut very clean and easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw wasn’t nearly as pepper-filled as I was expecting as it produced a more nutty/grassy flavor with some slight spice and pepper underneath.

First Third:

The Caldwell Long Live the King starts out with some smooth cayenne pepper, which like the cold draw wasn’t nearly as potent as I was expecting. The pepper quickly made it’s exit and I was left with a lot of cashew, cocoa, vanilla, spice and cedar. The cigar starts out very bold right off the bat in both the flavor, and strength departments. The draw is perfect despite how tightly this thing it packed. Each little puff kicks out a thick cloud of white smoke. The burn line has a ton of small waves, but if you average them all out it’s burning pretty solid and I don’t see any immediate problem areas. The ash left behind is a bit flaky and medium gray in color. It only held on for about 3/4 of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Caldwell Long Live the King and I’m impressed with how bold this cigar is. The flavors haven’t really switched up much, still leading with lots of cedar, cashew, vanilla and cocoa with some nice pepper, spice, and some great honey. I’m not picking up the sweetness from honey, only the flavor, in fact the flavor profile of the cigar is quite dry (like dry wine, not dry as in moisture). The burn line is still a bit wacky, and probably do to the amount of Ligero in the cigar it has gone out on me twice. I’m not bothered by that at all, but I need to remember to pick up the pace to keep this bad boy lit. The retrohale is really bold showcasing a lot of the pepper I picked up in the pre-light. I am already feeling a decent little nicotine kick as I close out the second third of the Caldwell Long Live the King.

Finish:

The Caldwell Long Live the King is still rocking hard. The flavors are still very much the same. Lots of cocoa, cedar, vanilla, and cashew with some nice spice and honey but there has also been the introduction of a very bold musk into the final third which adds an unbelievable amount of character to the profile. It took me an hour and forty five minute to smoke this thing, it burns really, really slow and I experienced absolutely no harshness build up into the final inch. The Long Live the King left me with a hell of a nicotine kick, so be ready for it.

Overview:

This is the first of many Caldwell cigars I hope to review in the near future, and it was a great one. I’m all about full flavor/full strength cigars that don’t overwhelm you in either direction and the Long Live the King did just that. The bold flavors with a slight complexity made for an interesting experience that kept me wanting more while the full strength kept me wide awake. It’s not a cigar for the faint of heart and would probably be a bit too powerful for the novice cigar smoker, but I really think that more seasoned cigar smokers would love to take this cigar for a spin. It’s a bit pricey, the it delivered enough for the price and I expect this cigar to have a place in my regular rotation.

Pairing:

Our partner Jeff and I have been trading beers left and right over the course of the last year or so, and this is one of the many he has sent my way. Big thanks Jeff, I’m all about trying beers I would never really get a chance to otherwise. The Ninkasi Vanilla Oatis is a 7.2% ABV Oatmeal Stout with vanilla bean added at different intervals throughout the brewing process. The beer starts out with heavy chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt with a very heavy mouthfeel finishing with a slight hop, mild vanilla, a ton of brown sugar and malty goodness. The pairing was easy as I knew the chocolate and vanilla would match up well with the cocoa and vanilla in the Long Live the King, while the beer was bold enough to keep up with the pace the cigar was setting. I think the Long Live the King would also pair great with a bold, black coffee, rich tawny port, or a bold porter.

The post Caldwell Cigars Long Live the King appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

There is another blend in the Tobacos Baez series that seems more familiar to more people and that is the Serie SF. Not sure why but it seems to garner most of the spotlight with this line so I decided I needed to bring some awareness to this blend. People who have mostly smoked Don Pepin Garcia’s fuller lines will get a bit of a surprise when they go to the Tobacos Baez Serie H as it promises none of the pepper blast that most of his cigars offer.

The smooth Habanos wrapped cigars are made at a slightly lower price point than some My Father branded cigars but still maintains the excellent quality of Cuban Seed Nicaraguan tobacco we’ve all come to appreciate from the Garcia family. The line is only available in 3 vitolas all at just about the same ring gauge. It starts with the Famosos (5×50) along with the Favoritos (5.5×52) and ends with the Monarcas(6.5×52).

One thing I wanted to mention is that in my searching I noticed a lot of websites with some incorrect info on this cigar. Seems some of them mention the Tobacos Baez Serie H as having a “Corojo wrapper and a spicy profile”. Now the spicy profile is subjective of course so I can’t talk to that but it does seem they have it wrong when it comes to the wrapper. Even the Serie SF has a Habano wrapper so I’m not sure where this info comes from. But enough with that, let’s just find out if these are even worth seeking out to begin with. On with the review!

Cigar: Tobacos Baez Serie H Famosos by My Father Cigars
Drink: St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout
Vitola: Famosos (5 x 50)
Wrapper: Cuban-Seed Habano
Binder: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan
Filler: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan
Price: A little under $6 if you look hard enough
Burn Time: Just short of 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The Tobacos Baez Serie H has a wonderful orangey-brown wrapper that has a ton of oilyness to it
• The wrapper on this cigar is so smooth and soft with almost no veins to be concerned about at all
• There is a perfect consistent spring from cap to foot when you squeeze the cigar
• The top of the cigar is finished expertly with a seamless triple cap and the foot looks to be fairly well packed, a bit of a gap in the middle
• The cap cut easily and cleanly with my double-bladed guillotine cutter
• This stick had a bit of a tumble as I was taking pictures, so the wrapper cracked a tiny bit, hoping it doesn’t cause any burn issues

Burn:
• Toasting was a bit spotty but after some effort and a couple draws I was able to get the foot glowing nicely
• Despite a little tumble and slightly cracked wrapper from my awesome clumsiness, the cigar is smoking razor sharp so far
• I did need to make a couple corrections as I burned through some of the cracked wrapper but this was uncommon compared to the other samples I’ve had
• The cigar smoked itself, it never even came close to going out on me which is a great quality

Smoke & Ash:
• This cigar produces a TON of smoke, right from the first draw I was overwhelmed by it’s thick plume
• The resting smoke is not as abundant but still makes itself known with a nice woodsy aroma to it
• Did I mention this cigar is a smoke machine? One little draw is all I need
• The ash is showing itself to be pretty strong and clean so far, no flaking or breaking apart
• The appearance of the ash is nothing overly special, most dark and light grey accents with some messy lines
• I tapped the first ash off at about the 1 inch mark since it was getting a bit windy outside
• The wind died down so at the second ash I was able to hold on until about the 1.5 inch mark

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has the aroma of some mild sweet tobacco, fairly light aroma here
• The foot has a nice burst of sweet tartness and some woodsy notes
• Pre-light draw brought lots more woodsiness to the mix of flavors
• On the first few draws, the Toabaco Baez Serie H continues with the wood theme but there is no sweetness at all now, more of a roasted coffee or roasted almond type of flavor
• The medium bodied creamy and smooth finish is a very different profile compared to the usual pepper blast I’m accustomed to from a lot of Pepin made cigars
• The retrohale is also fairly mild with just a small kick and creamy roasted type of finish
• The roasted almond and roasted coffee flavors have really developed nicely through the first half, they are very tasty and compliment the smooth creamy finish perfectly
• I’m getting a bit of raw cocoa flavors sneaking in here, nothing sweet, almost like a tasty bakers chocolate
• The woodsiness is beginning to make a big comeback in the last third and I’m evening getting some mild spices that are new to the mix
• All the flavors seem to be picking up the intensity yet they are still very well balanced and the body remains in a nice medium range, the roasted coffee notes at this point is shining through awesomely
• I was left with nothing but an enjoyable flavor profile at the end, no harshness or bitterness, just a finger burning nub as I smoked it down to the very last bit

Final Thoughts:
When I first has a Tobaco Baez Serie H, I was expecting a fairly spicy smoke with lots of pepper. Reason being is that this comes from the tobacco master mind of Don Pepin and My Father Cigars. To my pleasant surprise, this cigar offers up a wonderful creamy medium bodied smoke with none of the in-your-face pepper. This is especially awesome if you’re not a huge pepper fan, like me (although I love Peppercorn Steak, go figure!). The flavors on this cigar, although not overly multi-dimensional or complex, were down right tasty. And the vitola was perfect to make them shine. If this was a churchill or some bigger vitola I may have gotten bored with it but it was perfect in a robusto. With prices ranging in the mid-high $5 mark, this is a well worthwhile purchase to enjoy and it has some great consistency so you know you’re always getting a good smoke. (Note: I saw these selling for as high as $7+ in some places so you may need to do a bit of searching)

Pairings:
I do enjoy myself a good stout, doesn’t really matter what time of day it is. I had seen this St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout in the stores a few times but for some reason I never picked it up. I finally decided to grab a few bottles and see what it was all about. I’m proud to say it turned out to be a tasty brew. It’s not as thick or heavy as I was expecting but it does have a ton of malt flavor to it as well as a touch of bitterness, but nothing off-putting. There’s also some nice roasted flavors in there to round it all out. A fairly straightforward Oatmeal stout and I really enjoyed it for exactly what it was. It paired well with Tobacos Baez Serie H although I think the flavors in the brew may have been a bit too rich for the cigar. A good Dark Ale or Amber Ale would have made a nice pairing, or even a nice cup of coffee.

The post Tobacos Baez Serie H Famosos appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Yesterday I took advantage of the fact that all my clients would be off celebrating. I decided to stay home and light up a good cigar with a tall glass of beer and enjoy the slightly warmer weather. I decided to sit down with this years Monster release from Tatuaje, dubbed the Wolfman. If you didn’t know, Pete Johnson has been releasing a Halloween themed cigar each year for the past few years and it’s called the Monster Series.

Last year, Tatuaje released “The Face” which we reviewed here. Before that you would have seen the Boris, Frank or Drac. Each one is inspired by a horror creature from a story or film. This years Wolfman release is no different, named after the infamous werewolf. The cigars came packed in a limited selection of dress boxes with 13 cigars as well as a slightly larger release of 10-count plain boxes. They were sold out very quickly across the country so I’m glad I was able to snag a few to get a review in.

The Wolfman comes in with a shaggy foot to keep inline with the character of the cigar. Pete wanted to give it a sort of “ugly” unfinished look to match the theme. Other than the shaggy foot, the cigar looks to be of excellent construction. The band on this cigar also has one new thing from the older Monster Series sticks. On the sides of the band you can see “MONSTER” and “HALLOWEEN” written beside the normal Tatuaje name. Normally, there was nothing else on the bands aside from the brand.

Now I know I’m coming in a little late to the game with this review but it did take quite a bit of digging and asking around to get these cigars. Especially up here to Canada where they aren’t sold and very few B&M’s are even willing to ship to. Tony’s local shops also don’t seem to get these in so we were both in a bit of a bind trying to track a few down. Alas, determination leads to success and I got them. So here I am, sitting down and getting ready to light this cigar and write down my thoughts for your reading pleasure.

Cigar: Tatuaje Wolfman – Monster Series 2011
Drink: Trafalgar Ales & Meads – Smoked Oatmeal Stout
Vitola: Box-Pressed Torpedo (7.5 x 52)
Wrapper: Sumatran
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: MSRP $13
Burn Time: a little under 2 hours

Construction:
• The Tatuaje Wolfman is a nice looking cigar with a chestnut brown wrapper
• The wrapper is slightly rough with some veins running through it but none look to be large or worrisome
• The whole cigar actually feels a little soft when squeezed
• The cap is finished with extreme care and blends into the cigar with ease, the foot is left uncovered and shaggy but still looks to be fairly well packed
• Cap cut cleanly and easily and left me with an easy draw, make sure not to cut too much off this cigar or it will be very open
• As soon as I finished burning past the unfinished foot the draw got super-tight so I needed to cut the cap a bit more and now we’re all happy

Burn:
• Toasting seems fairly easy and even and took a good 30 seconds or so to get the foot glowing, I was expecting a messy toasting with the unfinished foot but it wasn’t messy at all
• Burn got off to a wonky start on one side that needed a quick correction early on
• After that correction, things have been burning a lot smoother with a nice sharp and even line
• Another small correction as I pass the halfway mark, nothing major and didn’t affect the flavors

Smoke & Ash:
• There’s a ton of smoke from each draw as I’ve come to expect from pretty much all of Pete Johnson’s cigar, he really knows how to nail the thick billowy smoke
• The ash from the unfinished foot was super weak and fell off quickly, before I even had a chance to snap a picture
• Seems that suicidal ash is the trend today, lost the first two ash to the floor after about an inch each, sigh…
• The ash seems to be fairly weak and a little bit messy with a light grey color to it
• Considering there is so much smoke on the draw, the isn’t much resting smoke to be found on the cigar and it’s giving off a nice cedar aroma

Tasting Notes:
• The aroma off the wrapper is slightly sweet with a peppery touch
• The foot adds a hefty helping of cedar added to the sweet and spicy notes
• Pre-light draw brought more of the cedar to the mix, quite a nice flavor
• Initial draws after lighting were mixed mostly of cedar and a spicy pepper undertone, no sweetness at this point
• The pepper seems to be staying as a soft undertone but now I’m getting some other more interesting spices in the mix, mainly like a nutmeg or clove type of flavor
• I’m also picking up on some leathery and earthy notes on this cigar, lots of flavors going on here
• The cedar flavors continue to dominate and I think I’m getting some coffee notes in the mix now too but that might be the stout I’m pairing with
• The body of the cigar has been a nice comfortable medium since the start, a good well balanced smoke so far
• The retrohale brings with it a slight peppery bite and smooth cedar finish
• A little past the halfway mark I’m starting to pick up a little bit of that initial sweetness, let’s hope it develops a little more
• The sweetness didn’t really develop any further and faded soon after, but the coffee and cedar really grew together into a nice mix
• All the flavors slowly ramped up near the 2 inches but the body stayed in a nice smooth medium range
• No harsh or bitterness right to the nub, enjoyed every last cedar and coffee filled draw

Final Thoughts:
I think Pete Johnson has another winner in the ever popular Monster Series of cigars from Tatuaje. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s his best ever but these are tasty right out of the box and they seem to have some aging potential as well. Other than a couple minor touch-ups the cigar burned fairly well and offered a lot of complexity to the palate that kept me interested the whole way through. And that is sometimes a hard task when the cigar is this length of vitola, I tend to have a short attention span, lol! The Wolfman was quite balanced and smooth through the whole experience and I enjoyed it from start to finish. They are getting harder and harder to come by each year (especially for a Canadian!) so I’m glad I was able to grab a few. If you manage to find some, definitely pick a couple up for a special occasion!

Pairings:
Today’s brew comes from a local brewery called Trafalgar Ales & Meads which is located about 45min from where I live in a place called Oakville, Ontario. I don’t actually see many other brews from these guys but I have picked up this brew a few times. It’s called the Smoked Oatmeal Stout. The first time I saw this I thought it was going to have a heavy smoked flavor like a scotch or something, but that’s not the case at all. It’s actually a fairly light stout but it’s got the most head out of any beer I’ve seen before. I mean if you shake this bottle even a tiny bit, it’s going to explode when you crack it open. And pouring it takes like 30min to let the foam settle, it’s ridiculous but worth it. The flavors you get are chocolate, coffee and a malty deliciousness that mix together so well. The array of flavors also makes for an excellent pairing for nearly any medium to full cigar, it would easily overpower a mild stick though. I think a nice Tawny Port would have gone excellently with the Wolfman or possibly even a strong coffee or black tea.

The post Tatuaje Wolfman – Monster Series #4 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

I can only assume BMF stands for Big Mutha F******R, but I could be totally wrong. Maybe it stands for Baby Mouth Feet? Bob’s Math Fundraiser? Bad Mommy Foundation?! Whatever it is, I trust one of my better-educated readers might be able to fill in the blanks for me. (Blanks Must be Filled?)

The Good Stuff: I was contacted by a twitter buddy of mine Ryan (@revjava) who is in cahoots with Gary Griffith over at Delaware Cigars. Emilio Cigars (@EmilioCigar) is Gary’s brain-child and is a new cigar company starting to make a name for itself. The AF1 is the first blend released by Emilio Cigars. For the AF1, Gary teamed up with the infamous AJ Fernandez and spent over 2 years perfecting his ideal blend. Due to the extreme grasp on quality, the AF1 is limited in production and may often see restrictions on supply. These cigars run for about $7.50 a cigar. Not bad for the size.  The one thing that caught my attention right away was AJ and Gary’s decision to use a San Andreas born Mexican tobacco for the wrapper. I can probably count the number of manufacturers using this Mexican wrapper on one hand, and all of them are just ridiculously tasty. So, is this just another run of the mill cigar company that will put out a single cigar then raise white flags? Or, is Emilio Cigars destined for greatness? Let’s find out.

Size: 6 x 58  –  Wrapper: San Andreas Mexican  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan

Prelight: It’s impossible to overlook just how ridiculously dark the wrapper on the Emilio’s AF1 is. It’s such a dark brown that is almost black. The wrapper is incredibly toothy, and shows really no larger veins throughout the entire thick body of this big ass cigar. The top of the AF1 is capped out with a nice, round double cap that blends in so flawlessly with the cigar that it was hard to even see where the body ends and where the cap begins. The cigar feels a lot lighter than I expected with its large stature, but is extremely tough, and shows no signs of soft spots when squeezed. I’m really impressed with the pre-light construction on this cigar. It almost looks fake, like a plastic prop used in a movie.

The wrapper gives off this massive, pungent, barnyard and leather aroma and surprisingly the foot has a nice spice and oats type aroma. This should be an interesting mixture once lit up. The cap cut a lot easier than I thought it was going to, based on the thickness, and toughness of the wrapper. The cold draw shockingly didn’t give off a lot of flavor. All I was really able to pull from it was the oaty, almost bread tasting flavor that matched the aroma I got from the foot of the cigar, but even that was very faint and hard to pull out.

First Smoke: After being robbed from what I thought was going to be a glorious cold draw, the AF1 delivers big with a just blast of flavor right off the bat. The Mexican wrapper is just delicious. Emilio’s AF1 starts off very smooth with no pepper, a really nice chocolate and fruit flavor paired with a bit of honey and some spice on the after taste. The draw on this thing is perfect kicking out a mouth full of thick smoke after only the first or second draw. This cigar really doesn’t emit a lot of stationary smoke, but you can let it rest quite a while without it going out on ya.  The stationary smoke really smells like a melted chocolate bar or dare I say smores? The burnline is dead even from the start leaving behind a tightly compacted white, and light grey ash that held on for an inch and a half before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: What a flavor bomb this AF1 is! The wrapper is really taking off as well as the cigar. Introducing the second third is this huge ramp up in more chocolate/coffee flavors paired with some nice dark fruit, and just a dash of spice. The retrohale leaves you with a nice woodsy, chocolate priming. Very smooth. The burnline is still rocking even, and the body of this cigar isn’t really effecting me at all yet. It’s more medium than anything at this point. Really creamy and smooth.

Finish: The flavors began to mellow out a bit, but not in a bad way. The leading contender is still this really nice chocolate flavor with coffee and spice backing it up. The body of the cigar encountered a nice little kick, but not enough to put it over the edge. It still isn’t a really powerful cigar, but instead maintains a great balance of flavor and strength. Despite the huge size of this cigar it still only took me about an hour and forty five minutes to take down. It didn’t smoke fast, I just really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the fact that there wasn’t any harshness build up into the home stretch of the AF1. Finished nice and smooth.

Overview: What can I say? AJ Fernandez nailed it, as he often does. This is another perfect example of using the Mexican wrapper correctly. EO Brands hit the nail on the head when they used it on the Murcielago, Tatuaje  hit home a run with the Face, Ashton owned it with the the La Aroma de Cuba, and now Emilio’s Cigars and AJ Fernandez kicked out another Mexican wrapped winner. Honestly, I didn’t know what to think going into these cigars. I didn’t know much about the cigar, nor the blend. So many new cigar manufacturers are popping up and I figured this was just another one of them. Needless to say I am VERY impressed. All their hard work paid off and I am VERY interested in what the future holds for Emilio. The price is spot on for this cigar as it’s definitely something I would smoke again, and very box worthy.

Pairing: Just look at the wrapper on this cigar. Who wouldn’t want to pair this thing with a nice, deep, thick stout? That’s exactly what I did. Reaching way back in my fridge I stumbled across a favorite beer of mine. Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. Samuel Smith’s oatmeal stout comes from the UK and is brewed at the Samuel Smith Old Brewery Tadcaster. The oatmeal stout is a very heft, malty chocolate/berry mixture with a smooth, creamy, coffee finish. At a modest 5% ABV this beer is the perfect pairing and blends seamlessly with almost identical flavors from the Emilio AF1. The only other pairings that really stand out in my mind with this cigar would be some warm creamed coffee, a hefty strong porter, or maybe some Dr. Pepper.

Along with the AF1, Gary sent over the new blend due out this month, the Grimalkin. I try not to do back to back reviews often, but would this be something you guys would like to see reviewed next week? Leave me a comment and let me know!

The post Emilios Cigar AF1 BMF appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.