the Good Stuff:

The Crux Epicure Habano joins the other two lines in the Epicure portfolio: The Epicure and Epicure Maduro. Each blend utilized the same Nicaraguan binder and filler while the new Habano uses a Nicaraguan-grown Habano seco. Manufactured at the Plasencia Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua the cigar is offered in four sizes: The robusto (5 x 50), Corona Gorda (5 3/8 x 46), Toro (6 1/4 x 52), and the Gordo (6 x 60). Each size comes packaged in boxes of 20 ranging between $11.25 and $14.49 a stick. They have now shipped to retailers and should be readily available. Big thanks to the Crux team for sending a few over our way for review.

• Size: 5 x 50
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Seco
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $11.99

Prelight:

The Crux Epicure Habano stats out with a very dark brown wrapper which showcases lots of reddish brown and darker areas splotched across the cigar’s body. The wrapper’s texture is semi-toothy and very oily. The wrapper feels very thick, dense and hard while the entire cigar is packed very tightly and hard to the touch with no soft spots. There are some milder veins running through the cigar’s wrapper leaf as it leads up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is then finished off with the same Epicure band we’ve seen on the other blends only in manila color with black inch and a gold crest.

The wrapper on the Crux Epicure Habano gives off mostly oak and musk aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more earthy and grainy. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces an overall creamy mixture of earthiness and musk, much like the aromas the cigar releases before being lit.

First Third:

The Crux Epicure Habano starts out with an awesome mixture of musk, raisin and black tea with light notes of raspberry and a floral mixture. I really like the flavors this cigar is starting with. The draw is absolutely perfect. Every tiny puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick white smoke which dissipates rather quickly while the cigar releases a good amount of stationary smoke as it sits in my ashtray. The burnline started out all sorts of wild with two massive trails burning into the foot, however by the end of the first half it has almost completely corrected itself and is now burning like a champ. The ash left behind is semi-compacted, medium gray in color and held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The flavors have really calmed down in the second third of the Crux Epicure Habano. The raisin and musk still lead the charge, however are considerably less-bold than the first third with slightly notes of black tea and raspberry backing it. The floral has completed dropped out. The retrohale brings out a little spice that I don’t pick up anywhere in the standard experience. One note: the cigar burns very dry. This isn’t anything too distracting however I am constantly conscious about how full my drink is to wet my mouth often. I close out the second third with no signs of nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Cvrux Epicure Habano and not much has changed in terms of flavor profile. There are still bits of black tea and raspberry mixed in with raisin and musk. If anything the flavor profile has subdued even a bit more. The cigar took me about an hour and a half to smoke down to the nub. I experience no harshness nor extended heat. There was a slight bit of sap build-up which was likely due to my smoking speed as it completely stopped once I slowed my pace. The cigar left me with nothing in terms of nicotine.

Overview:

The Crux Epicure Habano starts out with a bang, however loses steam over time. It’s not to say that it’s a bad cigar in any way, I just personally wish that the flavor profile and body that leads off when this cigar is lit up carried through the rest of the experience. Subjectivity aside, the cigar burns perfectly from start to finish even with the slip up at the start. The construction is on point, and price point is a bit high yet not too expensive. Since the only faults I found on the cigar comes down to my personal preference in flavor, I would still recommend this cigar to someone who likes habano tobacco and is looking for a casual, relaxing experience without having to focus on the complexities of the cigar’s profile. Which is what we all should be doing anyways right?

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The Good Stuff:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal was released alongside this year’s World Cup in Qatar. Yes, I am late to the game. But it’s better late than never? Right? Ehtëfal translates to “Celebration” in Arabic although the company does note that this cigar is not a World Cup cigar. Whatever the celebration is, I am excited to see what this cigar has to offer. The blend features an organic sun grown wrapper from the Jalapan region in Nicaragua, and binder / fillers that are aged 10 years from the Plasencia farms in Nicaragua and Honduras. The cigar is offered in a single 6 x 54 toro format which comes packaged in boxes if 10, with only 5,000 boxes produced the cigar runs an astonishing $65 per stick. Let’s see if it can live up to that price tag. We purchased ours over from our friends at Cuenca Cigars who still have both boxes and singles in stock right now.

• Size: 6 x 54
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan / Honduran
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $65
• Pairing: Pinthouse Pizza Autobahn (Imperial Stout 10.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal starts out with an absolutely stunning, medium-brown/orange wrapper which is extremely consistent in color. The wrapper’s texture is very smooth and absolutely covered in thick oils. The wrapper feels normally dense while the cigar is packed very tightly and extremely heavy. The cigar showcases some very mild veining as the body leads up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar features two main bands and a third foot bad all of which are bright green, gold, and the foot band caries a bit of red. The first one carries the Plasencia logo and crest with the words “Edicion Especial Qatar 22” in the front. The small secondary band simply carries multiple Plasencia crests while the foot of band has the word “Ehtëfal” printed in the front.

The wrapper on the Plasencia Ehtëfal gives off a very bold floral arrangement of scents over natural tobacco while the foot of the cigar is much more oak and earth focused in terms of aroma. The cap cut clean and easily with my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces lots of floral and earthy flavors with a soft soapy hint.

First Third:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal starts out with some mild black pepper over notes of floral, musk, oak, walnut, and spice. As I continue to smoke on the cigar becomes much more woodsy-focused with a great berry note that keeps popping in and out. This flavor profile is fantastic right off the bat. The draw is fantastic even with how tightly the cigar is packed. Each puff kicks out massive clouds of thick white smoke which take forever to dissipate while the cigar releases a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of very tightly compacted white ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Plasencia Ehtëfal and a really awesome and bold vanilla flavor has taken really taken hold of the flavor profile backed by bold coffee, floral, musk, and oak over light notes of berry and walnut. This profile is just so good. The retrohale really bring the spice and berry out of the experience. The cigar is burning absolutely brilliant and I close out the second third with only a very minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Everything just kinda comes together for the Plasencia Ehtëfal into the final third. The flavors are more balanced, yet still very complex with bolder notes of walnut, vanilla, coffee, and musk over lighter flavors of oak, berry, and floral. It took me two hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I exrpeinced no hardness nor extended heat. The cigar burned liked a dream from start to finish with no extra attention needed from my torch. I close out the cigar with a normal level of nicotine.

Overview:

The Plasencia Ehtëfal is such a fantastic cigar. The flavor profile is just incredible and offers not only bold, interesting flavors but also so much complexity without making is an overly-cerebral experience. The cigar performed liked a dream from start to finish. This is a great cigar. Is it $65 good? I’m not sure. I don’t know that I’d pay $65 for very many cigars to keep in rotation so take from that wha you will. If you want to try something very premium, very good, and very unique then this is worth a go.

Pairing:

Pinthouse Pizza’s Autobahn is a 10.5% imperial stout aged in Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrels, and infused with Houndstooth/Tweed Foxtrot Coffee, blueberries, maple syrup, and vanilla bean. The beer leads with sweet malt, creamed coffee, honey, toffee, maple, and a very light blueberry with a very, very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with even more toffee and maple, light coffee, and a great vanilla finish with an awesome oak aftertaste. The coffee, berry, vanilla, and oak all paired beautifully with the flavors found in the Plasencia Ehtëfal while the cigar really held it’s own due to it’s bold body again a beer that could easily overpower almost any other cigar. What a wonderful pairing.

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The Good Stuff:

Recently Plasencia cigars has decided to release a few blends into their very small, yet growing portfolio and the cigar world has never been more pleased. This year, they released their newest blend Alma del Fuego or “Soul of Fire”. Paying homage to the Ometepe region in Nicaragua where some of the most nutrient rich soil in the world is found making it an idea spot for tobacco farming. The cigar features a Sun Grown Nicaraguan Jalapa wrapper, double Nicaraguan binder, and nicaraguan filler with a blend aimed at delivering both body and strength. Both of the binders and half of the filler tobacco is farmed in the Ometepe region at Plasencia farms before aging for seven years. The cigar is offered in three soft-box-pressed sizes: Candente (5 x 50), Conception (6 x 54), and the Flama (6 1/2 x 38). Each come packaged in boxes of 10 featuring a box that turns into an ashtray like the past recent releases ranging between $15 and $17 a stick. I got mine over from our friends at Cuenca Cigars who have them in stock now.

• Size: 6 x 54
• Wrapper: Sun Grown Jalapa Nicaraguan
• Binder: Nicaraguan / Undisclosed
• Filler: Nicaraguan / Undisclosed
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $16
• Pairing: Bruery Pie Happy (Old Ale 16.1% ABV)

Prelight:

The Plasencia Alma Del Fuego starts out with a consistently dark, chocolatey brown wrapper that features some lighter areas around the minor veins located in the wrapper’s leaf. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy and gritty while the wrapper itself is extremely hard and dense. The cigar is packed very tightly and it weighs a ton. As previously mentioned there are a few smaller veins and slight webbing located throughout the cigar’s soft-box-pressed body leading up to it’s round triple-wrapped cap while the foot of the cigar features an unfinished foot where the wrapper leaf is folded over the foot of the cigar. The cigar is polished of with a large red and white band with the Plasencia crest and words “Alma del Fuego” across the front as well as a very small secondary band located just above it with multiple Plasencia logos surrounding it. There is also a third foot band with also carries the words “Alma Del Fuego” embossed across the front.

The wrapper on the Plasencia Alma Del Fuego gives off a very sweet mixture of gingerbread and natural tobacco while the foot of the cigar is much more woods with notes of tobacco and spice. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a more of those sweet gingerbread flavors, natural tobacco and musk.

First Third:

The Plasencia Alma Del Fuego starts out with a massive cayenne pepper zing which caught me off guard. After the first few draws the pepper fades and the Alma del Fuego greets with me with sweet cinnamon and spice, bold oak and musk, light gingerbread and light caramel with a good amount of natural tobacco flavors. The draw is absolutely beautiful as each tiny puff kicks out massive clouds of a thick, white smoke which really hang around for quiet a while before dissipating while the cigar itself releases very minor amounts of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted medium gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray. Again, I want to note how comfortable soft-box-pressed cigars feel both in my hand and mouth. Please keep making them.

Second Third:

Into the second third if the Plasencia Alma del Fuego and this cigar is just pouring on flavors. The musk, cinnamon, and brown sugar sweetness lead the charge backed by oak, natural tobacco, spice, dirt, and caramel. The retrohale really brings out the spice and oak as well as some of that pepper I encountered during the first few draws. The burn line is still dead even and razor thin while I am already feeling a decent little nicotine from this cigar already.

Finish:

Now into the final third of the Plasencia Alma del Fuego and this is the cigar that just keeps on giving. The spice has become very sharp and the main flavor backed by loads of oak, cinnamon, gingerbread and sweetness as well as light musk, natural tobacco, espresso and cherry. The flavor profile in this beast is just incredible. It took me almost two hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I experienced no harshness, nor extended heat. I also never once had to touch up or relight the cigar despite having to slow down a bit towards the end as the cigar reached well within the full body, full strength arena. I close out with a good nicotine kick that’ll last a bit I’m sure.

Overview:

As I stated earlier, Plasencia doesn’t just add any ol’ cigar to their portfolio. When they add a cigar they make sure it’s truly something special and their latest releases are testament to that. The Alma del Fuego is a departure from what they have released lately in terms of flavor profile offering a complex, sweetness-focused blend of flavors. The profile is really incredible while the smoking experience was flawless from start to finish. The price is high, which you expect, but you get every penny you pay for. While I won’t be smoking these every other day this is a perfect cigar to add to my rotation when I am searching from something full, complex, and special.

Pairing:

Today I decided to pair my Plasencia Alma del Fuego with a bottle of Bruery’s Pie Happy, a 16.1% Old Ale aged in bourbon barrels with apples, spice and vanilla added. The beer leads with huge amounts of apple and cinnamon backed by notes of caramel, malt, and ginger with a light mouthfeel before finishing with more apple, malt and ginger and a good amount of bourbon bite. Tastes like the holidays. The sweetness, caramel, and gingerbread notes from the Alma del Fuego made me want to reach for this cigar and boy did this pairing deliver.

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The Good Stuff:

By now, everyone in the tobacco world is familiar with the name Plasencia, one of the largest family of a tobacco growers in the world. While Plasencia itself doesn’t have a huge portfolio of market cigars, the list of cigars using Plasencia tobacco is longer than any CVS receipt ever printed. Created at the Plasencia Cigars S.A. factory in Esteli, Nicaragua the Alma Fuerte blend features a Jalapan Nicaragua wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The cigar is offered in 4 regular production formats: the Robust (5 1/4 x 52), the Nestor IV (6 1/4 x 54), the Sixto II (6 x 60) and the Generacion V Salomon (7 x 58). Each format comes packaged in boxes of 10 that conveniently turn into an ashtray when emptied, running between and $22 a stick. We got ours over from our great friends Fox Cigar in Gilbert, and Scottsdale, Arizona who have these in stock now, and offer free shipping on all orders, no minimum.

• Size: 7 x 58
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $22
• Pairing: They Bruery Melange #14 (Barleywine 13.4%)

Prelight:

The Plasencia Alma Fuerte starts out with an incredibly dark brown, almost black wrapper which is pretty consistent in color with the exception of a much darker area around the cap of the cigar. The wrapper’s texture is fairly toothy with a ton of thick oils coating it. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself showcasing some mild veining and slight natural webbing in it’s thick, hard exterior. The cigar itself feels incredibly thick, heavy, and packed with tobacco. The salomon format starts with a stubby little foot which quickly widens out to the thickest ring gauge of the cigar which slowly tapers off to a very sharp point at the cap. The cigar is polished off with 3 extremely elegant bands. The first larger band carries the Plasencia Crest in gold on black along with the name “Alma Fuerte” in white. Underneath this is a very thin band with multiple gold “P” logos. Polishing off the cigar is a gold foot band with black text stating “Ama Fuerte”.

The wrapper on the Plasencia Alma Fuerta gives off deep oak, tobacco, and plum aromas while the foot is much the same with a bit of added spice. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some great oak, musk, plum, and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Plasencia Alma Fuerte starts out with a massive blast of cayenne pepper that really left my mouth tinging for quite some time. After the pepper faded the cigar revealed great deals of musk, dark chocolate, deep oak, and spice with softer notes of cashew, coffee, and vanilla. There is a ton going on the flavor profile early on. The draw started out way too wide open but as soon as I smoked through that tiny little foot nub the draw became absolutely perfect kicking out gobs of thick, white smoke with every puff while the cigar itself released quite a bit of stationary smoke as the oils burn off the wrapper while the cigar rests in my ashtray. The burn line has quite a few larger waves, likely due to the foot, but they continue to even themselves out leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of medium gray ash which held on for over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Plasencia Alma Fuerte and the cigar began to balance out a bit, without mellowing. In fact, the cigar now sits in the “Full” arena in both strength and body. The flavor profile is still leading heavily with dark chocolate, oak, and musk with lots of coffee and vanilla mixed in there while the spice peeks in and out of the profile. The retrohale is way too harsh for me rocking my nasal passage with loads of oak and pepper so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The cigar is now burning dead even and razor thin as I close out the second this with a nice little nicotine kick already.

Finish:

Wow, this is the cigar that just keeps on giving. Into the final third of the Plasencia Alma Fuerte and this cigar is still pouring on the flavor with bold dark chocolate, musk, and oak backed by coffee and vanilla. This cigar is well in the “Full” arena now, and has been for a while. It took me almost three hours to take this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. Its strong, I had to take my time, and it left me with quite the nicotine kick while leaving me with no extra harshness nor extended heat. I never once had to touchup or relight the cigar as it burned like a dream from start to finish.

Overview:

Saying that the Plasencia family knows their way around tobacco in an understatement. While they don’t produce many, when they put together a cigar release its always been incredible and the Alma Fuerte is testament to that. What a just fantastic experience. The flavor profile is thoroughly enjoyable and right up my alley. Complex and bold showcasing great tobacco. The cigar burned like a dream from start to finish. While the price point is pretty steep, you get what you pay for, and that’s a special experience. I will keep a few of these on hands for those special occasions when I am looking for something extra.

Pairing:

Brewed in Plasentia, California the Melange #14 is a 13.4% ABV blend of an Olde Ale, Barleywine, Share This stout, and Black Tuesday Stout.The beer leads with a ton of dark chocolate, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, and vanilla with a huge malt presence and a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing even sweeter with more brown sugar and chocolate, toffee, and a nice bourbon bite. The alcohol is hidden very well. The sweetness, chocolate, malt, and toffee paired wonderfully with the flavors in the Alma Fuerte. This cigar can and will overpower almost any pairing you throw at it so be sure that you marry it up with the boldest thing you have in your cellar.

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