The Good Stuff:

Easily one of the most anticipated releases year after year is the Monster Series from Tatuaje. Released on Halloween each year since 2008. This cigar is released around Halloween every year in very limited quantities. 13 “Unlucky” retailers across the nation each year receive 13 count dress boxes which are heavily designed and themed versions of the packaging while other retailers receive the standard 10 count brown boxes. I’ve been lucky enough to smoke each one, and review almost all of them to date:

• 2008 – The Frank
• 2009 – The Drac
• 2010 – The Face
• 2011 – The Wolfman
• 2012 – The Mummy
• 2013 – The JV13
• 2014 – The Jekyll
• 2015 – The Hyde
• 2016 – Krueger
• 2017 – The Michael
• 2018 – The Bride
• 2019 – Chuck and Tiff

As the 13 Monsters came to a close it left a lot of cigar enthusiasts wondering what would become of the series. Well, Pete Johnson wasn’t ready to give up on it yet expanding the series to include actors as well. Enter, the Karloff. The Karloff is the first cigar in the Actor series which pays homage to the actors who played the monsters from the iconic monster movies. This release is named after Boris Karloff who played Frankenstein, which is actually a slightly tweaked blend of the Boris, one of my favorite Tatuaje inventions to date. It is unclear if this will be an ongoing project or not at this point.

The blend features an Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers while the Karloff is offered in a single 6 5/8 x 49 size. Foregoing the traditional dress boxes the original monster series came in, the Karloff are all packaged in boxes of 13 running $13 per stick with only 4,000 boxes being produced. I got mine over from our great friends at Fox Cigar Bar.

• Size: 6 5/8 x 49
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13
• Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Snickerdoodle Vanilla Noir (Imperial Stout 14.4% ABV)

Prelight:

The Tatuaje Karloff starts out with a very, very dark brown wrapper. The wrapper is pretty consistent color with only a few lighter, orangish areas scattered throughout. The wrapper’s texture is very dense and hard with a good amount of gritty tooth and a whole mess of oils coating it. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself as the cigar showcases a good amount of soft veining and webbing leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapper cap. The Karloff is then polished off with the simple, elegant white and back Tatuaje band a design similar to that of the Boris.

The wrapper on the Karloff gives off a great oak and rich chocolate aroma while the foot is much of the same with a small amount of spice and natural tobacco making its way through the covered foot. The cold draw produces a whole mess of dark chocolate over oak, and natural tobacco flavors as well matching up pretty when with the raw aromas.

First Third:

The Tatuaje Karloff starts with a good amount of black pepper which really hangs around for a while leaving my tongue and lips tingling. Once the pepper fades I am left with a heap of dark chocolate and coffee notes over pecan, cinnamon, plum, and musk. This cigar starts out with a bang. The draw is beautiful as every little puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, gray smoke while the cigar releases a good amount of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is a bit wide, and slightly wavy, but nothing too concerning and I am sure the breezy weather has a lot to do with that. The ash left behind is dark gray and black and very tightly compacted as it drops in my ashtray at around the 1 inch mark.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Tatuaje Karloff and the cigar is really pumping out a ton of flavor. The dark chocolate and coffee still lead the way backed by a good amount of sweetness, pecan, and cinnamon over light musk and a great dark berry/plum mixture. The retrohale brings back a lot of the pepper that has been completely taken out of the mix after the first few draws so I don’t really find myself going back to it very often. The cigar is still burning like a champ and I close out the second third with only a very minor nicotine hit.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Tatuaje Karloff and the flavors are still kicking it off. Chocolate and coffee are still the dominant ones backed by musk, pecan, sweetness, and cinnamon over light dark berry and plum. The flavors really haven’t changed up a whole lot since the start, and that’s ok cause I am loving them just the way they are. It took me two hours to take this cigar down the nub, and I never wanted it to end. There was no harshness, nor extended heat and the cigar only left me with a very minor nicotine kick.

Overview:

The Boris was one of my absolute favorite Tatuaje cigars released to date. While the memory is distant, reviewing my notes and what still exists up in my brain this cigar feels very similar, only with a bit more body to it. Taking the Boris out of the equation, the Karloff is an incredible experience. The flavors are incredible, well balanced, and just complex enough to keep me on my toes. On the subjective side those flavors really appeased my personal palate, especially the sweetness the cigar offered. The experience was perfect with not snags at all, and the price is well worth it. The only gripe, as you’d guess it, is the availability. That just means I gotta throw in a little more effort to pick up more of these before they are gone.

Pairing:

I wanted to go with something pretty sweet on this pairing to match up with the holiday, as well as a lot of the sweetness packed into the Karloff. My poison, Prairie Artisan Ales Snickerdoodle Vanilla Noir. Coming in at 14.4% this offering is a spin off of one of my favor Prairie beers, the Vanilla Noir. Aged in bourbon barrels this imperial stout is brewed with Snickerdoodle Chia cookies and vanilla. The beer leads with heavy amounts of vanilla, malt, milk chocolate, coconut, and just the right amount of sweet cinnamon. The mouthfeel is extremely heavy and stick before finishing with more vanilla and cinnamon over chocolate, toffee, and light plum. It easy to see why I paired this cigar with the Karloff as it shares so many of the same flavors. While the beer’s sweetness may overpower many cigar, the Karloff carries enough sweetness to hold it’s own with out muddying up the flavors.

The post Tatuaje Karloff appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

It’s been quite some time since a cigar has made as much noise as the The Jas Sum Kral Nuggs has over the past few months. Nuggs is the first cigar to be manufactured using hemp-derived CBD oil. 20mg to be exact. I’ve had my share of CBD oil in different methods so I am really looking forward to seeing what adding this to a cigar is like. The Jas Sum Kral Nuggs is offered in two wrappers (Habano and Maduro) and a single 4 x 48 format. The cigar is blended using an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan fillers from the Jalapa and Condega regions. The cigars come packaged in boxes of 25 and run around $12 per stick. Huge thanks goes out to the Jas Sum Kral team for sending a few of these our way to review. 

• Size: 4 x 48
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Indonesian
• Filler: Nicaraguan 
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium
• Price: $12
• Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Oh Fudge (Imperial Stout 11.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Jas Sum Kral Nuggs starts off with a beautiful looking, consistency milky brown wrapper which has a soft gleam of orange as the light reflects off of it. The wrapper showcases some small veins, and light webbing as the texture of the wrapper is very thin and delicate with some light tooth and a ton of oils coating it. The cigar as a whole feels nicely packed and carries no soft spots what so ever. The cigar is capped off with a double-wrapped rounded cap and a detailed gold and green band with the Jas Sum Kral crest along with the word “Nuggs” printed in white in the front. 

The wrapper on The Jas Sum Kral Nuggs gives off little more than a sweet cedar aroma while the foot of the cigar ha some earthiness, pepper, cedar, and spice. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw releases light cedar, sweetness, and earthiness. 

First Third:

The Jas Sum Kral Nuggs starts out with a huge blast of black pepper which caught me off-guard a bit. The pepper quickly fades after the first few puffs as it leaves me with strong notes of cocoa, cedar, sweet brown sugar and earthiness with some light grassy and floral flavors. The draw is flawless. Each little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs around for a good amount of time before dissipating while the cigar releases only trace amounts of stationery smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted medium/dark gray which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray. 

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Jas Sum Kral Nuggs and I am surprised by the pepper coming back into the fold. While much more subtle than the start of the experience, the pepper and spice is adding a nice layer to an already encouraging cigar. The other flavors are strong cedar, sweetness, soft cocoa, vanilla, and earthy floral flavors. The cigar started off great and continues to get better as I smoke on. The retrohale is actually very light and manageable bringing more of the spice and cedar into the mix. The cigar is still burning like a dream and I close out the second third with nothing in terms of a nicotine kick.

Finish: 

Into the final third of the Jas Sum Kral Nuggs and both the body and strength in the cigar have increased significantly pushing the cigar over the crest into medium/full in both arenas. The flavor still leads with lots of cedar, sweetness, and earthiness backed by soft spice, pepper, grass and floral flavors. This is a great flavor profile. For being such a small format cigar I was impressed that it burned so slowly taking me an hour and a half to smoke down to the nub. And I nubbed the hell out of this one. I experience no extra heat, nor any harshness as I close out the experience with only a light amount of nicotine. I never once had to touch up or relight the cigar.  

Overview:

As far as the cigar experience goes, its a great one. I really enjoyed the flavor profile which was complex enough to keep me entertained without making me think to much about what was going on in there. The construction was flawless and the burn was perfect from start to finish. As for the relaxing aspects of the CBD oil, I’m not sure if I really felt that or not. I can be a bit skeptical, but at the same time my most relaxing time of the week is when I am out back with a cigar and a beer so I was already at optimal rest. All in all the Jas Sum Kral Nuggs is a damn good cigar and one that I will definitely keep in my humidor. I really cannot wait to try the maduro version. 

Pairing:

With the sweetness and cocoa flavors in the Jas Sum Kral Nuggs I decided to go big and pair this cigar with Prairie Artisan Ales’ Oh Fudge!. This Imperial stout is brewed with heaps of brownies coming in at 11.5% ABV. The beer starts off with bold dark-chocolate, caramel, malt, vanilla, and a bit of light berry with a heavy mouthfeel before finishing with a ton of sweet fudge, caramel, vanilla, and a soft booze bite. I was a bit worried that this beer may overpower the cigar but the Nuggs really held its own and it made for a perfect pairing. 

The post Jas Sum Kral Nuggs Natural appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Caldwell’s The T stands for “The Truth” and is the result of an awesome collaboration of Matt Booth from Room 101, Robert Caldwell from Caldwell Cigar Co., and Abdel Fernandez from AJ Fernandez Cigar Company. The cigar was introduced to the world at least year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas, then released in small quantities before being more easily available this year. The limited production run of just 100,000 total cigars are manufactured at the Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. in Nicaragua. The blend features an all Nicaraguan make up from wrapper to filler and is produced in five sizes: Robusto (5 x 52), Short Churchill ( 5 1/2 x 48), Toro (6 x 52), Toro Grande ( 6 1/2 x 56), and the Lonsdale 6 1/2 x 44) all packaged in boxes of 20 running between $11 and $12 a stick. We purchased ours over from our friends at Fox Cigar Bar in Gilbert, Arizona.

Size: 5 x 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $11
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Consider Yourself Hugged (Imperial Stout – 11.9% ABV)

Prelight:

The T starts out with a gorgeous, super dark brown wrapper. The color is flawlessness consistent as the wrapper’s texture has some very large tooth while the gritty wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself. It very hard and very thick while the cigar itself is packed very tightly resulting in a cigar that feels as hard as a rock. The short, box-pressed body leads up to a round, double-wrapped cap and a brown band with 3 keys (which one would assume represent each of the contributing members to the cigar’s existence), Gold embossed “The T.” crest, and a secondary band with the initials of each of the people involved with the collaboration embossed in gold across the front. 

The cigars wrapper gives off a very musky, spicy and sweet tobacco aroma while the foot is more earthy, and dirty. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some great spice, pepper, raisin, and natural tobacco flavors. 

First Third:

The T. starts out with a great black pepper zing that left my lips and tongue tingling for a bit before it faded away allowing the cigar to release a ton of cherry, raisin, musk, and cedar flavors with light spice, moss, chocolate, and coffee. The draw as flawless as each and every little puff kicks out a great amount of thick, white smoke while the cigar release only trace amounts of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. I’d like to add that I love how comfortably the box-press fits in both my mouth and hand. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted dark gray ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray. 

Second Third:

Into the second third of The T. and the flavors have just been pouring in. The cigar leads with musk, dark chocolate, raisin, coffee, and cedar with some soft cashew, cherry, spice, and oat. The retrohale brings out a lot of the spice and cedar. The cigar is burning like a dream and I am feeling nothing in terms of nicotine. I close out the second third in the medium/full body arena while the cigar sites a medium strength. 

Finish:

Into the final third of The T. And the cigar has now entered both medium/full in both body and strength. The flavor have balanced out a bit as the cigar leads with some great chocolate, musk, cedar, and spice backed by coffee and raisin. It took me an hour and a half to take the cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat, and the cigar burned perfectly, I never once had to reach for my torch to re-light or touch it up.

Overview:

So, you decide you want to put 3 of the more prominent, forward thinking cigar minds in the game in one room to create a single product. In a lot of cases, the hype is stronger than the cigar, but in the case of The T. The outcome was an incredible cigar. From start to finish this cigar was flawless. The burn, the construction and the profile were all exactly what I look for in a cigar. The price is slightly high, but what I would consider on-point for a cigar of this stature and I would gladly pay it for what the cigar delivered. My only gripe would be availability as I know sooner rather than later this cigar is going to become a whale.

Pairing:

Pairie Artisan Ales Consider Yourself Hugged is an Imperial Stout brewed with Peanut Butter and Coffee coming in at 11.9% ABV. The beer starts out with a ton of roasted malt, oat, chocolate, sweet peanut butter and brown sugar with a heavy mouthfeel before finishing even sweeter with more peanut butter, chocolate, coffee, and malt. The booze is dangerously well hidden. This beer paired perfectly with The T. Not because of similar flavors, but both the cigar and beer filled gaps in between their flavor profiles resulting in both of the elements raising the other. 

The post Caldwell Cigar Co. The T appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Based on La Grand Classe, a Fumare (Dion Giolito’s cigar shop in Reno, NV) exclusive, the Rex originally made it’s debut in 2013. At last year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas Dion announced that the Rex would be back in production under the new La Grand Classe line. The cigar starts with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.  The Rex comes in at a modest 4 5/8 x 40 and comes packaged in gold packs of 25 vs. the original release which came in cabinets of 50. The cigars run only $5.99 a stick and I scooped mine up over from our good friends at Fox Cigar Bar who, at the time of writing this, still have some in stock.

Size: 4 5/8 x 40
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $5.99
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Vanilla Noir (Imperial Stout 11.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Illusione Rex starts out with a deep, consistently dark brown wrapper. The wrapper is scattered with splotches of darker brown as well as some natural webbing in the tobacco leaf. The wrapper’s texture is extremely toothy and gritty some some slight oils. The wrapper feels very thick and dense why the cigar itself feels very solid and tightly packed with no soft spots anywhere throughout the cigar. The cigar is short and stubby as it leads up to it’s round triple-wrapped cap and naked body with no band. 

The wrapper on the Illusione Rex gives off some great musk and cedar aromas while the foot of the cigar carries much more spice and naturally tobacco scents. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some great spice, musk, natural tobacco and floral flavors.

First Half:

The Illusione Rex starts out with a huge bang of black pepper mixed with some sweet spices. After a few draws the pepper begins to fade out enough for the cigar to showcase more sweetness, loads of musk and leather, and a soft perfume/cologne type flavor with a splash of vanilla. As I continue to smoke some of those floral notes I picked up in the cold draw begin to peek in and out of the experience. The draw is flawless as ever puff kicks out a good amount of thick, white smoke while the cigar releases little to no stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail fo tightly compacted medium/light gray ash which held on for about a half an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Half:

Into the second half of the Illusione Rex and the flavors have started to cream out a bit creating a much smoother, more balanced profile. The cigar leads with vanilla and oak backed by some great spice, musk, floral flavors, and soft leather and cocoa. The cigar started in the medium/full range and remains there as I close in to the final inch. It took me a little less than an hour to take the Rex down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I experienced no harshness nor extended heat but the small cigar left me with a little nicotine kick.

Overview:

I am a huge fan of small format cigars. I don’t get as much cigar smoking time as I used to and hate when I have to put a good cigar down due to time constraints. While the Epernay La Petite has been my go-to for these situations I could easily see the Rex finding it’s way in my quick smoke rotation. The price is perfect, and the cigar’s performance is exceptional all with a great flavor profile that I really enjoyed. I’ve been smoking through these guys like crazy and don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.

Pairing:

Brewed at the Prairie Artisan Ales brewery in Oklahoma Vanilla Noir is an 11.5% ABV Imperial Stout brewed with vanilla beans aged in whiskey barrels. The Vanilla Noir starts out with some sticky caramel, loads of sweet vanilla, cocoa, musk, and some slight whiskey with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing super sweet with more vaniila, cocoa, and malt. The alcohol is very well hidden in this beer. The vanilla and sweetness really helped bring the sweetness out of the Illusione Rex while the cigar added an awesome oakiness to the beer.

The post Illusione Rex appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Todo Las Dias is the newest offering from Steve Saka’s Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. It first made it’s debut at last year’s IPCPR show where it was released in very limited quantities, but wasn’t formally released to the general public until last week. Here is what Steve Saka himself has to say about the line:

“Todos Las Dias is my personal Spanglish translation meaning “All the Days.” The workers at Joya de Nicaragua often cringe at my casual butchering of their mother tongue, but in my opinion cigars are far more than a grammar lesson to abide, they are the physical manifestation of a feeling and of an experience. TLD embodies the classic bold flavors that represent the heart of their soil’s peppery tobaccos and the labor of their always working hands. For me, this spicy Nicaraguan puro reflects no pretentious airs or any of that ‘notes of pencil lead with a hint of fennel’ nonsense. It is an honest, hardworking cigar intended to be smoked by men who know what it means to be a cigar smoker and never give a damn about what others think.”

“It is a supple, sungrown Cuban Seed capa which encapsulates its intricate tripa recipe of rich Jalapa and Esteliano tobaccos. From the first puff, there is no doubt of the origin of this cigar or that it is intended solely for the seasoned cigar smoker. What I love about this liga is that it builds; so many stronger blends start off super peppery and robust only to mellow out as you smoke them. Whereas the Todos Las Dias does just the opposite; it begins smooth and then escalates in strength and body, it almost lulls you into false sense of security. It is a much heavier liga than you will have realized until you go to stand up afterwards.”

Thanks goes out to Cigar Coop for the info.

Todo Las Dias is a Nicaraguan puro line, meaning of course that the Wrapper, Binder, and Fillers are all from Nicaragua. The Todos Las Dias will come in four sizes: Short Churchill (4.75 x 48), Double Wide Belicoso (4.74 x 60), Robusto (5 x 50) and the Toro (6 x 52). Each format comes packaged in boxes of 10 running between $10.59 and $12.59 a stick. I purchased mine order from our friends at 2 Guys Smoke Shop.

Size: 4.75 x 48
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $10.59
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Barrel Aged Bible Belt (Imperial Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias starts out with a stunning, very consistent dark brown wrapper. While the color is extremely consistent with it’s reddish-tinted dark brown color there are a few darker areas found through the natural webbing in the tobacco leaf. The wrapper’s texture is very toothy and gritty with a whole ton of oils that actually transfer onto my fingers a big as I inspect the cigar. The cigar’s wrapper is very dense, thick, and hard while the cigar as a whole is packed very tightly as it’s completely firm with no soft spots whatsoever. There are only a few smaller veins found running up the cigar’s slim body leading up to a very round double cap. The cigar is polished off with an elegant black and silver band with TLD, which stands for Todos Las Dias of course, embossed on the front and a smaller secondary foot band that carries the words “Todos Las Dias” across the front.

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias’ wrapper gives off some subtle sweetness and spice while the foot of the cigar carries much more spice, pepper, with a bit of oak. The cigar’s cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a whole mess of sweetness, spice and oak.

First Third:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias starts out with a quick blast of black pepper which quickly fades to reveal a good mixture of sweetness, oak, vanilla, spice, and dark chocolate. The draw is absolutely perfect. Each tiny little puff on the cigar kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs around for a pretty long time before dissipating while the cigar pours out smoke like a chimney as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of very tightly compacted medium gray ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias and I am loving this flavor profile. The oak and dark chocolate lead the charge backed by sweetness, brown sugar, musk, black cherry, and a good mixture of spice. The retrohale brings out a lot more of that spice and even a bit of the pepper that I picked up on my first few puffs on the cigar. The burn line is still flawless and I close out the second third with only a very minor hint of nicotine.

Finish:

I venture into the final third of The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias wishing that it wasn’t so close to being over. The flavor profile in this cigar is amazing. The oak and dark chocolate are still the center of attention while vanilla, sweet brown sugar, musk, and a just a bit of berry back them up. The burn line has been dead even and razor thin the entire time. It never once required any touch up or relights while the cigar created absolutely no harshness or extra heat all they way down to the nub. For such a small cigar it took a long time to smoke clocking in at just a hair under 2 hours.

Overview:

As if it wasn’t already evident the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust hit it out of the park once again with the Todos Las Dias. This is an exceptional cigar with good construction, balance, and complexities all at a great price point. I always expect a lot when it comes to Steve Saka’s cigars, and seldom and I ever let down. This is box worthy for sure, especially since they come packaged in boxes of 10 which I wish more manufacturers would do. The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias will please the seasoned cigar smoker while its a great jumping off point for those novice smokers looking to get into more premium cigars.

Pairing:

The first time I smoked The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias I knew that I wanted to pair with with Prairie Artisan Ale’s Barrel Aged Bible Belt. Coming in at 13% ABV this imperial stout is basically Prairie’s standard Bible Belt aged in whiskey barrels. The beer leads with oaky barrel goodness, sickiness, malt, vanilla, cocoa, and brown sugar with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more booze, a bit of whiskey, cocoa, and malt. As the beer warms the cocoa and whiskey really take over. This was an amazing pairing. The vanilla, chocolate, barrel, and brown sugar went perfectly along side The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias. Both the cigar and beer were full-bodied and neither overpowered each other which says a lot for the cigar as the Bible Belt can really run over most cigars.

Contest Winner:

Again, we can’t thank Fox Cigar Bar enough. They have been huge supporters of Casas Fumando since day one and continue to back us up as well as reward our readers. This week’s contest goes out to…

Tom Pinkowski

Congrats! Please send your address to me at casasfumando@gmail.com. And those of you who didn’t win, stayed tuned. We already have planned many more giveaways with Fox Cigar Bar. Also, keep up with our reviews here as we will be partnered up with them to give you guys straight access on how to get many of these newer/rarer cigars directly from them.

The post Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Todos Las Dias + Contest Winner appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi is the second installment in the Chapter two series which is created at the La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. Just like the Archetype Initiation I reviewed a few weeks ago, The Axis Mundi first made an appearance at this year’s IPCPR show in Las Vegas. The blend consists of an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper, Indonesian Sumatran binder, and Nicaraguan Habano filler. The cigar is offered in four sizes: Corona (5 x 46), Robusto (5 x 54), Toro (6 x 52), and the Churchill (7 x 48). They all come packaged in boxes of 20 and run between $10.49 and $12.99 a stick. Big thanks goes out to the Ventura team for sending a few samples our way.

Size: 5 x 46
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Maduro
Binder: Indonesian Sumatran
Filler: Nicaraguan Habano
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $10.49
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales 2017 Birthday Bomb (Imperial Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight:

The Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi starts out with a very, very dark brown wrapper which is incredibly consistent in color with the exception of some lighter brown spottage around the cap of the cigar. The texture on the wrapper is extremely gritty and toothy with some subtle oil. The wrapper feels extremely dense and hard as the cigar as a while is packed tightly and firm to the touch. The sender body showcases perfect construction as the wrapper is seamlessly laid over itself leading up to the cigar’s double wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with a similar band as there rest of the Archetype series with black and purple ink and a gold tree embossed in the front. The Axis Mundi, like all the Archetype series carries a secondary foot band which happens to be a dark maroon in color.

The Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi’s wrapper gives off some deep oak and natural tobacco aromas while the foot of the cigar carries spice, sweetness, and cedar scents. The cigar cut clean and easily using my double bladed Palio Cutter. The cold draw produces a really malty, oaty, grainy mixture of flavors with some pretty dominant raisin and spice.

First Third:

The Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi starts off with a massive cayenne pepper blast that keeps my tongue and lips tingling for quite some time. Once the pepper fades I am greeted with notes of oak, spice, sweetness, raisin and black licorice, with some nice vanilla and chocolate notes. The draw is perfect! Each little puff kicks out just the right amount of thick white smoke which dissipates quite quickly while the cigar gives off a good amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is flawless, and razor thin leaving behind a tightly compacted trail of bright white and gray ash which held on for a little under an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of The Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi and the flavors have tamed a bit, but are still well in the “Full Bodied” arena. The cigar leads with pepper and oak along with some bold sweetness, cocoa, vanilla, coffee, raisin, and musk. The retrohale reminds me just how much pepper this cigar packs and I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burn line is still rockin’ perfect, and dead even while I close out the second third with a decent amount of nicotine.

Finish:

As I get into the final third of the Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi the strength really starts to ramp up well into the full arena. Wow. Its a bit of a kicker. Along with that the flavors are now well into full as well. Leading with musk, oak, cocoa, and spice backed by sweetness, coffee, and raisin. The flavor profile here is complex, yet not overdone. I never once had to reach for my torch to touch up or relight the cigar. The Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi burned extremely slow taking over 2 hours to take down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, nor extra heat but the cigar did hit me with a strong nicotine kick.

Overview:

Again, Ventura Cigar Company isn’t one of the most well known names out there, but their cigars are seldom a let down. They work with some of the biggest cigar names out there to produce top-notch sticks and the Archetype Axis Mundi is another fantastic creation. The cigar is complex, bold, full-strength, and powerful. Probably not a good choice for novice cigars smokers but those seasoned cigar smokers who love big, bold sticks like me would really enjoy this one. The price point is a bit steep, but thats what happens when boutique cigars work with big name manufacturers, and it’s a price I wouldn’t mind paying.

Pairing:

Each year Prairie Artisan Ales releases a birthday version of their Bomb! series entitled “Birthday Bomb”. Coming in a whopping 13% ABV this beer is loaded with coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla, and Chile peppers. The birthday bomb leads with heavy vanilla, cocoa, loads of spice, lots of booze, and some soft caramel with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing heavy with even more booze, vanilla, cocoa, coconut, coffee and black licorice. This beer is an incredible pairing with just about any bold, maduro cigar as it shares so many common interests. In the case of The Ventura Cigar Archetype Axis Mundi the black licorice and spice really stand out as matches along with the cocoa and vanilla.

The post Ventura Cigar Company Archetype Axis Mundi appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Haut 10 was created by Dion Giolito of Illusione to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary. The cigar made its debut at this year’s IPCPR trade show and hit shelves quickly, before the FDA regulatory deadline. The Illusione Haut 10 comes in a single 5 1/2 x 52 robusto Extra format with features a Nicaraguan cafe Clara AAA grade wrapper, over a Nicaraguan binder and filler featuring seco dominant criollo 98 and corona 99 which is produced at the Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A., or TABSA factory in Nicaragua. The Haut 10 comes packaged in boxes of 12 running $15.95 a stick. As with the trend, the Haut 10 is slotted to be a regular production release. These were actually pretty hard to track down, but I did end up scooping up a handful from our friends over at Cigar Federation.

Size: 5 1/2 x 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $15.95
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Christmas Bomb! (Imperial Stout 11% ABV)

Prelight:

The Illusione Haut 10 starts with an absolutely gorgeous medium brown wrapper. While the wrapper is very consistent in color, it does give off a nice orange glow when light reflects off of the cigar. The wrapper showcases some thick, natural webbing in the tobacco leaf and only a few very minor veins. The wrapper feels semi-dense, but does have some give as I squeeze the cigar between my fingers. The wrapper is coated with oils leading up to the stubby, pigtail-styled cap. The cigar as a whole feels very heavy and thick, while the construction looks flawless as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself. Polishing off the cigar is a beautiful, simple, elegant silver band with the words “Haut 10” embossed across the front in white ink and “Illusione” in the back in black.

Immediately after taking the Haut 10 out of the cellophane I am greeted with a very bold, sweet, cedar and cashew aroma from the wrapper of the cigar while the foot of the cigar is a bit more grainy with some soft spice mixed in with natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut clean and like butter using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw kicks out some creamy coffee, nutty, sweet cedar flavors with again, more natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Illusione Haut 10 starts off with a nice little cayenne pepper blast which quickly fades away as the cigar begins to reveal some strong cashew, cedar, honey and vanilla over some creamy coffee and natural tobacco flavors. I actually wasn’t expecting this cigar to start off in the medium/full arena, but it did. It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here. The draw is flawless. Each tiny little puff gives off a massive cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs around for a significant amount of time before dissipating while the cigar gives off very little stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is sharp, but pretty wavy. I haven’t had to pull my torch out yet, as it looks as though it may start correcting itself here. The ash left behind is an odd mixture of both flaky and compacted in random spots. The ash did hold on for about in inch though before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The pepper has completely disappeared from the Illusione Haut 10’s flavor profile and I am left with some spicy cedar, musky vanilla, honey, cashew, and earthiness. While the flavors have balanced out, they are still pretty bold and the body remains in the medium/full range. The retrohale really helps bring out the spice and cedar. In fact, the retrohale is very smooth and crisp, as I find myself doing it very often with this particular smoke. As suspected, the burn line completely corrected itself and is now burning solid, like a champ. I close out the second third with a very minor little nicotine kick.

Finish:

The body and strength of the Illusione Haut 10 are really on display here in the final third. The flavors have ramped up a ton bringing the cigar into the full arena now. The main flavor is a sharp cedar and spice backed by cinnamon, cocoa, and vanilla with subtle clove notes as well as coffee and lots of natural underlying flavors. I can really get into the flavor mix. It took me two hours to take the cigar down to the nub. I experience absolutely no harshness nor any extended heat while I did get a slight little nicotine buzz as I closed out the experience.

Overview:

I am a big Illusione fan, and while that means I generally enjoy their cigars, it also means I can get critical of them really quick if they don’t live up to my set standards for them. Not only did the Haut 10 live up to those standards, but it blew them away. This cigar has it all, bold flavors with a balanced profile I really enjoyed, flawless construction, and perfect burn. The price is a bit steep, but the outcome from what Dion put into this cigar is evident. This is how Anniversary cigars are done. Congrats to 10 years Illusione, I can’t wait to see what’s next for you.

Pairing:

Brewed at the Prairie Artisan Ales Brewery in Oaklahoma, Christmas Bomb! is Prairie’s Signature Imperial stout brewed with cinnamon. Coming in at a whopping 11% ABV the Christmas Bomb! leads with a ton of sweet honey and vanilla, cinnamon malt, and cocoa with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing even sweeter with a ton of vanilla and cocoa and a hint of booze and chile. The vanilla, cocoa and sweetness really mashed up with to the flavors in the Haut 10 and even helped them reach a whole other level of awesomeness without overpowering the cigar, as the Haut 10 holds it own. I would love to pair this cigar with a bold Belgian Quad or a nice, spicy tawny port.

The post Illusione Haut 10 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Nick Melillo became a household name during the years he spent at Drew Estate creating some of the most beloved cigars ever created. A few years ago Nick announced he was going to make the jump and create his own cigar company called “Foundation Cigar Company”. Last year he released the debut brand El Güegüense which went on to claim many cigar of the year accolades including the #9 spot on my list. Foundation cigar company went on to showcase 4 new blends at this year’s IPCPR show in Vegas. I got my hands on all 4 and will be looking at all of them, starting with the Tabernacle.

Foundation Cigar Company’s website had all the information about the blend:

“BROADLEAF IS MORE THAN TOBACCO FOR ME. IT IS SOMETHING SACRED.”—NICHOLAS MELILLO”

The Tabernacle is Foundation Cigar Company’s newest super premium cigar, boasting a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and some of Nicaragua’s finest fillers. It is a combination of tastes that calls on founder Nicholas Melillo’s roots in the Connecticut River Valley and also his work with the finest artisanal tobacco batches in Nicaragua.

“I want to show my love for Connecticut Broadleaf,” says Melillo. “I was born in New Haven where, at the turn of the century, there were many cigar factories.”

Also wanting to continue showcasing the flavors of northern Nicaragua, Melillo blended The Tabernacle at AJ Fernandez’s factory in Esteli.

“AJ grows some of his tobacco on the farm, La Soledad, where I lived on when I first moved to Esteli in 2003. I know firsthand that AJ’s farm is blessed with the perfect location for growing filler tobaccos. He has incredible tobacco inventories and gave me full access to some of his best leaf for this project.”

The Tabernacle box tells the story of the cigar’s name. The artwork features an image of none other than Haile Selassie, 225th King of Abyssinia, whose lineage traces directly to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The reference to “tabernacle” is as a container for the Ark of the Covenant.”

“They call me ‘Chief of the Broadleafs’ for a reason,” Melillo continues. “I have been working closely with farmers in Connecticut for over ten years. Broadleaf is more than tobacco for me. It is something sacred.”

On the outside, this cigar uses a CT Broadleaf wrapper, selected by Melillo for this project two years ago.

“AJ Fernandez has been meticulously fermenting this broadleaf wrapper and the combination of both of our passions for tobacco is dangerous.”

The Tabernacle also uses a San Andreas Mexico binder and filler from Jamastran Valley in Honduras, plus the Esteli and Jalapa Valley in Nicaragua.

And there you have it. I’m not one for always quoting straight out of the company’s site, but that’s good solid information on the blend there without all the fluff. The Foundation Cigar Company Tabernacle will be released in six sizes, the Torpedo (4 1/2 x 52), Corona (5 1/4 x 46), Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 52), Double Corona (7 x 54), and the Lancero (7 x 40). All of which will come packaged in 24 count boxes with the exception of the Lancero which will come in a 13 count box. The cigars will range between $9 and $12.50 a stick. These are already starting to trickle into retailers as I type this up. I purchased a handful of these over form our friends at Smoke Inn.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Mexican San Andreas
Filler: Jamastran Honduran, Esteli and Jalapa Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $10.50
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Birthday Bomb! (Imperial Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight:

The Foundation Cigar Company Tabernacle showcases an absolutely stunning, deep, dark brown wrapper. The color is very consistent with only some smaller almost black areas scattered throughout. The cigar’s texture is incredibly toothy and grainy with a good amount of oil and a few larger veins running through the cigar’s body. The wrapper is very, very hard and thick while the rest of the cigar is very heavy and tightly packed. This cigar feels like a rock. The cigar is capped of with a round double wrapper cap and a black, grey, and gold embossed band which includes the previously mentioned Haile Selassie artwork as well as the Tabernacle crest.

The wrapper on the Tabernacle gives off some great sweetness, lots of spice, and tart tobacco while the foot of the cigar carries more cedar, earthiness, and natural tobacco aromas. The cap took a bit of effort from my Xikar double bladed cutter to clip, but the snip was clean. The cold draw produces some nice tobacco tart, cocoa, coffee, and sweetness.

First Third:

The Foundation Cigar Company Tabernacle starts out with a great little black pepper bang which quickly faded after the first few puff leaving behind a whole ton of rich, dark chocolate, espresso, cinnamon and spice, sweetness, and some deep oak and musk. The cigar starts of with a ton of body right off the bat. The draw is flawless despite the cigar being so tightly packed. Each tiny, little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke while a good deal of smoke pours out of the cigar as it rests in my ashtray. The drawling is a bit rough, but not concerning as it leaves behind a brilliant trail of bright white ash which held on for about an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of The Foundation Cigar Company Tabernacle and the spice has started to let up some while the cocoa and espresso are owning the show backed by the musk and oak with some interesting caramel notes. The sweetness was very evident at the start of the cigar, but then dropped out only to make a huge comeback as I neared the end of the second third. The retrohale is very sharp coating my nasal passage with lots of spice and cedar. The burn line is still pretty wavy but not bothersome while I close out the second third with a decent bit of a nicotine.

Finish:

Into the final third of The Foundation Cigar Company Tabernacle and the flavor has really change up quite a bit. First of all the sweetness and musk are now leaded the charge backed by the cocoa and espresso, caramel, tartness, and great little floral flavor the creeped in. The final third of this cigar is where it really makes an impression. The body is full, and the strength is full leaving me with a decent little nicotine kick, no harshness, and no extra heat.

Overview:

Foundation Cigar Company knocks another one out of the park. The Tabernacle is a cigar packed with complexity, great flavors, bold body and strength, with a flawless experience. The price point is right where you would expect for an experience like this and now that Foundation Cigar Company has teamed up with Miami cigar for distribution you can expect to find their cigars much more easily. (NOTE: Miami is only distributing the Upsetters. Thanks Charlie for pointing this out!) This is a perfect cigar for those like me, who like bold, strong, complex cigars or even this novice cigar really looking to step their game up. I’ll be stocking up on these and adding them into my regular rotation.

Pairing:

Brewed at the Prairie Artisan Ales Brewery in Oklahoma this imperial stout comes in at a whopping 13% ABV. The beer is packed with coffee, vanilla beans, cacao nibs, and chili peppers. The beer starts out with lots of sweet chocolate, vanilla, sweetness, spice, and a bit of chili with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing even sweeter with some more chocolate, milk, chili and spice. This beer tastes like a spicy, boozed up chocolate milk and I love it. It’s easy to see why I chose this beer to pair with the Tabernacle as the flavors are almost identical and both side of the pairing can hold their own. I would also consider pairing the Tabernacle with a Belgian strong ale, quad, or just about any imperial stout.

The post Foundation Cigar Company Tabernacle appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

While we are all familiar with the My Father lined of cigars, one that hasn’t crossed my path yet is the Oro de Nicaragua. This cigar is exclusive to Casa de Montecristo in Chicago, Illinois. While the blend is kept secret, Cigar Coop stated that:

Casa de Montecristo did tell us that this cigar comes from a special crop of tobacco from the My Father Factory. Specifically we were told, “the (Nicaraguan) wrapper of this cigar was chosen first from the rich aroma it gave off while in the bales, then the sweetness it brought to the palate once it was smoked. It truly is an exceptional leaf.”

The name “Oro de Nicaragua” translates to “the Gold of Nicaragua”. The My Father Oro de Nicaragua comes in 4 sizes, Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 52), Torpedo (6 1/8 x 52) and a Perfecto (5 x 52) ranging between $9.99 and $8.32 a stick. Thanks to the Casa de Montecristo team for sending these my way.

Size: 6 1/8 x 52 torpedo
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $9.99
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Pirate Bomb! (Imperial Stout 14% ABV)

Prelight:

The My Father Oro de Nicaragua starts with a gorgeous, medium to dark brown wrapper. The color is consistent for the most part with a few lighter, orangish splotches scattered throughout the cigar. The cigar’s texture carries a decent amount of tooth, a ton of thick oils, and some smaller veins while the wrapper leaf is laid seamlessly leading up to the cigar’s tapered cap. The cigar is heavy, and very tightly packed with no soft spots. The wrapper feels extremely hard and dense. The My Father Oro de Nicaragua carries the standard pink/white/green/gold band as the other cigar’s in the My Father lineup but also sports a secondary black band with the words “Oro de Nicaragua” embossed in cold metallic ink across the front.

The wrapper on the My Father Oro De Nicaragua gives off a very spicy, peppery aroma while the foot boasts bold musky, oak, and sweetness. The cap cut very clean and easily using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a bunch of oak, berry, sweetness and musk which I can only hope transitions into the actual smoking experience.

First Third:

Off the bat I was only greeted with a small little black pepper blast from the My Father Oro de Nicaragua. I was expected it to be much more substantial but the tame pepper lead into bold vanilla, oak, musk, spice, and cocoa with a ton of sweetness poured over it. While being tame in the pepper department the cigar didn’t hold back in terms of body, and the flavors were great from the start. The draw was fluid and released a good amount of thick white smoke while the cigar released a decent amount of stationary smoke as it rested in my ashtray. The burn line on the Oro de Nicaragua was dead even, razor sharp, while it left behind a trail of tightly compacted medium gray ash which held on for about an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the My Father Oro de Nicaragua and the musk flavor, paired with a strong sweetness have really started dominating the flavor profile, backed by the oak, spice, vanilla, and some slight berry. As I got around the halfway point and really interesting floral/cologne type flavor began to sneak it’s way in. That may sound off-putting, but the result couldn’t have been more satisfying. I am totally into the flavor profile of this cigar. The retrohale reminds me of the pepper that once popped it’s head in the flavor profile. I close out the second third with nothing in the nicotine department while the cigar is still burning like a dream.

Finish:

Into the final third of the My Father Oro de Nicaragua and the flavors are still rockin’. The musk and oak are leading the charged now backed by strong sweetness, that floral/cologne mixture, vanilla, spice, and slight berry. I know that’s a ton of flavors and I would have never been able to pick them out independently if they all came in at the same time. But, whatever. The cigar took me an hour and a half to take down and I don’t think I could have enjoyed it more. There was no harshness, nor extra heat as the cigar finished just barely cresting into the full strength category.

Overview:

While I’m a huge fan of the My Father line, the Oro de Nicaragua has to be one of my favorite extensions to date. The flavor profile is incredible, and not one I really pick up in many cigars. That being said, the cigar still smokes like a My Father while carrying similar flavor characteristics. This is a damn good cigar and I plan on picking up another box. While it’s an exclusive, they are available, and the price point is right up there with any other cigar from the My Father line.

Pairing:

Prairie Artisan Ales is no stranger here on Casas Fumando. Usually my goto is their Prairie Bomb! But this week I stumbled across an extra special treat, their Pirate Bomb! Pirate Bomb! is the same beer as Prairie Bomb!, a Imperial stout with coffee, Cacao Nibs, Vanilla Beans, and Chilies added. The big difference is that this version of the beer is aged in Rum Casks resulting in a sweeter, higher ABV (14%) version of the beer. The Pirate Bomb! leads with massive amounts of sweet vanilla, coconut, cocoa, spice and a bold rum with a very, very heavy mouthfeel before finishing thick with some strong cocoa, vanilla, chile, and a ton of booziness. The vanilla, cocoa, and spice went wonderfully with the My Father Oro de Nicaragua. The bold sweetness really pushed the sweetness of the cigar through, and the chile added to the cologne/floral flavor in the cigar. What an absolutely incredible pairing.

The post My Father Oro De Nicaragua appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal is the first full-production line that we’ve seen from them in quite sometime (you can check out some of our past RoMa Craft Tobac reviews here: (CroMagnon, Aquitaine, La Campana de Panama Soberana) . In fact, word of the Neanderthal product hit the cigar community back in 2013. In 2014 the RoMa Craft offered samples of the Neanderthal at the IPCPR trade show in Las Vegas, and now the blend we all have been waiting for has finally started to creep into shops and we’ve been dying to get our hands on them. Skip Martin, co-founder of RoMa Craft, created the Neanderthal along with Esteban Disla at the Nica Sueño Factory in Nicaragua. The goal was to create a full-strength cigar that also delivers in the flavor department. Coop, over at Cigar Coop had some great information on just how Skip managed to accomplish this:

RoMa Craft Tobac co-founder Skip Martin discussed details of this cigar on the 4/18/14 edition of Stogie Geeks. As Martin was becoming more experienced with the blending process, he discovered that increasing the strength of the blend through adding ligero is something that really did work. At the same time, Martin learned that different tobaccos have different nicotine levels. He was introduced to a Pennsylvania Double Ligero leaf known as Green River Valley Sucker One (GR-S1). This is a regrowth leaf from Pennsylvania broadleaf that has a natural higher nicotine level (between 9% to 13% – significant higher than the 5% – 6% found in Esteli, Ligero). Using this leaf allowed Martin to increase the blend’s strength. Various filler tobaccos were then added to balance out the flavor and aroma.

The blend consists of the Pennsylvania Double Ligero mentioned above, Nicaraguan leaf from the Condega, Jalapa, Pueblo Nuevo, and Esteli regions as well as some Dominican Republic tobacco for the fillers along with a U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro Binder, and a Mexican San Andreas Maduro Wrapper. The RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal is available in a single, complicated to manufacture, full-production format called the “HN” which stands for “Homo Neanderthalensis”. The HN is a 5 x 52/58 figurado with a completely flat cap.

Along with the standard format, the RoMa Craft Neanderthal is also offered in a 4 1/2 x 52 vitola called the “SGP” or “Shallow Gene Pool” which is a store exclusive limited to Serious Cigars in Houston and Riverside Cigar Lounge in Indiana which will also be available as an event exclusive. While I don’t know exactly what the packaging and prices on the SGP will be, the HN comes packaged in boxes of 50 and runs $12 a stick. I picked mine up at Cigar Hustler who quickly shipped them out to me, and still has them in stock.

Size: 5 x 52/58
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas Maduro
Binder: U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Filler: Pennsylvania Double Ligero (GR-S1), Nicaraguan (Condega, Jalapa, Pueblo Nuevo, Esteli), Dominican Republic (Olor)
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $12
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Barrel Aged Bomb! (Double Stout 11.2% ABV)

Prelight:

As I stated above, the RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal is far from a traditional format. The cigar starts with a completely dead-flat cap and a 52 ring gauge which widens out to 58 towards the foot of the cigar before quickly tapering back in a bit just before the foot. The wrapper on the RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal is a beautiful, consistent, dark brown with a few darker areas around the foot of the cigar, and running parallel to the larger vein that runs the course of the cigar’s body. The texture is a slightly oily and very beady with a lot of rough tooth while the wrapper itself feels extremely dense and thick. Hell, the whole cigar feels so heavy I could probably knock someone out with it if I hit them over the head with it. That being said, there aren’t any soft spots whatsoever as the bell of the cigar leads up to the flat cap. The boxes of these cigars actually come with a razor blade to aid in the clipping of the cap. The RoMa Craft Neanderthal is polished off with the beautiful letter-pressed bands I absolutely love. This one is a light tan and features the word “neanderthal” embossed in the front and a small RoMa Craft Tobac crest in white on the back.

The wrapper on the RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal gives of some nice oaky aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more natural with some damp tobacco and pepper scents. The cap was a bit difficult to line up properly using my double bladed Palio cutter. If I had a razor blade similar to those that came in the box that would have been my weapon of choice, but I made do and after a bit of precision work I cut just a tiny sliver off the cap, exposing the filler tobacco. Skip’s a one man army trying to teach people how to properly cut cigars. The cold draw produces a really meaty mixture of plum, oak and spice with some natural tobacco mixed in.

First Third:

The RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal starts out with a bang leading me in with some bold cayenne pepper, strong oak, plum, pecan and spice. The pepper was so strong it would leave my lips and tongue tingling for a few seconds after every round of draws. It took about a quarter inch for the pepper to fade out and as it did more and more of that oaky goodness came out. Despite the cigar being packed with tobacco the draw was absolutely perfect. Each tiny puff kicked out massive clouds of thick, white smoke. The cigar let loose a good amount of stationary smoke as well as the cigar rested in my ashtray. The burn line had one good sized wave but it started to correct itself as I neared the end of the first third. The ash left behind was tightly compacted, dark and medium gray, and held on for about an inch and a quarter before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal continues to impress with the sheer amount of flavors being pumped out. The oak is still leading the way with some dark chocolate, coffee, pecan, spice, plum, and some slight char and sweetness. It’s got some bite too as I started to feel the nicotine about halfway in. The retrohale is way sharp coating my nasal passage with a bit too much cayenne pepper backed by some of the oak I pick up on the standard draw. As I suspected the burn line has fixed itself and is now burning razor thin, and perfectly even.

Final:

Again, the flavors are killing it into the final third of the RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal. The oak is still taking center stage back by lots of spice, chocolate, and coffee. There is still some slight spice and sweetness mixed in as well. After that wave in the first third, the cigar has burned perfectly and razor thin without any extra help from my torch. Usually, stronger cigars tend to build up a good amount of harshness towards the end of the smoke, but after the 2 hours it took to take this bad boy down to the nub it was clean and smooth, still boasting a ton of flavor and a great deal of strength. I walked away from this cigar with a nice nicotine kick.

Overview:

Skip has just added to an already stacked arsenal. Out of the gate I expected the RoMa Craft cigars to have a bit more bite than they had when they first launched (mostly due to Skip’s love for full-bodied, full-strength cigars), but was surprised with the more mild approach. It’s not a bad thing by any means as I’ve been a huge fan of each of the past sticks in their portfolio, but they delivered a powerhouse cigar with great balance, and bold flavors with the Neanderthal. This cigar comes out of the gate firing on all cylinders and doesn’t give up until your fingertips are burning. At $12 a pop it’s not the most affordable cigar out there, but it’s more than justified and very box worthy. Being that the Neanderthal is a full-production line I can see it having a permanent place in my regular rotation for a very long time. The Aquitaine has been my favorite RoMa Craft Tobac stick for a very long time, but it now has some competition. Now if we could just get them in a shop here locally, that would be great.

Pairing:

A little nod here to Skip and his love for Prairie Artisan’s stouts. The first time I smoked a Neanderthal I knew I wanted to pair with something that would really match up to the bold oak I encountered throughout the cigar. There was little doubt in my mind that the Barrel Aged Bomb! from Prairie Artisan Ales would be the perfect pair. Brewed at the Prairie Artisan Brewery in Oklahoma this 11.2% ABV imperial Stout is aged in Balcones Distilling whiskey barrels with coffee, cacao, and vanilla beans and chilies added. The Barrel Aged Bomb! starts out with lots of sweetness, vanilla, chocolate, and malt with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more sweet milk, chocolate, a bit of booze, spice and a nice bourbon aftertaste. What more can I really say, it was a match made in heaven. I think the RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal would also pair wonderfully with just about any big stout, a Belgian quad, or a few fingers of bourbon.

The post RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

The Epicurean Carnavale is one of the newest offerings from Epicurean to hit the market. Created at the Plasencia Cigars S.A. factory in Esteli, Nicaragua the cigar features a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper from the Jalapa region of Nicaragua, American Broadleaf and Honduran dual binder, with Nicaraguan Ligero fillers. The Epicurean Carnavale is offered in four sizes: Lancero (6.5 x 38), Petite Corona (5.5 x 48), Toro (6 x 52), and the Trabajdor (5 x 56) all coming in boxes of 20 with a total of 1,000 boxes of each released ranging from $8.60 to $10 a stick.

Size: 5.5 x 48
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
Binder: American Broadleaf and Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Funky Gold Amarillo (Sour Ale 7.5% ABV)

Prelight:

The Epicurean Carnaval Petite Corona is a pretty small cigar, but the box pressed format makes it fit comfortably in your hand without it feeling too tiny. The cigar starts out with a very consistent, very dark brown wrapper. There is a bit of darker splotches around both the foot and the cap o the cigar. The wrapper features some very minor veins along with a lot of natural webbing in the tobacco leaf. The cigar has a nice firm, oily texture to it with a decent amount of tooth. The long, slender, box-pressed body leads up with a stubby, round double cap. The Carnaval is very firm and only carries a few softer areas around the foot of the cigar. The cigar is polished off with a beautifully designed band featured a mask similar to those that you’d see at a Carnival event along with a gold “Carnavale” logo embossed into the front.

The wrapper on the Epicurean Carnavale gives off nothing more than a slight cocoa aroma while the foot of the cigar has some soft spice, pepper, and a bit of natural grassiness.  The cap cut very clean and very easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a really mild mixture of cocoa and tobacco and not a whole lot else.

First Third:

The Epicurean Carnavale lit up with easy using my S.T. Dupont Maxijet torch. The cigar starts off with a very mild black pepper blast followed by some strong brown sugar, grassiness, cocoa, and honey with some slight woodiness and bitterness on the finish. I love how comfortable this small, box-pressed cigar fits in my mouth as it produces a perfect, massive cloud of thick smoke with every little puff.  The burn line has a few smaller waves but is running razor thin. The ash is pretty flaky and only held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

The cocoa has really taken over the flavor profile in the Epicurean Carnavale. Backing the cocoa is some light woody flavors, a bit of spice, some sweet brown sugar, and light pepper. It almost seems as the flavors have become more muted in the second third as I was expecting the opposite. The retrohale is great as it coats my nasal passage with some potent cedar and spice. The burn line has completely corrected itself and is now burning dead even and razor thin. I am feeling nothing in the nicotine department as I close out the second third.

Final Third:

Into the final third of the Epicurean Carnavale and much is the same. Lots of cocoa and wood flavors mixed with spice and sweetness. While those flavors are great, it would be nice to see a bit more change ups throughout the experience. It took me about an hour and a half to take this cigar down to the nub and I experience no harshness what so ever. The cigar always burned on it’s own and I never once had to reach for my lighter to touch up, or relight the cigar. I close out the final third feeling only a slight nicotine kick.

Overview:

The Epicurean Carnavale is a good cigar. It produces some great flavors, and a great experience. It’s not as complex as I was hoping for, and that’s probably my only gripe about it, but that falls on the subjective side as the cigar preformed flawlessly. I love the format, and the quality of the construction was perfect. I think this cigar is perfect for someone who likes solid smokes, and doesn’t normally reach for the more complex cigars. One note is going in, and knowing the blend, I was surprised with how modest the strength was. I was expecting a much stronger experience but was pleased with how balanced they were able to create the body/strength ratio in this cigar. Would I buy it again? Absolutely. While it won’t be in my regular rotation I would love to have this cigar around for those relaxing nights when I want a solid smoke to relax and enjoy some time in my backyard.

Pairing:

I took a bit of a risk on the pairing and boy did it ever pay off. Going into the smoke I knew that there was just something missing, something that a beer could easily replace making this an incredible experience. To me, that “thing” was citrus. That being said I decided to go as citrusy as it gets pairing the Epicurean Carnavale with a bottle of Prairie Artisan Ales’ Funky Gold Amarillo. The Funky Gold Amarillo is a dry-hopped sour ale brewed at the Prairie Artisan Brewery in Oklahoma. Coming in at 7.5% this sour ale leads with a nice, nippy sour punch backed by strong orange and lemon notes, with a smooth, light mouthfeel before finishing very crisp with a nice hop, citrus and spice. This is by far one of the best sour ales I have ever had the pleasure of drinking and it really helped feel that gap in the cigar’s flavor profile.

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The Good Stuff:

We all know Jose Blanco. He’s an amazing man as well as a huge contributor to the cigar industry. Most of us know him from his long time work with La Aurora which he left a few years back to join forces with Joya de Nicaragua for a few years before his newest venture, Las Cumbres Tabaco. The Senorial is Jose’s debut release with the new company. It’s a cigar that he produced alongside his cousin Jochi Blanco created at the Tabaclera Palma factory in the Dominican Republic. The cigar features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan Binder from Esteli, and Piloto Cubano and Corojo filler tobacco grown on Dominican Republic farms owned by Jochi. The Senorial is offered in 5 sizes: Paco Robusto (5.25 x 52), Corona Gorda (5.5 x 46), Belicoso No.2 (6.25 x 52), Toro Bravo (6 x 54), and the Le Grand (6 x 60). The Senorial comes in boxes of 24 and will run you roughly $7.50 to $10.25 a cigar. I purchased a handful of these from our friends over at 2 Guys Smoke Shop.

Size: 5.5 x 46
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan Esteli
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano and Dominican Corojo
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $7.50
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales – Prairie Somewhere (Saison 7% ABV)

Prelight:

The Senorial starts out with a beautiful, medium brown wrapper. The wrapper show cases some medium-sized veins and lots of darker areas around the natural webbing in the tobacco leaf which gives the cigar a very natural/rustic look and feel. The texture is slightly toothy with some slight oils. The wrapper is a bit thin a delicate while the cigar has very little give when I squeeze it between my fingers. the Senorial is capped off with a beautifully round double cap and polished off with an amazing gold and cold colored band with an almost Monet style feel to it. The front of the band carries the Senorial badge just about the words “by Jose Blanco” while the back of the band simply states “Dominican Republic”.

The wrapper of the cigar gives off a very light, earthy aroma while the foot of the cigar carries a bit of musk alongside some spice and lots of tobacco scents. The cap cut clean and easy using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw on the Senorial produced some slight pepper, spice, and cashew over natural tobacco flavors with a fluid draw.

First Third:

The Senorial started out with a nice little pepper punch which quickly faded leaving behind some great spice, cashew, earthiness and tobacco with a nice little fruity/floral aftertaste. The draw on the Senorial is absolutely flawless. Each little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke while the cigar produces very little stationary smoke as it sits in my ashtray. The burn line on the Senorial is razor thin, and dead even leaving behind a perfect trail of tightly compacted, white ask which held on a bit over an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

The flavors remain much the same into the second third of the Senorial. Spice, cashew, and earthiness lead the way with a trail of fruit and floral flavors chasing behind. I am also picking up this great butter/toffee flavor as the cigar continues to burn. The retrohale coats my nasal passage with some soft spice, and a lot of oakiness that I don’t really pick up during the smoking experience. The buntline is still dead even and I close out the second third feeling absolutely noting in the nicotine department.

Finish:

A bit of a ramp-up in the flavors here into the final third of the Senorial. The fruit and the butter toffee flavors are out in full force now while the spice, earthiness, floral, and cashew all remain in the mix. It’s impressive how smooth and balanced this cigar is. It took me a little over an hour and half to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I experience absolutely no harshness, nor did the cigar burn hot an any point. I never once had to reach for my torch to relight or touch up the cigar as it burned perfectly from start to finish leaving me with no nicotine kick whatsoever.

Overview:

It’s natural to think that just about anything that Jose Blanco creates is going to be solid, but the Senorial exceeded my expectations. The flavor profile is amazing, the construction was perfect, and the smoking experience rocked. This is a great cigar, at a great price and really leaves you wanted to see what’s in store for the future of Las Cumbres. This cigar is box-worthy, and will play a large role in my regular rotation for a while. It’s not the most complex cigar out there, but it delivers a great profile that the seasoned cigars smokers will love, as well as a mild, affordable one that will be perfect for a novice getting into premium cigar smoking.

Pairing:

Prairie Artisan Ales is an Oklahoma based brewery who’s been kicking out some great, experimental beers over the last few years. Prairie Somewhere is a Sour Farmhouse Saison which clocks in at 7% ABV. The Prairie Somewhere leads with a ton of sharp citrus and banana with a very light mouthfeel before finishing a bit sour, yet smooth with notes of lemon and spice with a very heavy banana aftertaste. This beer has refreshing summer awesomeness written all over it and I couldn’t wait for the right time to put this pair to the test, which obviously rocked. I could also see myself pairing the Senorial with some black coffee in the morning, and a sweet bourbon later in the evening.

The post Las Cumbres Tabaco Senorial by Jose Blanco appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

This year Quesada announced a new line of cigars created to celebrate 40 years of hard work. The 40th anniversary is composed of three regular production lines: Robusto – 5 x 52, Toro – 6 x 54, and the Toro Real – 6 x 65. There are two limited edition vitolas: Toro press – 6 x 49 boxpress, and the Salomon Press with is a 6 ¾ x 50/33. It’s a crazy size with a Salomon foot and head and a slender box-press body. Through those 5 sizes the blend is consistent featuring a Mexican San Andreas wrapper, Dominican Binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica shares the same name as it’s 5 brothers, but the blend is quite different featuring an Ecuadorian Connecticut Wrapper, and a tweaked blend using a Dominican Criollo binder with Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is blended by Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr. and is only available at events that he personally attends where it is sold in packs of five. After the event, that specific retailer who put on the event is able to sell the cigars which then comes in 50 count cabinets. You can find a bit more information about the blend over at Halfwheel’s site. While these may be elusive to some, I was able to pick up a handful over at Smokeinn and believe they still may have them in stock. Like many of the other cigars is the 40th anniversary line, the Corona Clasica is a limited run so you may want to pick them up while you can.

Size: 6.5 x 46
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Dominican Criollo
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.25
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales – Prairie Ale (Saison 8.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The Quesada 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is mostly covered in a soft white tissue. While the tissue gives the cigar an interesting look and provides a bit of protection for the rather delicate Ecuadorian Connecticut leaf, it’s a pain in the ass to get off on all the Corona Clasicas that I have smoked. Not only is it tightly twisted around the foot, but they also have a small strip of glue on them. In a few cases it worked against the attempt to protect the leave as it tore small parts of the wrapper off during removal. On the plus side, the tears were all very minor and never harmed the smoking experience. Once the tissue has been successfully removed a beautiful, light brown wrapper is on display. The wrapper is pretty consistent in it’s yellowish-brown color but features a few areas of green tinted leaf, and darker brown webbing. As I stated before, the wrapper is pretty thin and delicate but the filler is very tightly packed and firm with no soft spots at all. The long body which resembles more of a toroish vitola leads up to a beautiful round triple cap. The construction is perfect. The cigar is then polished off with a double band. The first is one we are familiar with as it came on the Seleccion de Espana blend featuring a black, gold, white, and silver color wheel and Quesada’s emblem. The second features the same colors with the elegant writing of “40th Anniversary” on the front. The presentation on this cigar is incredible and I just can’t wait to light it up.

The wrapper on the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica gives off a very bold grassy/mossy aroma with hints of tobacco while the foot of the cigar features much more spice and cedar. The cap cut clean and very easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw features much of the same with lots of spice and cedar backed by grassy notes and even a bit of sweetness.

First Smoke:

The first draws on Quesada’s 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica start out very salty, with some slight pepper and spice over lots of sweetness, citrus, cedar, and floral notes. As I carried on the saltiness began to face and the spice became a bit more prominent. The draw is a bit snug, but nothing too bad. The burnline is razor thing producing a very pretty, tightly compacted, dark and medium gray ash which held on for an inch before softly falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There:

The floral flavors have really taken off in the second third of the Quesada 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica. Each puff the spice peeks through more and more as the cedar and sweetness are still in the mix. It seems all the flavors have to battle through the strong floral flavors to get attention, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The floral notes are great. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica has a real Cubanesque feel to it’s flavor profile. The retrohale is very smooth and it lets the cigar show off those spice and cedar notes more. The burnline is still rockin’ even and I am feeling absolutely no nicotine as I close out the second third.

Finish:

The final third of Quesada’s 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is where the cigar really starts to shine. Up until now the body was medium at best, but it’s now pushing it into the medium/full range with lots more cedar and spice, sweetness, and citrus while the floral flavors begin to fizzle out. I am starting to pick up a bit more of the pepper though, although it’s quite mild. I’m just surprised it’s still present at this point in the experience. The burnline has been perfect the whole time. I never once had to reach for my torch the hour and a half it took to take the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica down. I smoked this bad boy down until my fingertips were on fire encountering absolutely no harshness at all. Knowing the blend, I do recommend taking your time with this one. If you speed through it there is a good chance you just may encounter some harsher areas.

Overview:

Having smoked a few of the 40th Anniversary sizes outside of the Corona Clasica, there really isn’t any similarities between the two. The standard 40th anniversary is bolder, sweeter, and flavorful while the Corona Clasica is much more cubanesque, milder, and in my opinion much more balanced and well-rounded. I seldom reach for Connecticut wrapped cigars, but this is one that I could see myself smoking all day. Flavorful enough for the evening, mild enough for the morning. The construction is absolutely flawless, and the experience is incredible while the price point is just. My only suggestion is to lose that tissue, it’s a bit of a pain. I picked up quite a few of these and will probably grab some more. If you happen to come across these do yourself a favor and pick a few up.

Pairing:

Prairie Artisan Ales’ Prairie Ale is an 8.2% ABV Saison style Farmhouse ales brewed at the Prairie Artisan brewery in Oklahoma. I’m a big fan of Saison style ales, especially in fall. The citrus, spice, and fruit really match the weather’s mood, and most of them come in at a nice, high ABV. The Prairie Ale is very light, leading with strong citrus, doughy bread, and spice with a light mouthfeel and a strong citrus and bitterness on the finish. It has a bit of bite, but finishes crisp. The first time I smoked the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica I immediately pictures pairing this with a light saison. I needed something that had some citrus and spice, but wasn’t overpowering at all as the cigar could easily be overdone by a bolder pairing. The Prairie Ale fit that description to a tee. The citrus, spice, and even the bready flavor paired up perfectly with the existing flavors in the 40th Anniversary. Other pairing would include coffee, a Belgian golden ale, or a mild Marzen.

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The Good Stuff: Tattoo is the first release in Pete Johnson’s (owner of Tatuaje) new series. I use the term “first release” a bit loosely here as there was a limited edition run of a Lancero Pete created in the past which donned the same name, but this is a different project and different blend. The Caballeros is a 5 x 50 Robusto format and will be joined by 3 additional sizes (Toro, Torpedo, and Toro Grande) over the course of the next few months. Tatuaje’s Tattoo, like all other Tatuaje releases is being produced by My Father Cigars. This particular release is being made at the Tabacalera Cubana Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. This is the same factory in which Pete produced the El Suelo and Trocadero. The Tattoo starts with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, bound with a Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan fillers along with a little something special Pete added to the filler but it is unknown exactly what that ingredient is. The Tattoo come packaged in boxes of 50 and run a very affordable price of $5 a stick. I purchased a bunch of these over from our friends at Smoke Inn. They are out of stock now, but you can set up auto-notifications on their site and be alerted as soon as they are replenished.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $5
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales Wine Barrel Noir (Imperial Stout 11% ABV)

Prelight: Tatuaje’s Tattoo starts out with a very, very dark wrapper. The wrapper is incredibly consistent in it’s dark chocolate brown wrapper. There are a few darker spots that only really show up around the cigar’s smaller veins or around the foot of the cigar. The wrapper showcases some slight oils and a whole mess of toothy texture. The wrapper is very dense and firm as it leads up through the body to a very round double cap. The Tattoo feels very stiff with a big of sponginess around the foot. Outside of that I found no other soft spots, in fact this cigar is even a bit firmer than I am used to. The Tattoo is polished off with a beautifully elegant maroon, gold, and black band carrying Tatuaje’s signature symbol as well as the word “Tattoo” printed in white across the front.

The wrapper on Tatuaje’s Tattoo gives off a really pungent sweetness with some tart spice while the foot of the cigar is much more mild only releasing a slight tobacco aroma. The cap cut clean and easy using my palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw is focused mostly around a charred meat flavor with some spice and sweetness buried in there.

First Smoke: I was greeted with only a small amount of black pepper as I lit up Tatuaje’s Tattoo. The pepper did last deep into the first third though accompanying some strong chocolate, cherry, malt, and spice flavors. The chocolate being the more dominant flavor. Despite being so tightly packed the cigar is smoking great while it lets loose a huge cloud of thick smoke with every small puff. The burnline has a very very minor waves and is burning razor thin. The ash very tightly compacted medium gray with a few darker zebra stripes which held on for about an inch before if fell into my ashtray.

Halfway There: Into the second third of Tatuaje’s Tattoo the flavors have become a bit more tame, mixing into a creamier profile of dark chocolate, cherry, cedar, and spice. The retrohale really brings out some of the woodsy flavors that are otherwise hidden in the experience. The burnline is still a bit wavy, but nothing worrisome while I am feeling zero in the nicotine department.

Finish: The flavors began to ramp up a bit into the final third of this Tatuaje Tattoo only to be masked out a bit by the charred meat flavor that I picked up in the cold draw. It’s not a bad flavor by any means, just a bit unexpected and it actually helped adding another layer to the black cherry, cedar, dark chocolate and spice flavors the Tattoo was giving off. It took my a little over an hour to take this cigar down and I didn’t experience any heat, but there was some very slight harshness coming into the final inch or so. The Tattoo’s burn was flawless with only the slight waves I mentioned earlier. I never once had to reach for my torch. The Tattoo was also pretty mild in strength leaving me with absolutely no nicotine kick whatsoever.

Overview: While I feel the Tattoo is a good, solid cigar, it’s not my favorite invention Pete has come up with. That being said, value plays a huge roll in this cigar’s character and it scores a perfect in that department. $5 a stick isn’t a price point we see to often and being that the cost is so low this is a cigar that could sneak it’s way into my regular rotation. The burn and construction was flawless I just wish it had a bit more body and flavor. Being that flavor is so subjective I could honestly say I’d still recommend this cigar to any enthusiast looking for a solid stick without breaking the bank, and the novice who doesn’t want to shell out premium coin to smoke a premium cigar.

Pairing: I’ve been paring a lot of my cigars lately with Prairie Artisan’s beers. Reason being? One, they are good as hell. And Two, I can finally find them here. I used to have to run trades to get some of their more elusive brews, but they have been readily available in El Paso as of late. Anyhow, Wine Barrel Noir is basically a big imperial stout (11%) that’s aged in wine barrels. I haven’t really had beer prior to the few Wine Barrel Noir’s that are created using this process. Basically it results in a sharper, crisp stout with a ton of flavor. The Wine Barrel Noir leads off with a ton of fruity tartness just like a dry wine would. It then finishes with some sharp berry and a bit of booziness. This makes Tatuaje’s Tattoo a nosh-like pairing with the chocolate, cherry, and charred meat. The Tattoo would pair well with most deeper stouts, Belgian style tripels or quads, or even a spicy porter.

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The Good Stuff: As I said, the Aquitaine Blockhead is a shop exclusive to Monte’s in Albuquerque and used to be only available at events. The Aquitaine blend itself is not an exclusive and made it’s debut at last year’s IPCPR. The exclusiveness pertains to the box-pressed format of the blockhead while the blend remains the same. The Aquitaine blockhead isn’t RoMa Craft Tobac’s first shop exclusive. Actually, it’s not even the first “Blockhead”. Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac had previously released a Blockhead version of the Aquitaine’s sister line, the Cromagnon (which I reviewed here) to Tower Pipes and Cigars in Sacramento, California and Tobacco Grove in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The Aquitaine starts off with an Ecuadorian Habano Ligero wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and 3 different Nicaraguan fillers each from Esteli, Condega, and Pueblo Nuevo which is a small town on the Northern border of Nicaraguan and Honduras. The blend is identical to the Cromagnon only replaces the Connecticut Broadleaf with the Ecuadorian Habano Ligero. The Aquitaine comes in 8 different sizes including the Box Pressed Blockhead (6 x 54), the Knuckle Dragger (4 x 52), the Mandible (4.5 x 60), the EMH Early Modern Human (5 x 56), the Anthropology (5.75 x 56), the Cranium (6 x 54), and two limited edition sizes including the Atlatl (7 x 38) and the Mode 5 (5 x 50 perfecto). The Blockhead runs $9 a stick and they had plenty in stock at Monte’s while I was there. For more information about Monte’s you can visit their site here, Facebook here, instagram here or twitter here. I always stop in whenever I am in town (El Paso isn’t too far from them) and they have always been great people.

Size: 6 x 54 Box Pressed
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Ligero
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Nicaraguan from Condega, Esteli, and a Ligero from Pueblo Nuevo
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9.00
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales / Evil Twin Brewing Bible Belt (Imperial Coffee/Vanilla/Chili/Cacao Stout 13% ABV)

Prelight: The Aquitaine Blockhead is one badass looking cigar. We’ll start with the format in which the name “Blockhead” is obviously pulled from. It’s box-pressed to the max almost forming a perfect square. The corners and edges are real sharp and hard. Again, I’ve said it over and over I am a huge box-press fan and absolutely love this size. It’s very comfortable in both the hand and the mouth. Next we have the wrapper. The Aquitaine carries a very thick, incredibly toothy, and incredibly oily texture. It’s definitely one of the prettier wrapper leafs as the medium and dark brown color showcases the natural webbing in the leaf and carries only a few smaller veins. The Blockhead is rather firm and packed pretty tightly. It’s a heavier cigar but again the box-press makes it really comfortable to hold despite being a longer format. There are absolutely no soft spots or construction flaws. The cigar is capped off with a stoutly round, seamless, triple cap. The Aquitaine Blockhead is then polished off with the standard brown, and white layered, letterpressed bands with the word “Aquitaine” pressed into the front and the RoMa Craft Tobac logo in white on the back. I am a HUGE fan of these bands. Simple, elegant, clean, and they serve the purpose of distinguishing your cigars without the need to be overly flashy letting the cigar’s appearance speak for itself. I’ll put these bands up there with the Liga Privada, Most Tatuaje, and Illusione bands as my all time favorites.

The wrapper on the Aquitaine Blockhead lets looks a whole ton of syrupy, molasses, chocolate aroma mixed over some bold tobacco notes while the foot of the cigar is a bit more modest only showing some natural tobacco and spice aromas. The cap cut very clean and easily using my handy Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some strong syrup, and raisin notes with a bit of spice and tobacco mixed in.

First Smoke: The Aquitaine Blockhead starts off with some modest black pepper backed by some sharp spice, raisin, espresso and some grassy tobacco flavors. As I smoked down the first inch the pepper completely faded away and a real nice brown sugar sweetness crept its way in. While the Blockhead is very tightly packed with tobacco the format makes it incredibly easy to get a nice, big, thick draw with every little puff kicking out tons of dense, white smoke. The burnline is a bit thick, but dead even forming a compacted medium and dark gray ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: As I venture into the second third of RoMa Craft Tobac’s Aquitaine Blockhead some really interesting charred meat flavors began to sneak into the flavor profile. Maybe I’m just hungry, maybe the heat is starting to get to me but it was actually pretty potent and mixed in well with the syrup, cedar, and spice while there was still a slight sugar and espresso on the aftertaste. The retrohale far more modest than I was expecting as it coats my nasal passage with some soft cedar, spice, and plum. I really enjoy the retrohale from the Aquitaine and find myself routing it that way quite often. The draw is still flawless and the burnline is perfect and I am feeling zero in the nicotine department.

Finish: RoMa Craft Tobac’s Aquitaine Blockhead really took off into the final third. The spice and espresso ramped up, the pepper came back, the brown sugar and raisin stayed strong, and even that meaty flavor stayed with it. This is a flavorful cigar and I found it pretty bold, but the one thing I enjoyed the most was how creamy and balanced the flavors were. They weren’t fighting for your attention, instead they complimented each other resulting in a complete performance. The burn and draw were perfect the entire time and I never had to take my torch back out of my pocket for any touchups or relights nor did I feel much in the nicotine department. It took me about 2 hours to smoke this bad boy down to the nub and I enjoyed every minute of it. I experience no harshness and the only heat I felt was from the sun on my head.

Overview: It’s not hard to tell how much I enjoy the Aquitaine blend. I always have. Jeremy and I actually had a conversation the other day about where we would rank each of Skip’s blend and both of us had the Aquitaine right up at #1 or #2. The Blockhead has to be one of my favorites in terms of formats for the Aquitaine. The boxpress is comfortable and produces a massive draw which really lets the cigar showcase how complex, yet balanced it’s flavors are. At $9 a pop these are priced perfectly and I am glad I picked a few up while I was at Monte’s. The shop is about 4 hours away from me, but I tend to visit Albuquerque quite often so it’s not too hard for me to get my hands on them and I plan on picking up quite a few more next time I make a trek up there. Hell, this is a box purchase for sure as these are the perfect addition to just about anyone’s rotation.

Pairing: This is the second time I’ve paired a cigar with Prairie Artisan Ale’s Bible Belt which they produced in collaboration with Evil Twin Brewing (see Espinosa’s 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster). Why? Two reasons: 1) It’s simply a badass beer which pairs perfectly with most bolder cigars and 2) Skip has been on a tear with these beers lately and I found it fitting to do an homage to him. Bible Belt is a hefty Imperial Stout weighing in at 13% ABV which is basically a mash up of Prairie Artisan’s popular Prairie Bomb! (which I paired with Viaje’s 2013 Christmas Tree) and Evil Twin’s Even more Jesus. The result is a crazy flavorful stout aged over coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans and chili peppers. In contrast to the Prairie Bomb! the Bible belt is much more chili heavy which creates this awesome spice which pairs up perfectly with the spice in most cigar experiences while the creaminess, sweetness, coffee and chocolate do the rest of the work marrying up with the robust flavors of the Aquitaine creating a pairing that’s near flawless and impossible to replace. Knowing how often Skip smokes his own supply it’s easy to see why he’s been such a fan of this beer.

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