The Good Stuff:

My Father Cigar has really been reaching deep into it’s roots with some of their more recent releases and the Antiguedad is another blend that celebrates the company’s heritage. Using a Cuban-seed blend the Antiguedad is the second full-box pressed line we’ve seen come out of the factory in the last few years. Based on the award-winning “La Flor de Antillas” (you can read that review here), the Antiguedad aims to bring a bolder, fuller experience. Some have referenced the Antiguedad as a Flor de Antillas on crack. Showcasing a Habano Ecuador Rosado Oscuro wrapper and all Nicaraguan innards, the Antiguedad is aimed at cigar smokers who crave bigger, bolder experiences. The My Father La Antiguedad comes in fives sizes: Robusto (5 ¼ x 42), Toro: (5 x 5/8 x 55), Corona Grande (6 3/8 x 47), Toro Gordo (6 x 60), and the Super Toro (7 x 56). They come packaged in box-pressed boxes of 20 and range between $7.50 and $9.00 a stick. I purchased a handful of these over from our friends at Cigarhustler.com.

Size: 6 3/8 x 47
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador Rosado Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $7.80
Pairing: Odell Brewing’s Tree Shaker Imperial Peach IPA (Imperial IPA 10.1% ABV)

Prelight:

My Father’s Antiguedad resembles the same design strategy as we saw on the Flor de Antillas release they kicked out two years ago. Starting with an elegant ribbon, in this case bright red on the foot, and an incredibly detailed, beautifully done, gold encased painting on the band. The presentation is incredible, now let’s get to the cigar. The wrapper on the Antiguedad is absolutely beautiful. It starts off with a pretty consistent, milk chocolate brown which touts a few darker brown splotches scattered throughout the veiny wrapper. While the Antiguedad does carry quite a few veins, none of them seem overly worrisome. The texture of the wrapper is very rough and very toothy while the density of the wrapper feels rather thin. The body on the Antiguedad is a hard boxpress leading up with a round triple cap. The cigar doesn’t feel very packed with tobacco. It’s rather light, and a bit spongy. This was the case is most of the Antiguedad that I smoked and doesn’t necessarily mean there are construction flaws, but you will have to read on to see if it impacted the draw at all.

The wrapper on My Father’s Antiguedad gives off a very strong spice and syrup aroma while the foot smells very natural with lots of grass and grain aromas. The cap cut lite butter leaving behind a very potent spice, strong cedar, and leathery cold draw.

First Smoke:

The My Father Antiguedad started out with a whole mess of black and Cayenne pepper. After the first few draws my tongue and mouth where left with a nice little singling sensation. Underneath the pepper was a real bold cedar, strong citrus, notes of honey and charred meat with lots and lots of mixed spice. This was a flavor bomb right off the bat. The draw is a bit loose, but in all the cigar that I have smoked in this blend I had no trouble with the draw despite the cigar’s lack of packed tobacco. The was all sorts of crazy as I closed out the first third leaving behind a trail of medium grey, semi-compacted ash which held on for only about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There:

The My Father La Antiguedad is still rocking into the second third. I’m impressed with the pepper still hanging in there. It’s not as strong as it once was but it’s still a major component in the experience. The spice and cedar are owning the flavor profile along with some bold citrus and leather with backing smoked meat. It may sound like a strange mix-up of flavors, but they actually work really well with one another. The retrohale is really, really strong with so much spice and pepper I couldn’t handle doing it more than once. I did have to touch up the burn between the first and second third as it was just getting out of hand, burning heavily on one side. The second third was much more successful but still required a few little touch ups to get it burning evenly. I am already feeling a nice little nicotine kick as I close out the second third of the Antiguedad.

Finish:

Just as I was thinking the burn issues had been defeated, the cigar went out on me. No bother, I lit it back up and we are back in action. Wow, the strength was already pretty full, but it continued to ramp up in the final third of the My Father La Antiguedad. It’s not a cigar for the faint of heart. The flavor profile is still leaning heavily on the spice, cedar, and citrus while the meat and leather are still in there. I also encountered some interesting black licorice flavors in the final third, although the were pretty slight and may have just been a byproduct of all the other flavors. The cigar took me two full hours to take down and I experienced very little harshness and absolutely no heat buildup. After relighting the cigar at the start of the final third it burned itself down to the nub leaving me with one hell of a nicotine kick. There was some wavy areas but I let them be and the cigar finished cleanly.

Overview:

I remember smoking the Flor de Antillas thinking “Damn, this cigar is good, but it’s missing something. I wish it had a bit more strength and a bit more body”. That’s exactly what My Father did when they created the Antiguedad and in my opinion, it paid off. I smoked most of the vitolas in the Antiguedad line and the Corona Grande is my favorite, and probably carries the most strength, and body. This cigar left me a bit wobbly and I probably wouldn’t recommend it to cigar smokers who aren’t used to handling stronger cigars. I would however, recommend it in boxes to those who love strong, bold, flavorful cigars that carry such quality as what My Father Cigars has always offered. I did have a few issues with the burn in most of the cigars I smoked, but I can’t really complain with a few subtle touch ups and a relight here and there. They didn’t char up or muddle the profile.

Pairing:

Since summer is quickly coming to a close I am trying to squeeze in a few great summer beers before they expire. This week, I took a gamble pairing My Father Cigar’s La Antiguedad with a bottle of Odell Brewing Company’s Tree Shaker. Tree shaker is an Imperial IPA brewed with peaches as the Odell Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. Coming in at 10.1% (that’s what my bottle says, every where I look online has it listed at 9.7%. Maybe I’m just special) this beer leads with some smooth pine, citrus, and light peach notes with a soft mouthfeel finishing very crisp with some light grain and hoppiness. I thought I would pick up more peach, but I am actually glad I didn’t. The creamy smoothness hides the booziness really well making this incredibly easy to drink. The citrus and peach went shockingly well with the citrus from the La Antiguedad while the cedar and spice from the cigar laid on a whole new dimension to the beer. I think the Antiguedad would also pair well with a barley-wine, some bold port wine, or some sweet bourbon. Just make sure you pairing is bold enough to keep up with the cigar.

The post My Father Cigars La Antiguedad appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Limonera Corojo
Binder: Dual Nicaraguan Binder from Esteli and Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan Jalapa, Esteli, and La Mia
Strength: Medium/Full
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $8.50

Prelight: The first thing I noticed about the RYJ was the stray from the standard Red that Romeo y Julieta likes to use on their bands. The RYJ carries a more elegant, white band with gold and red embossing. The RYJ also carries a foot band with “RYJ” elegantly embossed into it. The wrapper on the cigar has a bit of character as well. I get used to seeing consistent, shade leaf on most of Romeo y Julieta’s cigars so it was nice to see the wrapper had a lot more character. Medium brown in color with some darker webbing and orange spots with very little veins running through the body of the cigar. The cigar is capped off with a large, round, double cap. The wrapper and binder combination make for a really tough, firm feeling cigar with no signs of weakness. The wrapper gives off a really musky, cedar aroma while the foot of the cigar carries a mid tobacco/spice aroma.

Flavors: Right off the bat I was greeted with something otherwise uncommon in most Romeo y Julieta cigars, black pepper. While it wasn’t powerful, it was a nice introduction to what an all Nicaraguan Romeo y Julieta has to offer. Behind the pepper laid some soft caramel, lots of earthiness and coffee, with a bit of citrus. It was a nice mixture and I was impressed with the amount of flavor I was pulling from the cigar. Halfway through the pepper dropped off completely while the coffee and cedar ramped up. By the end of the smoke the sweetness had diminished while the coffee, cedar, and earthiness had taken over. There was no harshness at all, in fact, this was probably one of the smoother cigars I had smoked in some time.

Burn/Draw: During the cold draw I felt the draw was going to be rather tight. I had a bit of an issue trying to pull air through the cigar. But that wasn’t the case at all once the RYJ was lit up. The draw was perfect, pumping out a ton of smoke with every little puff. The burnline started a bit wavy, but quickly corrected itself and burned a bit thick, but perfectly even the entire experience with no extra attention from my lighter needed.

Thoughts: Romeo y Julieta wasn’t the first cigar company to release a Nicaraguan Puro in the past few years and certainly won’t be the last. Personally, Nicaragua is my country of preference when it comes to tobacco. I feel some of the boldest, richest tobaccos come out of that country and the RYJ is just another example of that. Some of the other blends in the Romeo y Julieta portfolio don’t do much for me. I find most are a bit too mild for my taste. The RYJ is quite the opposite carrying a very robust profile that kept me pleased the entire experience. Mash that in with the flawless production Romeo has always produced and we have a solid cigar. If you are like me, and don’t normally go for a Romeo y Julieta due to the mild manner they usually carry, this is an ideal cigar for you.

The post Quick Draw – Romeo y Julieta – RYJ appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.