Vitola: Belicoso Fino- 5.5” x 52 ring gauge
- $11.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Le Careme…my Breakfast Broadleaf…my Morning Maduro…came out in 2016 at the IPCPR trade show that year. It quickly became a favorite of mine and last year Crowned Heads released a limited edition size…Belicoso Fino…the only torpedo-tipped vitola of the blend and also the only vitola that wasn’t box-pressed. Sadly, in my experience the torpedo performed about as well as most torpedos perform…some with an adequate draw, but all too often tight. Still, it was a widely acclaimed size for the blend…so they repeated it for 2019. And I might be a glutton for punishment…because I picked one up so I could do a pairing on a hot summer afternoon.
As previously, the blend is Nicaraguan fillers, an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder, and a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper. They are made in the EP Carrillo factory in the Dominican Republic. They reportedly made 30,000 sticks this time around, a bump from last year and the price was said to be the same…but Crowned Heads definitely raised their prices to the shops because where I bought it, it cost $.50 more.
Site sponsor, Small Batch Cigar, is carrying these.
Notes
This redux release looks exactly like last year’s except for the update to the date wherever it appears and the addition of the Crowned Heads foot band, which is getting very familiar with their constant march of Limited Edition releases…seriously, there have been 4 LE releases from them in the past 3 months alone.
The wrapper leaf was dark chocolate brown in color and really oily to the touch. It smelled heavily of ripe earth and anise, while the foot had the same aromas with a touch of cedar added in. I clipped..and clipped again a little bit…and got a draw I thought would work well. It tasted of earth and unsweetened cocoa powder and anise.
I paired this Le Careme LE 2019 with a Sam Adams Porch Rocker 2019…also a Limited Edition. This is a “radler” style beer, which is similar to a shandy in that it mixes a beer with a soft drink. This one uses a Helles Lager with a “smooth effervescent limonádé.” (In the interest of accuracy, from what I could find, a radler is mixed only with lemonade or citrus soda and is German in origin, while a shandy is English in origin and mixes the beer with any soft drink.)
The cigar began well. The draw was good, the smoke was medium-bodied, and there was plenty of what I love about this blend: slightly sweet chocolate, earth, mild pepper. The beer added some citrus zestiness to the proceedings and proved to be just what was needed on a 90º day sitting on the front porch in filtered shade…it was hot, the beer was good and cold.
Overall, I enjoyed Le Careme LE 2019, and I thought it paired well with the Porch Rocker on this hot day. If you were one of the ones that went crazy over this blend in this size when it came out last year, then it’s time to rejoice! It’s back and pretty much identical to last year. Go get as many as you can find!