Cigar Previews, Part 4

Today marks Part 4 of this series and it seems like I’m just hitting my stride…I’ve actually got enough cigars smoked and noted for parts 5 and 6 already, and another bunch of sticks that could take us through 10 parts or so of this series. And I already can’t remember what I smoked in parts 1 and 2. Not much of a secret, really, that is part of the reason I started writing about cigars in the first place…I smoked so many different ones that I couldn’t remember what I thought about each stick. On to today’s batch of notes…

Don Reynaldo by Warped

Certain cigars come with high expectations baked right into the mix. Whether it’s because of the reputation of a blender, like Don Pepin Garcia, or the personality of the brand owner, like Room101 and Matt Booth. Sometimes the phenomenon of “fanboys” latches onto a brand and forever thereafter (or at least as long as “fanboyism” lasts) it’s very difficult for some people to be objective about a brand…or for others to dare criticize said brand without drawing flak from the fanboys. Such is the case with Warped Cigars.

I personally know one Warped fanboy and have heard of others. If you say you don’t like a blend, suddenly something’s wrong with “you”…couldn’t be the blend just isn’t that great or the vitola doesn’t work that well with the blend.

All this crossed my mind as I prepared to smoke the Don Reynaldo for the first time. This is not a “new” blend, but it is new to me. Apparently it shipped to certain stores as early as December 2014. It’s another of their “upper” lines, blended and rolled at Titan de Bronze in Miami, so it has a higher price point of around $14 per stick.

The band looks good, following their “traditional” band path as shown by Flor de Valle and La Hacienda. The excessive amount of gold foil can make it a little hard to read in some lighting, but I still like the look. The wrapper leaf had a wood and honey aroma to it and the prelight draw had plenty of cedar flavor.

After lighting, dry wood notes were right up front on the palate, along with mild tea and earth flavors. On the nose, I got a hint of pepper and a bit of cinnamon. Ten to fifteen minutes in, I was enjoying the smoke. I didn’t find it super complex or challenging to the palate…more of a medium-bodied cigar with simply good flavor. If this were a $9 or $10 cigar, I’d be all over it. At $14 a stick, it’s just too much money for what’s simply a solidly good cigar…yeah, that’s right…I called it overpriced for what it delivers. Bring on the fanboys.

Futuro by Warped

I also turned to what actually is a new blend from Warped, the Futuro. This is one of their collaborative efforts with Casa Fernandez out of Nicaragua so the price point should be much nicer…probably in the $9 range.

This was a good looking cigar with a nice looking band that is at least more easily read than La Hacienda. Once lit I got flavored that have become very familiar to fans of Casa Fernandez smokes: cedar, earth, pepper spice. There was also a sweet note that emerged about the 10 minutes in and a touch of creaminess.

Not much else to say about this one, except that I really enjoyed it and I’ll probably revisit it for a full review sometime in the near future.

Oh, and this one…at least as enjoyable as Don Reynaldo and $5 a stick less. Perhaps Warped should just focus on getting their stuff made by Casa Fernandez and forget about the high-priced underperforming sticks. Oh yeah…poking the fanboys a little more.

Entrada

I honestly don’t remember receiving this cigar. I did a little research and found it was made by Casa Fernandez, so maybe it was part of that booth? Maybe it was a booth near there? Like I said, I don’t recall specifically where I got it, but I do love the look of it. The postage stamp band is memorable and the dark chocolate color of the wrapper is beautiful. Wherever I got this, they gave me a Lancero, so they are doing something right. I can’t begin to say how many fat 60, 70 and even 80 ring gauge sticks were handed my way during the IPCPR. Most of those didn’t make it into my own personal “to try” stash…manufacturers can take that for what it is.

“Entrada” is Spanish for “entry” or “a journey or expedition.” The band also includes the words “Hecho con el amor de trescientas mans.” That’s “Made with love by 300 hands” or something to that effect. Basically cigars are estimated to pass through 300 hands before hitting the shelves and this pays tribute to that estimate.

Lighting up I could definitely taste the Mexican leaf in the blend…potent coffee and earth notes in a blend that was more bitter than anything else. At the outset I felt like this blend would definitely benefit from some sweetness.

By the time the second third rolled around that hoped-for sweetness did arrive and the bitter aspects were put into a better balance, along with plenty of earth and pepper spice. I’d love to try this one in some other sizes to see if they all hold up, but I’d have to put this one as a definite “possible” in bringing into the shop in terms of delivering something excellent in flavor with a unique marketing look.

Heritage by Dunhill

I took the tour of the General Cigar booth and the first stop along the way was at the Dunhill display. Until now I’ve not had a Dunhill I would care to smoke again, so it didn’t impact me much, but this cigar ended up changing that. Before we get there, though, some factual data: the Heritage uses 10-year aged Nicaraguan Ometepe, 8-year aged Honduran Jamastran and 3-year aged Nicaraguan Esteli fillers, a Nicaraguan Jalapa binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano Ligero wrapper leaf.

This was a neatly box-pressed stick with a simple, classic band and an oily wrapper that had a cedar aroma. The preflight draw was easy and had a mildly sweet dried fruit note to it.

The Heritage started out on the lower side of medium with some muted earth and cedar but by the halfway mark it was medium to full with clear notes of earth and coffee and black pepper along with a light roasted not note on the retro and just a little fruit sweetness to balance it out.

I’ve said it before: I love to be surprised. This is a Dunhill that defied my expectations and turned out to be a very tasty cigar that I definitely would enjoy smoking again and would like to see in the shop.

And I’m going to poke the fanboys again…these are pricey at $10 to $13 a stick, but they have better flavor than the Don Reynaldo for the same price. If I had to choose between the two with my own money…I’d buy the Dunhill.

Twentieth Anniversary by Rocky Patel

It’s not been a big secret that I’m not the biggest fan of Rocky Patel Cigars. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed some, but many of their blends seem to fade into each other for me with a bland sameness that I’ve just grown tired of. I can’t deny that they are popular, but I’ve not found much to excite me in a while. But there have been a few…Private Cellar, Freedom…and this new Twentieth Anniversary.

According to halfwheel, the Twentieth is made in Honduras and uses a Honduran wrapper and fillers from Jamastran (Honduras), Esteli and Jalapa (both Nicaragua). Pricing is said to be much more reasonable than the Decade and Fifteenth were when they first hit the market 5 and 10 years ago.

The band is gold and silver and black and very rich looking. It proclaims “20 Years and Counting.” It’s all befitting of a company that’s been around that long and done so well. I got barnyard scents from the wrapper and once I lit it up I was surprised by the rich sweetness and complexity that came out from practically the first puff.

Along with earth, I got nice raisin sweetness and other layers of chocolate and spice. I found it surprisingly full-bodied as I smoked along and ended up thinking it was one of the best Rocky Patel sticks I’ve had. In my own shop, I would bring this one in sooner rather than later as it is sure to get a great marketing push from the manufacturer and it’s got the goods to back up the marketing hype.