Cigar Previews, part 8

ALADINO and TATASCAN by CLE Cigars

One of the new things shown off at the CLE booth this year were three new lines of cigars from Christian Eiroa’s father, Julio. The story goes that Julio had wanted to produce his “own type of cigar” for several decades, but something always got in the way until now. I got to try out the Aladino and the Tatascan.

Aladino is based on the Eiroas’ traditional use of “Authentic Corojo.” There are eight sizes available, running from an MSPR of $4 to $13.50. I smoked the Churchill, which is the $13.50 version and found it very good, although a bit of a stretch for the money; I think the other vitolas are very fairly priced. Besides the use of Honduran Corojo, there was no information given about make-up. (Cigar-Coop)

The bands on these are pretty basic and old-school. Not a bad look, but nothing that exactly jumps off the shelves, either. This cigar came highly recommended to me by Justin Richards, not my shop’s CLE rep, but one that has spent a lot of time around Burns.

First light-up brought dry cedar and pepper spice notes. The pepper came through on the palate and retrohale. I found it to be medium in body and the spice mellowed to a moderate level after a few minutes. There was a touch of earth and grass in the mix, adding to the complexity and overall enjoyment.

This was an excellent cigar, but $13.50 is too much for the Churchill when the other vitolas are all slotting in at $10 or less. There are a couple customers whose voices I can hear in my head right now complaining about the cost of the Churchill, when it happens to be their favorite size.

Tatascan is a Honduran puro with a name that translates to “head boss.” It is to be available in 9 sizes…and while that sounds good on the surface, as a retailer I have to object to that many sizes. I’m simply not going to bring in more than 3 or 4 initially no matter how much I like the cigar. If I were producing cigars, I would take the other tactic…4 popular sizes on day 1, add another vitola 6 months down the road if the initial ones take off. Add another size or two each year to keep it in the news and people’s minds. After producing 9 sizes on day 1, where do you go?

The Tatascan’s wrapper had a fresh, clean hay aroma, while the foot had a touch of earth and spice. The cold draw was mostly full of sweet berry flavors. Once lit, I got earth and dried fruit up front, with a pleasantly peppery finish. The retro had some nuttiness and after a few puffs I picked up on salty notes as well.

As I continued smoking, I noted that this cigar had a solidly good flavor with a medium body. It had a good balance between sweetness and spiciness. It was something I could enjoy again and I really do like the price points. The key with both the Aladino and Tatascan is to choose the 3 or 4 vitolas that you think would go over best in your store and see how they do. If they sell well, maybe bring in another size or two, but I can’t see displaying all 8 or 9 of each anymore than I would advise any store to carry all 20+ SKUs of Macanudo Cafe.

MONTECRISTO WHITE VINTAGE CONNECTICUT

This Montecristo White Series variation uses a U.S. Connecticut Shade leaf from the 2008 harvest year, grown on a farm actually owned by Altadis. The binder is Nicaraguan and the fillers are Dominican, Nicaraguan and Peruvian. They are making this in 3 sizes and there was no word on pricing when I researched it, but most of the Monte Whites tend to be $10-15.

It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve smoked a Monte White. I decided that I should give this variation on the theme a try, partially to see how it is, but also to reacquaint myself with Monte White. It was a good looking cigar, although not a consistent shade of golden brown, which gave me a little pause for the price of the cigar.

While some companies might tout their products as “Not your father’s Connecticut” or something to that effect, this most definitely IS your father’s Connecticut. It’s everything I would come to expect from a classic, Dominican-based, Connecticut Shade wrapped blend. It was mild, grassy, subtly sweet and had a creamy smoke.

Bottom line, it is a good cigar, although not really what I look for in a cigar. Would I carry it? Absolutely. Montecristo White Series tend to fly off the shelf and any retailer who ignores what his customers want in favor of what he likes is heading toward bankruptcy (ideally, you should have a mix of both).

CULT CLASSIC

According to the Cult Cigars website, this is the “original blend that launched the…series.” I remember when this brand first started appearing in social media, then other locations…must have been two or three years ago. I wanted to try them out at the time, but it never came to pass that I ran across them in the wild, so…when I saw that they had been placed in the IPCPR “welcome bag” I was happy to get to try it.

The Classic has Nicaraguan fillers, an Indonesian binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. and is available in 4 sizes. I got a toasted caramel note upon first light, along with some pepper and cedar, as well as a mild earthiness. I got a tight draw right from the start and I enjoyed the beginning.

As I headed into the second third, I got more bread or graham cracker notes, along with a continued touch of earthiness, while the pepper spice faded away. I hadn’t looked at the blend makeup before smoking it and felt like it was probably Dominican-based with a Habano wrapper…got part of it right, anyway.

Overall, I found it good but perhaps not unique enough to consider bringing into a fully-stocked shop. Of course, they do have other blends, so I would give those a try before making a final determination.

SAN CRISTOBAL OVATION by Ashton

To go along with last year’s La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse Limited Edition, this year Ashton introduced a San Cristobal Limited Edition: Ovation. This is another high-priced offering made in the My Father Cigars factory in Nicaragua. The wrapper is a double-fermented San Andres Oscuro leaf, and typical of My Father blends, the interior is made up of Nicaraguan leaf. Only 66,000 total cigars were produced in a single 6.5” x 52 ring gauge Toro. (Cigar-Coop)

The appearance is spectacular, as you would expect judging from previous San Cristobal releases and the Noblesse release from last year. The wrapper leaf is a beautiful cocoa powder brown with a rich earthy aroma. First puffs from the Ovation were smooth and rich, with little of the bitterness I’ve found in other My Father blends using San Andres wrapper, most notably the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor.

As I continued through the cigar, I got a mild sweetness and tons of cocoa powder flavor. There was definitely a refined, subtle elegance to this blend that elevates it above the regular San Cristobal line, although whether it justifies a price tag of $16 or more is hard to say. For myself, I’d probably bring in two or three boxes, with the attitude that it’s better to sell out completely than order way too much and end up with 10 extra boxes that won’t move.