Vitola: Toro- 6.25” x 54 ring gauge
- ~$7.99
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
I vaguely remember when Brick House was introduced by J.C. Newman Cigar Company. It was a Nicaraguan blend named for an ancestral house of the Newman family, and was priced in a very wallet-friendly way. I enjoyed them for a while, but grew tired of them, and honestly I haven’t really enjoyed them in a decade or more, even in Maduro or Double Connecticut iterations. So when they announced that there would be a TAA-exclusive version of the Brick House this year, my excitement level was pretty low. I decided I should give it a try, though, and I’m really glad I did…but before we get too much further, let’s take a look at some of the details of the stick.
The TAA version of Brick House is called Ciento Por Ciento, which is Spanish for 100%. It is made of all Nicaraguan tobacco, including a wrapper leaf that is Corojo grown in Jalapa. They are limiting this release to 500 boxes of 25 sticks, available in just the single Toro size.
This review will be the third time I’ve smoked this blend and I’ve purchased them all at Burns Tobacconist where I work. You can find them at Tobacconist Association of America member shops nationwide. For the full story on this release, check out Cigar-Coop.
Prelight
The typical style of the Brick House box is given a new look by having the background in a royal blue color, as opposed to the original (red), Maduro (black) and Connecticut (green) boxes. The regular band is on the cigar…nice and familiar, but not special…along with a foot band that uses the royal blue color again, along with the Indian-head logo of the TAA.
The wrapper of the cigar had a medium-brown peanut-butter color with a touch of red under certain lighting conditions and just a little oiliness under my fingertips. It smelled mostly of cedar, with a little grassiness and floral aroma coming from it, as well. The foot had a barnyard aroma with some woodiness mixed in.
My Xikar Xi opened up a very nice draw that had cedar, floral and grassy flavors.
Flavor
Once the Brick House Ciento Por Ciento was lit, there were immediate flavors of cedar, earth, and hay. Sweeter floral flavor followed quickly after that, while there was a bit of pepper spice more toward the finish. The retrohale had cinnamon spice, nuttiness, and more floral aroma. Toward the end off the first third the pepper spice had mellowed out on both palate and nose, leaving a nice, mellow mix of cedar, hay and sweet floral notes.
As I got into the second third, the body of the Brick House Ciento Por Ciento held steady at just slightly over medium. It had plenty of cedar flavor along with accents of pepper and sweet hay.
The last third was mostly the same with sweet hay accentuated by a little black pepper, with cedar following closely behind and floral notes hiding deep down.
Construction
I had a solid ash up to an inch or so, very good draw, and very even burn line.
Value
Brick House is still a budget-friendly cigar, even in today’s marketplace and even with the limited nature of this version. Very good value.
Conclusions
I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised by the Brick House Ciento Por Ciento. While many companies choose to either put out “special” sizes of regular blends or give TAA stores a head start on what will eventually be national releases, JC Newman has given us a cigar that tastes totally different from the other blends in the line. It was medium in body with a decent amount of complexity and good flavor from end to end. The only thing I wish is that they had put it out in some smaller ring gauge sizes, as well…but maybe that’s to come later on.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
