Cigar Review: Byron by United Cigar

Vitola: Londonises (Toro)
Size: 5.5” x 54 ring gauge
MSRP ~$38 (according to company website, actual price found online is about $30)
Sample provided by United Cigar

Background

We wrap up our look at some of United Cigars’ products with Byron. The brand was originally started in the mid-19th century by cousins in Cuba. According to the website:

Many cigar factories produced numerous brands with Anglo-American names to attract UK and US markets which had tremendous demand for premium cigars at the time. Having said that, around 1848 the cousins created a cigar brand named Lord Byron in honor of the world renowned English poet himself. He was arguably the greatest author of romantic poetries of the day and more importantly pertaining to the brand, an avid cigar smoker and enthusiast.

Eventually the brand fell on hard times and was sold off to pay a debt. The modern incarnation of Byron dates to 1998 and the great-grandson of Ricardo Alfonso, who lost the brand. The brand is now produced in very limited quantities in a small Costa Rican factory. One of their claims of uniqueness is that they produce 3 blends under the Byron name, Siglo XIX, Siglo XX and Siglo XXI. “Each blend is completely different and represents what Cuban cigars were in the 19th, 20th and 21 centuries.” They also ship Byron in “luxury porcelain jars” which include humidification.

The cigar United provided for this review is from the Siglo XX line, so it’s supposed to represent what Cuban blends were in the last century (medium to full in strength, again according to the website). The blend details are a top secret…even President Obama has been prohibited from knowing them! I’d like to once again thank my friend, Barry Stein, who works with United Cigar (and Two Guys Smoke Shop…and Cigar Authority) for sending me this (and the Atabey and Bandolero) to try.

Prelight

By itself, this cigar would be easy to bypass. I have to imagine when presented correctly, in the porcelain jar, it would have a more impactful look. The banding is close to the original in look and feel, although with a slick paper stock that they probably didn’t have when this brand first came out. Overall, it’s not bad, but my printing background just makes me wonder how this would look on a better paper stock…like the one My Father uses for the Flor de las Antillas and Antiguedad. That heavy, non-gloss, textured paper just has a richer look to me. But as happens too often…I digress.

The wrapper leaf was a rich brown color, just a shade lighter than milk chocolate, and a had a nicely oily feel to it with a minimal amount of veins. The aroma was mildly sweet with notes of hay and honey; the foot had an earthy aroma, with touches of cedar and hay. The entire cigar felt fairly firm and evenly packed…overall, the build quality looked like what you might expect when you pay a high price for a stick.

The cut revealed an excellent cold draw that had flavors of hay and wood and earth, with just a touch of pepper.

Flavor

In lighting Byron up, I got a solid sweet hay flavor up front, with plentiful cedar notes following right behind, and an earthy, somewhat peppery finish. The retrohale had notes of roasted nut and black pepper. I’ve made a bit of a game of throwing my guesses as to country of origin makeup out there since United has not wanted to share that information; in this case, I would guess Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and a decent amount of Nicaraguan in the blend, along with some Dominican. I call out the Dominican because of the bready flavors I started getting toward the end of the third.

In the second third, I got more bread and hay notes dominating the blend, along with a decreased amount of pepper and earth.

In the last third I got a slight resurgence of pepper, along with most of the bread flavor and hay. It leads me to believe that there is more Dominican in this than anything else, with maybe a little Nicaraguan (instead of the other way around).

Construction

Construction was spot on with the Byron. I had to touch up the burn line a couple times, but no big deal. The draw was perfect. The ash broke off in solid chunks.

Value

$30 a stick is a very high standard to meet. Unfortunately, while this is a good cigar, I didn’t feel like it came close to being worth that price tag.

Conclusions

To me the Byron Siglo XX line is a good blend, but I just didn’t feel like it justified the price of admission. Honestly, it must be very difficult to blend a cigar that would be worthy of a $30 price tag; some have done it in spectacular fashion (just look at the Atabey that I reviewed last week or the Padron 1926 80 Years Maduro), but more have failed in my opinion. If you do want to go there, though, be prepared for a smoking experience that starts off medium in body before heading toward the full range (without getting there) in the last third. It was a good, solid smoke, but just lacked the refinement and complexity I would expect at this level.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10