Vitola: Corona- 5.625” x 45 ring gauge
- Price $11.25
- Purchased from Maxamar Ultimate Cigar
Background
On my most recent visit to California, I made sure to stop into Maxamar Ultimate Cigar, the brick-and-mortar home to the widely known Small Batch Cigar online store (also a sponsor of Leaf Enthusiast). I picked up a few things, but two I thought would be fun for review purposes were a pair of Siempre releases from Dapper Cigars. One is the wide release Siempre Sungrown—the subject of today’s review—while the other is the Maxamar/Small Batch Exclusive Siempre Rosado—which I will be smoking tomorrow and the review will post sometime soon.
“Siempre” is Spanish for “always,” and Dapper says that describes their commitment to “continually crafting world-class cigars.” The wide-release Siempre features an Ecuadorian sun-grown Sumatra wrapper leaf, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and fillers from Nicaragua (Estelí, Ometepe, and Jalapa) and Honduras (Jamastran Valley). It is available in 10-count boxes in 4 sizes including this Corona.
This review is based on my first smoking of the blend. The cigar was purchased at Maxamar in Orange, California. If your local store doesn’t carry Dapper, you can buy them on Small Batch.
Prelight
The Siempre Sungrown comes in relatively plain wooden boxes. The banding is consistent with other Dapper—and indeed other boutique—releases in that it is attractive and pleasing to the eye, while being almost completely unreadable, leading to a difficulty figuring out what the blend is if you’re not already familiar…and completely lacking a clue as to the company that made it. Basically, it becomes an “inside” or “club” mentality, where if you know…you know…and feel special about it. Besides the personal commentary about it, though, I do like the look of this cigar’s packaging.
The wrapper leaf was a coffee bean brown color with a little mottling and a little oiliness. It smelled of earth and hay, along with a touch of mineral. The foot of the cigar had a stronger earthiness, with cocoa powder and a slight sweetness to the aroma.
After clipping the head, I had a good draw that had earth, coffee bean, dark chocolate, and almost minty flavors.
Flavor
The Siempre Sungrown fired up with relative ease, initially producing flavors of dry earth, unsweetened cocoa powder, and black cherry, quickly followed by cedar and herbal notes. The finish had some citrus zest and the retrohale was roasted nuts and red pepper. As I made my way through the first third, I noted that the blend had increasing citrus sweetness and just a touch of the metallic mineral note that I normally associate with Sumatra wrapper. There was a nice amount of pepper spice on the palate as well as the nose.
The second third continued the slightly sweet, slightly peppery, slightly metallic flavor profile while adding a roasted nuttiness on the palate to go along with what I got on the nose.
In the final third, the Siempre Sungrown had a little more earth, while the nuttiness faded a bit. There was still enough sweetness and pepper to provide interest throughout.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line, and solid ash throughout.
Value
The price tag on these is slightly above average, but it delivered a very nice experience, so I say it’s worth the price.
Conclusions
Dapper’s Siempre Sungrown was a pleasant surprise of a cigar, medium-to-full in body with a very good amount of complexity that kept my attention from beginning to end. It had just enough pepper and sweetness that it kept an excellent balance with nothing getting overwhelming. This may be my new favorite Dapper…at least until I try the Rosado version tomorrow. Stay tuned…
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
