Cigar Review: Foundry Belgrade

Vitola: Belgrade
Size: 5.75” x 43 – 60 ring gauge
Price $9.99
Purchased from Burns Tobacconist

Background

Again I am pulled back into the world of war…a war between currents…a war between inventors and their inventions. I have previously disclosed my own leanings in this war, but until now I didn’t actually smoke a cigar named for Nikola Tesla or his inventions. Today that changes. In a sign of resonance (mechanical or otherwise), I found the “Belgrade” from Foundry Tobacco Company at my local B&M a couple weeks ago.

In review, Foundry is the newest division of General Cigar, founded in 2012 and producing an absolutely astounding number of blends for the 2013 IPCPR show (over 20). They did contribute a few cigars to what will be “core” Foundry lines, but most of those blends are a one-and-done limited affair. “The Inventions” are part of that group. The Inventions share the same band as “The Laboratories” (which will be permanent) but as to what the actual blend is…no one is saying. Laboratories and Inventions could all be very similar blends with just different vitolas to alter the flavors but I can’t even begin to say that’s the end of the variations and experimentations.

Today’s cigar is called “Belgrade” and is ostensibly named for the museum where Nikola Tesla’s works and life are celebrated, but the packaging references the “Particle Beam Death Ray” that he worked on for many years. The device never was completed and that’s probably for the best. He described that it’s operation:

[The nozzle would] send concentrated beams of particles through the free air, of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy airplanes at a distance of 200 miles from a defending nation’s border and will cause armies to drop dead in their tracks.

The Nikola Tesla Museum is in Belgrade, Serbia, and it holds…

more than 160,000 original documents, over 2,000 books and journals, over 1,200 historical technical exhibits, over 1,500 photographs and photo plates of original, technical objects, instruments and apparatus, and over 1,000 plans and drawings.

I purchased a single Belgrade from Burns for this review.

Prelight

There are dozens, if not hundreds of roughly pyramid-shaped cigars on the market: cigars that begin large at the foot and taper toward the head in a conical or pyramidical shape. It’s fairly common and there have been some interesting twists on it over the years, like the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Obeliscos. This cigar takes that idea and turns it on its head…it’s almost a reverse-pyramid shape. It starts as a 43 ring gauge at the foot, then expands out to a bulbous 60 ring gauge near the head, before tapering quickly back to a rough torpedo point so it’s easy to smoke. Truly an odd shape; possibly the only one of its kind in today’s market, although I would hesitate to say it’s never been done before…a wise man once said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

The cigar appeared to be well-made and the wrapper was oily to the touch. The color was slightly lighter than milk chocolate with some mottling, striations and variations in it…a little darker speckling here, the veins slightly bleached out there. Not the prettiest cigar I’ve ever seen, but not unattractive. I gave it a good sniff and picked up a sweet hay and leathery aroma on the wrapper, while the foot was barnyard and earth with some rich sweetness, as well.

I clipped the head and took a drag on the unlit cigar. The draw was excellent and the cold flavor was somewhat neutral and indistinct. There was a little earth, a little hay, and little sweetness.

Flavor

Surprisingly, it took quite a bit of work to get the small tip of the Belgrade lit. At first it seemed like it was going to fire right up, but it just closed up as it charred the edge of the tobacco. I applied more flame and was able to get a bright orange ring around the outside of the tip, but the center of the stick refused to ignite. A little more flame concentrated on that center got it finally going. Initial flavors were of earth and medium-roast coffee on the palate, along with a touch of natural sweetness. The retrohale had touches of roasted nuts and cocoa powder, along with a dash of black pepper. The finish had cedary notes, as well as a bit of cocoa and pepper.

As I edged into the second third, the ring gauge of the cigar started expanding and the flavor changed fairly quickly to a more leathery base with touches of earth and more cocoa powder. There was also an increase in the amount of strength and body, almost as if the blenders used the extra width to pack in some extra ligero…and maybe they did.

The last third of the cigar started around the time the burn line approached the widest portion of the stick. The flavor gradually changed to contain more cedar notes with bits of hay and a decreased pepper spice presence.

Construction

The construction on this unusual stick was top-notch. The draw was perfect, the burn line was very even and the ash was not flaky.

Value

This was the most expensive of the Foundry sticks I’ve reviewed over the last few months and it was still a hair under $10…for a limited production! I would call that a good value.

Conclusions

I am happy to report that this Foundry Belgrade was the best of the bunch that I’ve had with the Foundry label so far. Will there be more reviews from the 2013 batch to come? I don’t know. If not, I ended this loose series with an excellent example of a very tasty smoke in a very innovative shape. The Belgrade had a body that ranged from medium to full and back to medium again along with a flavor range that was pleasingly complex. If you can find them, put this one on your “to do” list. Oh…one other thing…Tesla wins!

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10