Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
Robusto, 5” x 50 ring gauge / ~$7
The headline might read, “Local Man Enters Cigar Business.” Ryan Kohl was a professional rugby player; he travelled the world, played hard, and then retired from the business to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee. There he entered the family business, importing Scotch whisky with ImpEx Beverages. Soon he realized that many Scotch enthusiasts were also cigar smokers. Having some history in the retail cigar business himself, he set about finding out how to create a blend specifically designed to pair with one of his company’s Scotches (in this case the specific Scotch is the Isle of Arran Port Cask Finish). He worked with Clint Aaron of 262 Cigars to find the right combination of tobaccos. Clint has also helped him through the regulatory and legal hoops of the tobacco industry and will be helping to distribute the new brand, called Gramercy. The word “gramercy” is Middle English, which in turn derived it from Old French, and is used to “express surprise or gratitude.” The initial blend is called Gravitas, which can mean weight, seriousness, dignity or importance. The Gravitas has Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers (from Trojes and Estelí, respectively), a Nicaraguan Condega binder and a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper. It is made by Tabacalera Carreras (Esteban Carreras) in Estelí, Nicaraguan, and will be available in Corona and Box-Pressed Toro sizes, as well as the Robusto I am using for this review. This review stick is my second sample and both were given to me by Ryan Kohl recently when we met at Burns. In the interest of full disclosure, Gramercy is also sponsoring the upcoming Chattanooga Tweet-Up and Cigar Festival and I doing some work for Ryan to help get this venture off the ground. My affiliation with the brand owner will have no bearing on the outcome of this review…but to be honest, if I didn’t like it, I probably would have declined to review it.
The dual bands on the Gramercy Gravitas are cool and classy looking. In talking to Ryan, he wants to emphasize his Scottish heritage with the Gramercy brand, and while this does not necessary scream “I’m Scottish, Laddy!” it is very nice. Intricate detail in the main section, along with some embossing and hidden, subtle detail on the band sides really make for a eye-pleasing design that I believe only uses two ink colors, plus some silver foil. Then there’s the wrapper. When I first saw it, I thought: “Ecuadorian Habano.” Not a particularly dark Ecuadorian Habano at that rate. “No,” Ryan said…and reminded me of the press release that I had run on the blog only a week before…”that’s a Brazilian Mata Fina!” What? This is by far the lightest colored Brazilian wrapper leaf I have ever seen…and I’m including both Mata Fina and Arapiraca varietals in that. It was a very oily leaf under the pads of my fingers, but the color was a tawny light-brown…amber waves of grain, or something like that. Giving it a good sniff, I got subtle earthy notes of barnyard and a bit of cedar from it, while the foot had a denser earthiness, with additional notes of sweet hay and cocoa powder. I clipped the end and took a cold draw; it was open and had a mix of flavors that included citrus, cedar, earth and…ammonia. The ammonia was the odd man out…something that didn’t quite fit in, but I was told that was actually on purpose to pair with some aspect of the Scotch. The only concern I would have there is that with longer aging, traces of ammonia tends to fade away, so if it’s something that’s actually desired, it may only show up in fresh sticks as opposed to ones that age a bit on retailer shelves (or in your humidor at home).
The cigar lit readily with just a single-flame torch. Initially, I got a lot of cedar on the tongue and a healthy pepper blast through the nose. On subsequent puffs, I started to get sweeter citrusy notes and hay on the palate as well. The Gravitas started off medium in body and produced a very thick smoke that lingered around my head. Remembering the ammonia from prelight, I tried to find any in the lit flavor, and could find none. That, I think, was probably for the best.
As I smoked through the second third of Gravitas, I noted an increase in earthiness, a note that had been very understated before. There was still a nice smooth sweetness, too, and it had taken on a more chocolatey note by the end of the third. Construction was excellent so far with a very even burn line, solid ash and fantastic draw.
The final third of the Gramercy Gravitas had mostly a mix of hay and earth flavors with some chocolate sweetness as a constant undercurrent. In the end, I really enjoyed this cigar, and have to call it a winner for Esteban Carreras (as the factory that made it), Clint Aaron (who guided the blending), and especially for Ryan Kohl. This was a solid debut entry into the cigar industry and I look forward to pairing it up with some of the Scotch (Ryan said he would make that a possibility very soon). I also look forward to trying out the Corona, my preferred vitola in most blends. If your local shop isn’t carrying this (and when this post is published, it’s a good bet they are not), ask for them. Ryan will be at the Chattanooga Tweet-Up, too, and cigars should be on sale at Burns at that time.
Body: 6/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
P.S. I did get a chance to try the Gravitas paired with the Arran Malt Port Cask Finish (and a couple other Cask Finishes, as well) and it was just about perfectly paired…and I’m not a regular Scotch drinker. Try it for yourself.
Being both a Cigar smoker and a Scotch drinker I rarely ever find a combo that really works for me, its normally a Whiskey or Rum that seems to mix better. Although it would be neat to try these two together and see how they really pair up. Best of luck great review.