Cigar Review: Mi Querida Firecracker by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust

• Vitola: Firecracker
• 3.5” x 50 ring gauge 
• ~$7
• Purchased from 2 Guys Cigars

Background

Firecracker? Who would want to smoke a firecracker? Oh…it’s a special size of cigar! Well, sure…I’ll try that!!!

Some 12 years ago, the owner of Two Guys Smoke Shop in New Hampshire, David Garofalo, thought it would be cool to have a cigar with a “fuse” on it. When he asked Don Pepin Garcia to do such a thing, Garcia hesitated…he probably thought Garofalo was crazy! But eventually he did it and ushered in one of the most sought after lines of cigars used to celebrate Independence Day.

Since 2006, the Firecracker has been released in versions from My Father, Tatuaje, La Flor Dominicana, RoMa Craft, and Fratello, as well as an ongoing version made by Jose Dominguez. For 2018, they worked with Steve Saka to make a Firecracker version of his award-winning blend, Mi Querida.

Mi Querida uses a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan filler and binder leaves, but Saka claims that this one is “front loaded with ligero…for an extra kick giving it an explosive start.”

I bought a box of Mi Querida Firecrackers, some of which I gave or traded off with friends. I have smoked a couple before this review sample. The Mi Querida Firecracker sold out in less than a day from 2 Guys Cigars (the online presence for Two Guys Smoke Shop) and there is no word of another run being made…but we can always hope.

Prelight

The Firecracker comes packaged in the typical Mi Querida fashion, with a plain wood box with a hinged lid. Each cigar is cellophane wrapped, but when you take it out of the cellophane, you finally start to see what makes this cigar special. From the cap extends a long tail (“fuse”) or tobacco that is held to the side of the cigar with the familiar gold and blue Mi Querida band.

The wrapper leaf had the familiar dark chocolate brown appearance with plenty of oils visible to the eye and left on my fingers. The wrapper had an aroma of earth along with cedar and a bit of sweetness, while the foot of the cigar was earthy with lots of coffee notes.

On a previous sample, I removed the “fuse” from the cigar before cutting the cap. This time I left it on when cutting, so it was disconnected from the cigar, but held against it with the band. The prelight draw was excellent and tasted of earth, bittersweet chocolate and coffee beans.

Flavor

When I lit the Mi Querida Firecracker, I immediately got a strong, solid earthiness with hints of cedar, leather and unsweetened cocoa on the palate. The retrohale was full, as well, and had notes of red pepper and earth. The fullness on the first few puffs was a bit surprising, but equally surprising was when it toned down a bit and got smoother and sweeter within five minutes.

The thirds of this cigar really didn’t last long, but as I got into the second one the flavor profile had settled into the old familiar one that won the Mi Querida my “Cigar of the Year” declaration a couple years back. It was sweet, spicy, earthy and wonderful.

It was over so quick that I didn’t even have time to take good notes on the final third…or maybe there just wasn’t a final third in a cigar this small! Seriously, though…lots of earth and chocolate sweetness, along with a slight increase in pepper as I got toward the end of the stick.

Construction

I had great construction on this stick. Wonderful draw, even enough burn line and ash that was solid for over half the length of the stick.

Value

I love when small production run cigars aren’t needlessly expensive. This one is among the least pricey of the entire line. Great value!

Conclusions

The only problem with the Mi Querida Firecracker was that it didn’t last long enough. It was a spectacular cigar and a great example of the blend. I rated it the same as the Fino Largo that won Cigar of the Year for 2016, although I’m not going to include it in this year’s contest…because it already won! Great cigar and I hope they make more of these available at some point…at the time I write this, it is sold out.

By-The-Numbers

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