Vitola: Short Robusto Box Press- 4.5” x 50 ring gauge
- MSRP $10.50
- Samples provided by Black Label Trading Company
Background
In July 2018, Black Label Trading Company announced its “fifth anniversary release” of Morphine, a very limited release cigar produced once a year. Morphine was handcrafted in Estelí, Nicaragua at BLTC’s Fabrica Oveja Negra factory. Each year they have released a different vitolas; for the fifth anniversary they produced 3: a re-release of the original Corona, a barber pole Lancero (with an added Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper), and the Short Robusto Box Press I am smoking today.
Morphine uses Nicaraguan fillers, a Nicaraguan Habano binder, and a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper. The Short Robusto comes in boxes of 20, the Lancero in boxes of 12, and the Corona in boxes of 18. They were released in July to select BLTC retailers, so you’ll have to look around to find these still.
Leaf Enthusiast sponsors Cigar and Pipes and Small Batch Cigar are both showing some in stock as of the time this review was written. If they are out when you check, you should probably keep these pages bookmarked for mid-summer when the cigars are released every year, since both of these retailers do carry it on a regular basis. BLTC sent me samples for review. I believe this is the fourth time I’ve smoked this blend in this vitola.
Prelight
The banding hasn’t changed on these, as far as I know, throughout the five years they’ve been produced. The main band has a moth with a crowned skull in place of its head. I guess it could be considered a stylized “death’s head moth”…you saw those in Silence of the Lambs. In all white on black background, the look is striking. The foot band has “Morphine” written in a hand-drawn-looking script font. It’s so large that you can only see “Mor” if you look at the cigar head-on, and can’t read the whole word unless you continue turning the cigar around to the back. Of course, with the “opioid crisis” going on in the US these days, maybe that’s for the best…I do remember how out of sorts some people got when Esteban Carreras named a cigar line “Mr. Brownstone.”
The wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate brown with a nice oiliness to the touch. The seams were flat and smooth and the aroma from the leaf was a rich, ripe earthiness. The cap was finished with a “docked pigtail.” The foot of the cigar had more earth, along with notes of cocoa powder and espresso bean.
After clipping the head I got an excellent cold draw that tasted of semi-sweet chocolate, medium-roast coffee and wood.
Flavor
The Morphine 2018 fired up with notes of cinnamon and red pepper, followed by sweeter chocolatey flavor, earth and cedar. The retrohale was woody and very peppery…almost painfully so. As I continued through the first third, the cigar grew in sweetness, with the “sweet and spicy” playing so strong that I almost thought I was smoking Connecticut Broadleaf instead of Mexican San Andres. All I could think was, “We’ve come a long way since the days of bitter, chalky Mexican wrapper.”
During the second third, the sweetness morphed into more of a raisin note, while there was the addition of some anise into the mix. Cinnamon notes dropped off, but there was still plenty of red pepper and cedar.
The last third of the Morphine was a great balance of sweet and spicy still, with the sweetness almost taking on a brownie note at time and the red pepper keeping things hot.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
Very good cigar with a reasonable price tag, especially since it comes out of a very small factory in small batches.
Conclusions
I remember smoking a Morphine from the second year of production and not being very impressed with it. Since that time, I think they have changed factories and they have definitely refined the formula making the Morphine a very good cigar that is fully worth the effort to look seek out. It was full-bodied, but didn’t sacrifice flavor for the body. All that makes it an easy recommendation for fans of full-bodied cigars, Black Label as a brand, or Mexican wrapper.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
