Vitola: EMH
Size: 5″ x 56 ring gauge
Price $7.75
Obtained From SmallBatchCigar.com
Background
You may or may not know this little fact about me, I like candelas. I’ve tried every one I can get my hands on (except that one called The Iguana) and was really looking forward to giving this cigar a try. This year’s release is the third release of this blend, which was originally released as a DC Tweetup only cigar. This year there have been some released to shops to sell as well as being at the DC Tweetup. I was lucky enough to get some from SmallBatchCigar.com this time. I had heard good things about this cigar from the people lucky enough to smoke the previous year’s releases of this cigar. This cigar is released only in one size, the EMH, which is sort of a fat robusto. They come packed in boxes of 24. According to Skip this year’s release is only 100 or so boxes. These cigars are comprised of Nicaraguan filler, a Cameroon wrapper and an Ecuadorian Connecticut Candela wrapper. This was the third one of these I smoked. You can check out Jon’s review of last year’s release here.
Prelight
The first thing you notice about this cigar when you take it out of the cello is it’s bright green wrapper. It seems to be brighter than the other candelas I’ve seen and smoked. The wrapper has some fine and medium veins as well as a lot of oils. When I gave it a squeeze it was fairly firm and didn’t have any soft spots. When I put my nose to the wrapper I got the aroma of barnyard with leather and raisins from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw on it I got notes of balsa with a good draw.
Flavor
It started up with a good amount of spice on the tongue and retrohale. This is something I don’t normally expect from a candela, but it is something I normally expect from Skip and Mike. After taking a few puffs on it I started to get some wood and grass notes with hints of cinnamon and a sweet finish. The cigar was medium full to start off with. As I moved into the second third the spice definitely toned down but didn’t go away. The flavors were similar to the first third. The cigar stayed in the medium full range. The final third saw the same flavors as before but with some leather, coffee and earth flavors thrown in. The spice did start to build back up and the cigar moved into the full range as there was a slight nicotine hit by the end.
Construction
The draw on this cigar was perfect throughout and it produced a large volume of smoke. The burn was slightly uneven at times and needed one correction, but the wind was gusting a bit as I was smoking it could be the cause.
Value
Like with most of their cigars this one is a great value and won’t break the bank.
Conclusions
I do think I’ve found my new favorite candela cigar. One thing I will note is I don’t think I’ve ever had a candela cigar give me a slight nicotine hit. They are usually very mild and work well as a morning cigar. This one will too, but I’d eat beforehand. It will also work any time of the day you like. I will say that you shouldn’t pair it with drinks with strong flavors as the cigar I smoked while having some bourbon wasn’t as enjoyable as the two I had with just water. My old favorite, the Illusione HL Candela, will still find rotation, but that one is a strictly morning cigar for me. I can enjoy the couple Fomorian I have left any time of the day. It looks like SmallBatchCigar has a couple 4 packs of these left if you want to pick them up.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
I would have never pegged you for a Candela man! Good stuff! This cigar sounds like every other Roma, one I want to try!
I rarely look at a candela but this one sounds amazing.
Haven’t had the interest to try a candela until now. I’m intrigued.
The green color always put me off. I suppose it’s like drinking green beer, close your eyes and you can’t taste the difference. Except the candela wrapper does have a different flavor and it’s not minty!
Sounds like it might be a good cigar, but, can we find them?
I was on the verge of naming Keith our “You Can’t Have This Cigar” reviewer, but…you can get this one: http://smallbatchcigar.com/romacraft-cromagnonemhfomorianpackof4-p-1944.html
Nice review, have only tried a few candelas in my day.
Great Review Keith. I love a good Candela… but it has got to be good!. Skip makes some very quality cigars (the couple I have had) I hope to get my hands on these. Great review.
Smoked plenty of them. Great stick