Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
I-Beam, 4.875” x 54 ring gauge / $9.50, Burns Tobacconist
This was the second in the Ortega “Wild Bunch” series…the February 2013 release. I meant to get to this review a lot sooner, but other cigars intervened. I first had one of these in late February when I was visiting Silo Cigars; I liked it enough that I did determine to write a review of the one I had bought a few days earlier at Burns. The last time I was at Burns, they did have several of these left, so if it sounds like something you might want to try (or if you exhausted your own home B&M’s supply and desperately need more), call them at 423-855-5200. The Iron Mike is made, like all the other Ortega sticks, in Nicaragua at the My Father Cigar Factory. It has Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper leaf. I couldn’t find any indication on the Ortega website or on other blog sites about who this cigar was named after…does it matter? Not totally, but the story behind a cigar can add to the enjoyment of it…if the story is worth telling, anyway.
I said in my last Wild Bunch review that I love the art for this series. Great stuff…comic book-ish without being silly or cartoonish. If no one told me, I would guess that the wrapper of this was Mexican San Andres Maduro. The dark color, the large veins, the sandpapery texture…it all screams San Andres to me. I would be thrown into confusion when I sniffed at it and found it didn’t smell Mexican, though. This dark chocolate-colored leaf does have an 80-grit-with-oil-smeared-on-it feel, as well as some pretty gnarly veins, but it has a clean earthiness and hints of chocolate to the nose. The foot gave off more earth of a more barnyard variety. The prelight draw was nice and open; it had a medium-roast coffee note with some natural sweetness.
I put foot to flame for about 45 seconds and got a very evenly light on the Iron Mike. It immediately sent out flavors of toasted wood, anise, and earth, along with some more subtle coffee notes. The retrohale was nutty with a bit of pepper spice. There’s no doubt that this was a full-bodied cigar right from the beginning, with thick, oily smoke. It didn’t seem at this point, though, that it had much kick to it from nicotine content. The flavors were interestingly complex, too, as by the end of the third, I was picking up some citrusy flavors not usually associated with Nicaraguan puros.
Construction was very good so far. The burn line was fairly consistent if not totally straight. The ash was the color of dirty concrete and built up for an inch or more without falling off. The draw was flawless. As the second third burned along, I picked up more of the citrus flavor as well as an increase in spiciness on the palate. Underlying were still notes of earth and coffee.
The last third of the Iron Mike was as full bodied as the first, although the flavor had morphed into something much different. Much more spice overall, the citrus that came in earlier, less earth and an almost hay-like quality as well. All in all, I really liked this blend; perhaps not as much as entry number 3 in this series, Island Jim, but enough that I would buy it again. It ended up not having much nicotine strength, which I found a plus as I smoked it before dinner, but it would have too much body for newer smokers. If you haven’t given this one a try yet, I encourage you to do so before they disappear.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
