Company Overview: Black Label Trading Company, Part 2

Last week I took a look at 3 of the 6 initial blends released by Black Label Trading Company. I also noted a few things about the short history of the company and its owner, James Brown (not the Godfather of Soul). Today I’ll be looking at the other 3 blends released in 2013 and giving some news on what to expect in 2014 from Black Label.

Whereas last week’s entries (Redemption, Benediction, and Lawless) were either Nicaraguan puros or very close to it (Lawless has an Ecuadorian wrapper), today’s smokes have more multi-country influence. The binder on all 3 is Honduran and Ecuador is shown once again to be a prime source for wrappers.

Just to repeat this from last week: all cigars were provided by Black Label Trading Company and all of them were sent as the 5” x 54 ring gauge Robusto (6 x 60s of each blend are also available). Let’s jump in…

Royalty

Filler: Nicaragua
Binder: Honduras
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo

The Corojo leaf on the outside of the Royalty was a medium brown in color with a rich, oily feel under my fingers. Giving the cigar a good sniff, I got a big cedar note and a little pepper spice from the wrapper, along with earth, coffee and more cedar on the foot. The prelight draw was good but the flavor was not…it reminded more than anything else of modeling glue. Also, the wrapper cracked pretty severely when I snipped the head, so I wasn’t sure if this would go well. I reminded myself that I’ve gotten through worse wrapper damage (at least for a while) and that the prelight flavor is sometimes nothing at all like the lit flavors…and soldiered on.

Once lit, I got a whiff of a chemical taste then it was gone and the cigar settled pretty quickly into a solid medium body with hay and earth and cedar on the palate, more cedar and a mild pepper on the nose. As I smoked through, the cracked wrapper was a bit of a pain, but it didn’t seem to mess with the smoking experience too much through the first third and into the second.

As I got more deeply into the second, I picked up more pepper spice on the palate, a growing burn that often seems to be indicative of Corojo leaf. I still got hay and earth notes, too, but the cedar dissipated a bit. By the time I got down to the final third, I was thoroughly enjoying the mix of hay and pepper spice, but the mangled cap was causing more trouble than ever, so I knew I would have to cut the smoke short before I got every last bit of smoke out of it. The Royalty was a very good medium-bodied smoke, in spite of that.

Salvation

Filler: Nicaragua
Binder: Honduras
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown Habano

The Salvation was a milk chocolate brown with a glossy, oily sheen, and a sweet aroma of earth and chocolate; the foot was rich and earthy. This cigar cut cleanly and the cold draw was excellent, delivering up sweet chocolate, red pepper and cedar flavors. Once I got it toasted and producing smoke, the Salvation had flavors of earth, wood, coffee, and unsweetened cocoa. The retrohale had a fiery, almost wasabi, quality to it.

As I transitioned to the second third, I started getting a sour citrus note that balanced well with the sweeter flavors that had started coming through. The Sun Grown wrapper was still providing plenty of pepper spice, as well.

Near the end of the second third, I encountered a hollow spot in the filler. That kinda ruined the flavor for 10 minutes or so, but it recovered nicely and I was able to finish out the cigar. I found Salvation to be a very good medium to full bodied smoke. Lots of flavor and a good amount of complexity. Another one that I would like to smoke again.

Last Rites

Filler: Nicaragua & Honduras
Binder: Honduras
Wrapper: Aged Ecuadorian Maduro

The last rites are meant to prepare the dying person’s soul for death, by providing absolution for sins by penance, sacramental grace and prayers for the relief of suffering through anointing, and the final administration of the Eucharist, known as “Viaticum,” which is Latin for “provision for the journey.” – Wikipedia

Finally, we finish our excursion into the world of Black Label Trading Company with a cigar called Last Rites. This was a deep brown cigar with little variation or mottling of color. The aroma from the wrapper was mildly sweet with notes of dried fruit and a bit of leather; the foot had earth and cocoa powder. The cold draw was very good and had bits of chocolate, coffee and wood flavor.

Once lit I detected a dash of pepper spice, a little sour citrus, and an undercurrent of tea. Truly, this was one of the oddest flavor profiles I can remember, especially for a Maduro.

Puffing into the second third, I noted graham cracker and dried fruit flavors adding to the citrus and tea, while the pepper spice died down. As I got to the end, I was impressed by Last Rites’ medium-bodied mix of unique flavors. This may just be the most distinctive blend from Black Label Trading Company, at least in their initial six releases.

What’s Next…

In late March, James Brown announced what was up next for Black Label Trading Company. One new blend is slated to debut at the 2014 IPCPR: Morphine. While the packaging for the first 6 blends was very similar with differentiating footbands and a couple color reversals, the image attached to the press release for Morphine suggests that the art and packaging will be very different. Also different this time around are the vitolas available; instead of Robusto and Gordo, the Morphine will be available only in Corona and Lancero sizes.

Morphine will use Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers and a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper, along with a double-binder to add even more complexity: a Nicaraguan Habano leaf and an Ecuadorian Maduro leaf.

“The goal was to give our customers what they have been waiting for. Something big, bold & badass. They expect our smokes to be unique and out of the box when it comes to flavor profile. Morphine is exactly that. Everyone thought I was a little crazy when I explained the double wrapper idea but combining the Ecuadorean maduro wrapper with the San Andres elevated the cigar to a whole new level of richness and complexity.” Said Brown.

Definitely something to look forward to.