Vitola: Toro- 5.75” x 52 ring gauge
- Part of CRA Sampler
Background
It seems like forever ago, but it was really just 12 years or so, when the My Father Cigar Company produced the Le Bijou 1922 for the first time. As I recall the story went like this…Jaime Garcia blended the original My Father line as a gift for his father, Don Pepin Garcia, who was (and really still is) one of the most respected blenders in the business.
As year or two later Don Pepin decided to honor his own father with the Le Bijou 1922 (“The Jewel of 1922,” the year his father was born) line. The line was begun with 3 vitolas, but has now expanded to 5 regular production sticks, including the box-pressed Torpedo that won the 2015 Cigar Aficionado Cigar of the Year. For the 2020 CRA Freedom Sampler, My Father included a box-pressed Toro that is the same ring gauge as the award-winning size.
The My Father Le Bijou 1922 is entirely composed of Nicaraguan tobacco, including a Habano Oscuro-Oscuro wrapper leaf.
Notes
The wrapper on this cigar was like a Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate bar in color and a rich earthiness, mixed with cocoa powder and cedar when I held it to my nose. The foot was earthy and sweet smelling with additional notes of dark roast coffee. I honestly can’t remember when the last time I had one of these was…it’s probably been a year or two…maybe longer! I never disliked this blend, but after it came out and the initial hype passed, it became one that was easy to pass by while looking for something new and shiny. I really can’t explain why that happens with some blends and not with others…I’ve probably smoked the regular My Father line twice as many times in the past decade, and I can’t say I really like it better.
After clipping the head, the prelight draw had flavors of dark chocolate, black cherry, and earth. I paired this cigar with some Chattanooga Whiskey 91, which I believe is the first “legal” whiskey made in the Scenic City since the time of Prohibition.
Initial puffs on Le Bijou 1922 gave up flavors of charred cedar, wet earth, unsweetened cocoa powder, and dark roast coffee. It also occurred to me that there is a 100th Anniversary version of this coming out…no, it hasn’t been announced…no, I don’t have any inside knowledge anymore…but cigar manufacturers do love an anniversary and the year 1922 in the name of this blend is way too good to not use. So, it’s really just an educated guess…but I’d call it almost a sure thing, really. Look for it to be announced at the summer trade show (if it happens) and for shipping to begin in October or November.
The Chattanooga Whiskey had plenty of good vanilla and oak notes like any good bourbon, although with a touch more spice and a touch less sweetness due to the specificities of the mash bill, which include a healthy portion of malted barley. The relative lack of sweetness in the cigar really made the little bit of sweetness the whiskey had that much more evident.
Le Bijou 1922 continued with subdued chocolate notes over earth and cedar, although with not much of the pepper spice that is so characteristic of Don Pepin blends. It had a slight black pepper heat on the finish, but that was about it. The bourbon went very well with it.
