Vitola: Pyramid- 4” x 52 ring gauge
- ~$7
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
It’s been almost 6 years since I referred to the Papas Fritas as “rat droppings and pig shit.” Look it up! Nothing much changed for the long-gestating followup to the cigar named after one of Steve Saka’s favorite food, French Fries…Nasty Fritas is again made from the chop…the leavings…the droppings…from Dirty Rats and Flying Pigs…and other Liga Privada cigars.
What’s “nasty” about this cigar? Well, this shape started off as part of the ACID line from Drew Estate…the Nasty, a red label Maduro ACID. I have to admit to not having smoked a Nasty, even during those early smoking years when I “experimented” with alternative smoking lifestyles…hey, don’t judge! I was much younger then! Anyway…smash together an ACID Nasty and a Papas Fritas and you get…well, a cigar that won’t appeal to either ACID or Liga Privada fans. But make a Papas Fritas blend in a cone-shaped stick and you have something rather unique.
Like the Papas Fritas before it, the Nasty Fritas uses Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, a Brazilian Mata Fina binder, and a Connecticut Broadleaf Oscuro wrapper. They come 50 to a box and should be available in your local Drew Diplomat cigar purveyor now. If you can’t find them locally, both Cigar and Pipes and Small Batch (Leaf Enthusiast sponsors) carry them. I got mine at Burns Tobacconist where I work…I’ve smoked about 3 before this review sample.h
Prelight
Whereas the Papas Fritas band was on the bottom edge (foot) of the cigar, that is apparently harder to achieve with the trumpeted end of this stick, so the Nasty Fritas band is about .75” from the foot. The band itself is a typical Liga Privada Unico design, specifically the same cheaper style that adorns the Papas…no reason to raise prices with extra foil and embossing on these cheapest of the LP lines.
The wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate brown color with a decent amount of oiliness and velvet to the touch. It smelled of earth and leather and something slightly sweet. I got more of the same on the foot, which isn’t a big surprise since it’s a closed foot stick. I’m not a huge fan of the cap being twisted up to a point on these cigars. When combined with the torpedo shape, I’ve found that at least a couple instance resulted in not enough glue on the leaf and subsequent unraveling. Something to always keep an eye on.
The cold draw was very good and had flavors of earth, unsweetened cocoa, leather and coffee.
Flavor
It’s hard to review these cigars…actually it’s hard to smoke these cigar even casually!…without remarking on the amazing amount of smoke they produce. Voluminous only begins to speak to the volume. Good thing they taste good. The Nasty Fritas started off with earth, hickory, and leather notes up front, along with lesser sweet chocolate and red pepper flavors. The retrohale had more woodiness and black pepper.
As I got into the second third, I noted that the peppery notes had died down to a low burn, but the sweetness had gotten a little more intense. When mixed with the wood notes it took on a very BBQ-esque flavor…lots of hickory and a little sweetness. It was quite good and something I don’t remember ever getting on the Papas Fritas.
The sweetness was bumped down in the final third of the Nasty Fritas, leaving more earth and coffee in its wake. Pepper spice continued to burn low and woody notes hung around until the end.
Construction
I had good luck with construction here…great draw, very even burn line and solid enough ash for a mixed-filler stick.
Value
Great smoking experience and good price…what more can you ask for?
Conclusions
I really enjoyed the Nasty Fritas, perhaps more than the original Papas version. Why? The only thing I can figure is that the dramatic change in ring gauge as it burned provided a more complex smoking experience. Regardless of the exact reason, though, this was a great cigar for those times when you don’t have that long to smoke (someone else remarked about getting an hour and a half from one, but I can’t see how that’s at all possible unless you’re just puffing on it every 4 or 5 minutes). The timing is great, too…I reviewed this on a 40 degree evening when winter seemed to be trying to bust up our fall party. Great cold weather cigar…and since the day this review posted is one of the coldest days we’ve seen yet, it’s a great time to pick one up!
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
