Size: 6” x 54 ring gauge
Price $9.49
Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
When I set out to do a short look on this penultimate Wild Bunch blend, I thought Keith had already done a full review…after all, he has become our “unofficial Wild Bunch Reviewer” over the last year. But no…he missed this one. Still, time did not permit me to do a full-full review, so let’s call this “somewhere in between a Cigar Extra/Short Look and a Full Review.” If you were asleep in the most comfortable chair in the cigar shop in 2013, you will have missed the Wild Bunch by Ortega Cigars. Basically, Eddie Ortega decided to release one blend per month, with names and art inspired by some of the interesting people he met in the cigar industry (and he included himself in that group…no false humility from this guy!). The November release is name “Da Byrdman” after one Mr. Ashley Byrd of the B&B Cigar Club in Washington, D.C. (Twitter handle: @DaByrdman33).
If you’ve been to the last couple Chattanooga Tweet-Ups, you might know Byrdman. He’s usually at the center of the B&B group when they come in the room and yell out their tag-line/slogan/motto/mating call: “We all we got! Shiiiiiiiiiiiit!” Seriously, though, all these guys are stand-up dudes and we are always happy to have them in the house (and you should check out their DC Tweet-Up event if you are in the area…scheduled for March 14 & 15 this year…follow @DCcigarTweetup on Twitter for continuous coverage). Da Byrdman cigar is made up of Nicaraguan fillers and binder from Estelí and Jalapa, then it’s wrapped with a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro. And you just about won me over right there without taking a single puff.
What do you want me to say? It’s a Broadleaf Maduro wrapper! It’s dark chocolate in color, oily and rustic! And beautiful! I got whiffs of earth and leather; the foot was a little earthy, but with more grassy notes than I would expect from Nicaraguan leaf. Taking a cold draw on the cut end, I got faintly chocolate sweetness along with earth and grassy flavors. Once lit the chocolate came more into focus as a slightly sweetened cocoa powder; there were also notes of cedar, coffee bean and pepper spice. The cigar started off medium in body, but with plenty of flavor and complexity.
At the end, I have to say I really enjoyed Da Byrdman blend and it’s in my top 3 or so of the Wild Bunch releases. BUT, I think it would be even better in a 46 or 48 ring gauge vitola…but that’s just me.
This review originally appeared on Tiki Bar Online.
