Wrapper: 2007 Jalapa Sun Grown (Nicaraguan)
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 5.75 x 52 “Optimus II”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $8.00

Friends who attended the 2012 IPCPR trade show scored some gems but one was very special. The Casa Magna Domus Magnus Optimus II. Now these cigars were not being officially shown but if you knew the right person, Shazam!

The cigars seem to linger in the twilight until last month when they were released for sale. I grabbed a box immediately.

The production of the stick is a joint venture between Manuel Quesada and Nestor Plasencia…marking this as the first Nic puro devised by them. Only two sizes were produced. I have the smaller of the two. The other is a giant 6.5 x 55. Too big for my gentle, fragile mouth.

This is second in the line of the Casa Magnus Domus Limitada line and the main difference is the wrapper. They chose to use the exotic Jalapa Sun Grown as their wrapper…and I am anxious to see the difference. I have reviewed the original on this blog.

The wrapper is medium brown with a reddish hue. There is some mottling on the wrapper. The stick really doesn’t have an oily appearance. It feels toothy. There is no shortage of small veins. Seams are tight. And there is a pretty hefty pigtail on the cap. Only 5000 boxes of 10 were made for the two sizes so they won’t last long.
I’d like to add that these are supposed to be round cigars but they were jammed in so tight in the box that some of my sticks are a perfect square box press.

This is like being an addict. I see something new and if someone doesn’t give it to me, I have to have it knowing that its accessibility will be rare and impossible to get in just a matter of days. The only big difference between me and a card or horse junkie is that I always win.
I sniff and detect the infamous Nic cocoa. Plus spice, cinnamon, and coffee.

I clip the cap yarmulke style and light up.

The first puffs are red pepper. Lots of it. This is like a Garcia Blast. Smoke is more than abundant as it spews forth into the room. The draw is spot on. And the char line is close to perfect.

Battling their way to the forefront is the cocoa. There is also lemon zest that is very strong. It’s like lemonade. This is the strongest citrusy flavor from a cigar in my experience.

At the 1” point, creaminess shows up. Early in my book but always welcome. I wanted the creaminess to hold off so I could really enjoy the lemon zest without interruption. Oh.. c’est la vie!

The ash collapses soon after into my NEW ashtray. My good ol’ Fulda, Germany ashtray was losing the gold gilding from too much washing…and it was a gift to my wife who is from Fulda. So now it is clean and put away. This new one was made in China for sale in China. It is extremely heavy for such a little bowl. Must have a lot of lead in it.

The Blender Boys did a great job in aging the tobaccos. The cigars arrive in a box, without cellos, and are pristine in their presentation. I only just received these cigars and with only 10 sticks, I took a chance that my gut told me to do, and review them early. I am being highly rewarded for instinct level.

I can barely see from the water in my eyes from the pepper. As strong as it is, the lemon zest is stronger…pushing the cocoa to the background. The creaminess is a tertiary flavor. Very often, a cigar that shows creaminess early will have a caramel component in it at some point. I predict that the halfway point, caramel will show up. The body is a strong medium.

This is helluva’ cigar. I know I keep hammering on the lemony flavor but it really makes the cigar. It also helps that I love lemonade.
I complete the first third and embark on the next part of the journey. The dampness from my mouth reverts the shape of the foot back to a round instead of a square; making it a bit tough to chomp on.

The creaminess escalates. Quite a bit. The pepper fades a bit allowing the cocoa component to move forward. The citrus maintains its vigil. Creaminess is such an odd flavor when you think of it. Why does cigar tobacco create a buttery smooth creaminess? To me, it is the sign that the sweet spot has been reached. Smoke continues to pour from the foot. And the draw continues to be flawless. The char line has corrected itself and is close to dead nuts perfect.

I am closing in on the halfway point and the creaminess ramps up. It helps tamp down the strong spiciness. And then the buttery caramel shows up. We now have a very long finish. The cigar moves to a well-balanced position. No single flavor is heads above the others.
The cigar, at this point, becomes a flavor bomb. I’m halfway through and flavors are zinging past me like a laser show at the Planetarium for a Pink Floyd show. An absolute delight.

I move into the last third. The char line is perfect and the stick is cool. I get some additional flavors of nuttiness and leather. The pepper is much more tolerable now. My eyes stop watering. But my nose is still running. LOL.

The last third sees the cigar hit very full bodied. I am very light headed. I read that this was a medium bodied cigar so I thought I could skip my Cheerios. Wrong.

The stick is so smooth. Like satin. Even with being on the verge of the spins, I don’t want the cigar to end.
In summary, this is another must try cigar. I know it isn’t cheap but each cigar is a wonderful experience.

And now for something completely different:

Another Hall of Fame drummer Hal Blaine story.

Hal had invited me and a few of his friends over to his parked yacht in Marina Del Rey, Ca. It wasn’t a sheik’s size boat but slept 6. The length? Maybe 50 feet or so. The aft deck was big enough for a dining room set and some lounges.
It was a beautiful sunny day. I decided to bring some cigars with me.
Up to this point, I had only worked with Hal and had no idea if he smoked cigars. And I didn’t know who his friends would be.

I got there first because I have no class. I got a big hug and a “How are you, boob-elah?” I told him I was fine and happy to be invited for lunch. He told me he has little lunches with his best friends and I just beamed.

And then they showed. The famous L.A. Wrecking Crew. One of the most illustrious groups of session players in the world. If a hit was recorded in L.A., the Wrecking Crew was probably the musicians.

Bassist, Carol Kaye, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborne, and Ta-Da! Brian Wilson. Now I thought Wilson was a complete recluse. But his wife had talked him into going. And she was there with him. I cannot remember her name. But he has been married to the same woman forever. I was very talkative until Wilson showed up and then I clammed up from being star struck.

I was introduced to Wilson by Hal but he never made eye contact. I didn’t take it as disrespect. I knew..everyone knew…that he had emotional problems.
Hal made delicious margaritas for everyone but Wilson had a Coke.

Hal actually had the lunch catered from some famous restaurant in L.A. I was in seventh heaven. I listened as the group told war stories about their sessions and name dropping was like carpet bombing. I didn’t mind being quiet. I had little to add.
Although, at one point, Hal told everyone how I played in Curved Air with Stewart Copeland and the Pete Townshend. When they heard that, the questioning turned towards me. Their eyes lit up because they were so far removed from the English scene. So for a few moments, I was the center of attention. And Wilson spoke up because he wanted to know about Townshend. So I told a couple of my stories.

Then back to stories about the Beach Boys. All of them played on Beach Boy albums. Wilson was asked about “Smile.” The album that was never finished because the rest of the Beach boys hated it. I was in rapture.
I hadn’t mentioned that I also had a column with a Long Beach newspaper. And while I couldn’t write anything down, I did my best to store it away for future use in my column.

Hal had music playing. He was a big fan of the Phil Spector tunes so that’s what we listened to. He also worked for Spector on most of his recordings.
They told some stories about Nancy Sinatra that I cannot repeat here. They also talked about her daddy, Frank.

The luncheon ended way too soon and I completely forgot about the cigars I brought.

I shook everyone’s hands and said my good byes. This time, Wilson looked at me as he shook my hand. Wow.
I walked on the dock back to my shitty little car. Hoping no one would see what I was driving. I was walking on air. I couldn’t believe what had happened for a few hours.
I continued working with Hal on sessions but that was the only time I was invited to lunch.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS