Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano 2000
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, AJ Fernandez’ Proprietary Filler
Size: 6.5 x 54 “Toro”
Body: Medium
Price: $8.00
Factory: Tabacalera Fernandez

I bought this cigar a year ago and found while rummaging through my humidor. I hope that the aging has brought out nuances instead of mellowing it to the point of being near flavorless. We shall see.

It is no shock that I have amazing respect for AJ Fernandez and how he has tipped the cigar world on its head. His body of work is close to flawless. His San Lotano line gets ratings in the 90’s from CA and everyone else that writes a cigar mag.

I thought I wrote a review of this cigar while working for an online cigar store about a year ago, but when I checked; I discovered I had written reviews on every San Lotano except the Natural.

After all this time, the cigar has remained unblemished. It looks like I bought it yesterday from my local B & M.

The stick is very solid but with the right amount of give. The medium/dark brown wrapper has tight seams and very few veins. In the right light, there is a slight reddish hue. The cap? I think it may be a single but it so well made it is hard to tell. There is a very nice oily sheen with some tooth to it.

The oval shape has been around forever. But it was the PR machine from Fernandez that made this cigar special and I forgot to photograph the foot prior to lighting it. Schmuck! And I don’t have another.

I sniff and detect big sky pictures of cocoa, cinnamon, citrus, spice, cedar, and cherry.
Methinks I am in for a good time.
I clip and light up.

The first few puffs are unusual. Some of the aromas turn to flavors. A creaminess arrives early. Smoke is abundant. The char line is erratic and will need a touch up.
Spice shows up now and it is a zinger. Tongue is all a’tinglin’. Citrus is a big component. I can even smell it as it burns. Whatever AJ’s special blend in the filler is, is impressive as this blend is wonderful and I swear he intended for you to smoke it after a year in your humidor; because a few weeks or a few months; doesn’t bring these flavors to the table.

We reviewers should be ashamed of ourselves when it comes to new cigars on the market. It becomes a race to get your review out first; thereby smoking the cigar too soon and relying on your experience, intuition, and projective talents to review a green cigar. This is the way a cigar should be reviewed: after a year in the humi. Of course, almost all of us don’t get the chance to let a cigar rest for that long due to financial issues. Fate and the Cosmic Muffin made it impossible for me to see this stick in my humidor for a year.
There is a new flavor of nuts. Hot, roasted mixed nuts. The cigar is at the one inch mark and is overflowing with flavor. The body has moved quickly to medium/full. The last third should be a doozy. I better go grab my beanie with the propeller.

More flavors join the fray…dried cherry, espresso, and the cocoa becomes dark chocolate. The cigar is as smooth as my tushy. It is incredibly well balanced this early in the cigar with a very long finish. There is a nice sweetness that enhances the dried cherry and cocoa and creaminess.

There is so much going on; I think I can detect some leather. But these are big, bold flavors and want to totally envelop your palate.

There is a deep, rich earthiness that has a bit of fungi in it. My Diet Coke is causing the cocoa and coffee and creaminess swim in the midst of an ice cream store.
The first third is long gone and I am moving on. The cigar burns very slowly. About 25 minutes to get this far.

The wonderfulness of this cigar makes me want to go out and buy some more. And then have the patience to really let them age. Discipline and patience are not my strong points.

I did review the Maduro and the Habano when I worked for Rocky’s Cigars. I preferred the Maduro over the Habano. I can only imagine what the Maduro would have tasted like if I left it to marinate it a year.

At the halfway point, the cigar keeps pumping out flavors. The strength is still at medium/full. The char line, which was just fine after touching it up in the beginning; has become erratic again. I hesitate to put a flame to it.

The last third makes the cigar a Super Flavor Bomb. The most impressive array of flavors ever in a cigar.
The char line works things out and is now dead nuts perfect.

Someone with a lot of bucks, and the ability to sit on stock, could make a fortune by aging cigars for a year and then charging a couple bucks more per cigar. I’d pay it.

The last couple inches are amazing. The complexity shines. The creaminess takes the lead but with all those other flavors right behind it. A new flavor of toast shows up unexpectedly. Another cigar I don’t want to end.

And now for something completely different:

I always wanted to play upright bass. But a good one is in the thousands of dollars. Back in 1987, I saw an ad in the Pennysaver in Fullerton, CA. It advertised an electric upright for $80. I left work and zoomed over there. The bass was made by Dobro. But all the electronics were missing. And the action of the strings was horrible. I talked him down to $60 and went laughing into the night.

I took the bass to McCabes Music Store in Long Beach. A store with quite a history of working with the big rock stars in making special instruments.

I talked to this guy who told me all about the bass. Apparently, he worked for Dobro in the mid to late 1970’s and was one of the designers of the bass. His version was rejected because it was too expensive so he quit.

He told me less than a dozen were made. I wanted neck work done on it so I could play it easily. He promised me that he would turn the bass into his version. I could not believe my luck. For $400, he transformed the bass. The height of the strings above the neck was almost invisible making playing it a dream.

He recommended a place in Hollywood that would update the electronics for me. This guy turned my bass into a high tech instrument for $600.
So for $1060, I got a world class, rare bass.

I practiced all the time. I got so good on it; I put my bass guitar down and used the upright for playing out. But because the bass was so light, it was giving me a lot of pain; I had a sciatic nerve problem from leaning the bass into me.

So a wild idea occurred to me. I took it back to McCabes and they put guitar strap knobs on it so I could wear it like a bass guitar. The thing weighed about 30lbs and it did a number on my back but word spread about the bassist in the Todd Hart Band who played this kooky bass.

I got a lot attention and amazement from audiences. While in the Todd Hart Band, we played out a LOT! Todd was the vocalist in Savoy Brown for a while. Savoy is an English blues band whose beginnings were in the 1960’s. They were legendary. And Todd’s voice was remarkable. His guitar playing was just above mediocre but passable. We were a power blues trio.

We worked at least 4 nights per week and this was just killing my back with that bass hanging off my neck that much. I did buy a stand for it but it didn’t look very rock n roll.

During my recovery from my skydiving accident, we were broke from me being out of work and in 2004, I sold it. It broke my heart. But a lawyer in Denver bought it for his kid who was in college as music major. The kid was first chair in the orchestra. Plus he loved jazz and had a small combo.
So while it was killing me to sell it, I’m glad it went to someone who really appreciated what he got.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS