Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas Morron
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan
Size: 5 x 54 “Robusto”
Body: Medium
Price: $6.25 by the box
I started this review about two months ago and stopped dead in my tracks when I realized that even though this is a relatively new blend, it is still an old school blend needing months of humidor time; which I hadn’t given it.
So now, at the over 3 months humidor time, I will try again.
It is a beautiful cigar. The wrapper’s color is a combination of chocolate and coffee bean. It hard as a rock. Not a single soft spot. And it has a few big veins. Construction of the cap is flawless. And I like the flashy red cigar band. The wrapper is very oily and it feels very toothy.
For only a robusto, it is a chunky cigar with that 54 ring gauge.
I clip the cap and find aromas of dark cocoa, cedar, orange peel, spice, sweet tobacco, and barnyard.
Time to light up.
The first puffs are very sweet. I get some early creaminess and some cocoa. The cigar has quite a bit of earthiness. The sweetness complements it nicely. The draw is very nice.
Between the cold bright sun streaming through the window, in front of me, and the smoke, the laptop disappears in the haze.
The creaminess is surprisingly strong this early in the cigar. Clearly, the 3 or 4 months in my humidor was waving the magic wand over the cigar. I tried to review this over a month ago and the flavor profile was zip. So if you have the patience, and dough, to buy a box and let them rest in your humidor for 6-12 months; you will have a nice booty on your hands. Somehow, that last sentence didn’t come out right.
It appears that Winter has finally got Wisconsin by the balls. We had some snow this last couple days and it is currently about 18 degrees outside, but as I said earlier, shiny and bright. It is too cold to snow.
I approach the end of the first third and the flavors, in descending order are: Creaminess, cocoa, sweetness, cedar, citrus zest, leather, earthiness, and a bit of spice.
As the second third begins, the spiciness rears its head and punches me in the ear. Just like my wife after sex.
The red pepper gives the cigar some oomph and rounds out the character of the flavor profile. The char line goes wavy on me. I’m not going to correct it unless there is a foreboding canoe in its future.
The cigar’s sweet tobacco is really a feature in its presentation. It is earthy, pungent, and rich. The cigar begins to seek out its complexity at this point.
Flavors really pile it on now. A wonderful honeysuckle flavor arrives giving a tweak to the natural sweetness of the cigar.
The lemon zest rises and falls with the honey flavor. The body is classic medium almost from the start and it is here, at the halfway point that the strength begins to more powerful. It is described as a medium bodied cigar but they are wrong.
The cigar is goddam delicious now. All it took was some sleepy time to get here. I read a few reviews and they were smoking the cigar when it was too green; and therefore, gave it a lousy review. Nowadays, one must be able to discern the difference between the Old School method of blending and the New Breed Tattooed Ones’ method of blending. Not every school is a My Father ready to go in two days.
The profile is very complex now as I begin the last third. It is extremely well balanced with a nice long finish. Flavors are meshing together like the perfect science experiment.
All 7 of the flavors I described earlier are contained in a big ball rolling across the floor. One moment you are tasting citrus, the next cocoa, the next creaminess, and so on and so on. Absolutely delightful.
The char line has remained wavy but I haven’t had to correct it.
Clearly, the sweetness that the maduro brings to the table is running the show. Although, what was once lemon zest, is now a very sweet orange component. The honey flavor is potent and adds a treacle-like experience. The pepper is way in the back. The cocoa and cedar linger towards the rear.
The last third finds a new flavor: Melon. Sort of a cross between cantaloupe and honeydew; leading more towards the honeydew. The creaminess makes a surge for recognition and becomes like freshly churned butter. Yes, I’ve had that. I live in Wisconsin. But I’ve yet to taste a cigar that has the flavor of cheese.
Strangely, the last couple of inches goes back to straight classic bodied. No nicotine. Smooth and cool.
The cigar finishes out being extremely rich and earthy. I couldn’t ask for a more balanced blend.
All of the corners are rounded smoothly. And the flavor profile is just wonderful.
And now for something completely different:
The band went through a power struggle between Mike and Rick. Mike felt he had more to offer. And the two constantly butted heads. It didn’t even need a minute to be discussed. The drummer and I went with Rick and the band became a three piece without a keyboard player who told dumb jokes between songs.
And really couldn’t sing that well.
We did two music videos. Here is:”Condo Bondage” Mike orchestrated this one and sang lead.
And then compare it to our remake of “Hound Dog” in which Rick sang lead. And that was Little Richard playing piano on the recording, not Mike.
We were about to play at the world famous Troubador club in West Hollywood. Every group in the 1960’s-1980’s played there. It was in the same class as the Whisky a Go Go, the Roxy, the Golden Bear, and the Hollywood Palladium. It was an icon.
It was not “pay to play” as it is today. But our sole income from the gig was selling tickets at the door and tickets the band sold to friends.
It was 1981. The band was called The Attitude. We were a great band. Way ahead of our time, unfortunately.
A four piece band made up of four good looking guys with an enigmatic, handsome singer along the lines of Bryan Ferry meets Keith Richards. Weird, I know. But he was the leader and was a great singer and a great guitarist.
We had recorded a single that was a cover of “Hound Dog.” In the studio next to us, Little Richard was doing some recording and we talked him into playing on the record. He obliged. You can watch the music video here: Hound Dog. Remember, this was pre-MTV in 1981.
The band had a lot of followers. And we sold hundreds of tickets and it was SRO. It was our first gig and even though I had played in Curved Air (A big stadium band) in England prior to this, I was nervous.
We did a little sketch in one of the songs…don’t ask me the name of the tune, it was almost 35 years ago.
I wore a Jimmy Carter mask and wore a prisoner’s ball and chain on my ankle. With my face covered, I became very animated and drove the crowd nuts with my antics; all the while playing my bass.
At the end of the song, I ripped the ball and chain off and threw it into the audience. It hit a waitress’s tray full of drinks and she toppled over, hit her head on the floor, and got knocked out.
The band had no idea this had happened and we finished the song and were about to start the next one.
The crowd was drunk, coked up; high on weed, and people started yelling who threw that? The idiots didn’t see me? How could that be? I kept my mouth shut.
We ignored the brouhaha going on in the audience as the waitress was helped up. We blasted into our next song. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Deny. Deny. Deny.
We only played one set. That’s how it worked. Back then there were 3 or 4 bands in a night. And we gave it our all. The crowd, and management at the club, went nuts over us. Meanwhile, I was having a near heart attack from the extreme physicality from my performance. I was totally drenched in sweat. I was beginning to hyperventilate.
BAM! The set was over. The crowd insisted on an encore but management would not allow it. The crowd booed for 15 minutes as our roadies took down our equipment. I wandered into the audience to greet friends and there she was….my ex-wife.
I was married briefly when I was 21. She was nuts and I divorced her. And here she was. Standing in front of me. I hadn’t seen her in 10 years.
She was a nurse and saw the condition I was in. She took me by the hand and led me out to the back of the club and sat me down on the curb. She found a clean cloth and doused it in water. She placed it on the back of my neck as my head slumped forward. Neither of us spoke. I couldn’t. People kept coming out back to congratulate me and I could barely talk. It took a full half hour before I was able to stand.
We went to an after gig party and she came with me. We spent the night together. And then dated for about a year until her crazy genes showed up again and I moved on.
The band went on to do very well in all of the L.A. clubs.
We had an opportunity to do a movie and the casting director showed up to see us at the Roxy, with her entourage of course.
Our lead singer was so nervous, he did what we would all do in that situation: do heroin.
In the middle of our first song, he lost his balance and fell backwards into the massive drum kit…splaying it like tinker toys all over the band stand.
The music stopped.
I looked up into the balcony as I watched the casting director, and entourage, get up and leave.
And that my dear friends, was the end of the band.
Reek Havok on Drums, Rick Tunstall on guitar/vocals, and me on bass.
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Thanks for the entertaining reviews! I really look forward to reading them. Is there any way that you can post a list of the cigar blends that you’ve found that need some rest and the ones that you’d consider to be new school blends that are ready to smoke sooner rather than later? Thanks!
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Thanks Joe,
That’s a big question.
An easy way to simplify this is to remember that anything made by Pepin Garcia, or AJ Fernandez, for the Tattooed Ones will be ready to smoke within days to 2-3 weeks. Of course, allowing them to age further will only make them better. But they can be smoked early and not taste like barnyard.
Which is the problem with companies like Gurkha, RYJ, Patel, Torano, Cohiba, Macanudo, Davidoff, Carrillo, Illusione, La Gloria Cubana, Oliva, Perdomo. These are just the premium blends. I can’t speak for all the cheap cigars out there or the house brands.
The problem I find with most reviewers is that the don’t tell the reader how long they have had the reviewed cigar in their humidor. I make a point of telling the reader.
A lot of reviewers are in a big rush to get their review out first and by doing so, smoke the cigar when it is too green; which then makes their review not very complimentary. It is not the cigar’s fault. It is the reviewer for waiting only a day or two.
I get sticks from manufacturers. Most are very cheap and may only send one or two samples which puts me in the position of having to guess when it will be ready.
Beware of the new boutique blends. Over the years, I’ve seen them come and go and barely any of them lasting a year. Nothing worse than a guy with a few bucks in his pocket and no palate. He goes down to Nicaragua and tries sample cigars and then picks one to be his new brand. I can’t even count how many bridges I’ve burned because I had to tell these guys that their cigars stink.
A developed palate takes a while to cultivate. That’s why never trust advertising. Experiment. I do my experimenting on Cbid. A new cigar called Kismet is just now coming out and I snagged a couple. Turned out it is a wonderful cigar. And I only paid half of retail.
I still make mistakes. I buy cigars I shouldn’t have. But the New Breed fellas’ cigars are usually expensive. And rarely on Cbid.
You can contact my personally any time you wish. My email address is in my little bio on the front page of the blog.
Good luck to you, Joe.
Phil
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Joe,
This is my second reply to your comment. I will let you in on a little secret.
Atlantic Cigars has My Father Factory Overrun bundles of 20 cigars. They average around $55.
They are the real deal. If you check the stats on the leaves, you can figure out what is what.
I usually buy the Habano Oscuro which is the Le Bijou 1922 or the Belicoso Rosado which is the original My Father cigar.
Instead of paying $8-$10 a stick for the cigar band, you get these babies for around $2.75.
And the best part is that they only need 2-3 weeks humidor time and they are rarin’ to go.
Here is the link..they have 8 types and sizes:
http://www.atlanticcigar.com/cigars/My-Father-Factory-Overruns.asp
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