Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan (Double Binder of Sancti Spiritus)
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6.125 x 52 “Torpedo”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $9.00 by the 5 Pack/$8.50 by the box of 20

Today we take a look at the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014.

It is a follow up to the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine ER13. The ER13 was a 5.875 x 52 stick. Both years used the same wrapper. This year’s stick is a big honker. It was a gift from a reader about a month or so ago. This kind gentleman sent me two and I smoked one after about 10 days having full faith in Johnson and Garcia but I ended up wasting a stick. So now at 4+ weeks, I’m all in. All or nothing.

As in most situations, Pete Johnson worked with Pepin Garcia to blend it. It was produced at the My Father Cigars S.A. in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Sancti Spiritus is a rare hybrid tobacco created by the Oliva Tobacco from Criollo and Pelo de Oro tobaccos.

For those who don’t speak fluent Spanish, the name means: Extension of the Root.” There is about 400 jokes lurking behind that name but I won’t go there because this is a classy review blog.

The cigar is jam packed and hard. A couple small soft spots. The wrapper is an oily caramel color with invisible seams and few veins. The cigar is slightly toothy.

I clip the cap and find aromas of strong honey, spice, cedar, earthiness, and cocoa.
Time to light up.

Even though the cigar is hard as blue steel, the draw is perfect.

I get luscious flavors of cocoa and coffee. There is quite a big sweetness element. Oak seems to be present. Cedar, as well.

Those are the only two woods I can tell apart. So every cigar I report to you will taste like oak or cedar; or both. That’s transparency.

The strength has hit classic medium body by the first half inch.

The ER13 was a great cigar last year and if you really hunt, you may still find some for sale. This is a limited production cigar that is released once a year.

At the 1” burned mark, we have flavor bomb status.

The char line needed a minor touch up at the start but since then has been very close to razor sharp.

The flavors of the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014: Creaminess, cocoa, coffee, caramel, honey, cedar, floral notes, leather, earthiness, and a touch of leather.

As you can see, the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014 is running neck and neck with every other good Nicaraguan puro out there; in terms of flavor profile.

The cigar is solid. But not exceptional. I take a look at my review of the 2013 version and it seems much more flavorful than the 2014 version. A nice variation.

I just realized something. Where is the Garcia Blast of pepper? I did not get an iota of spiciness from the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014. Now this is a serious bummer.
A Johnson/Garcia blend without spiciness. Unheard of.

The second third begins.

I have to declare that the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014 is not as good as the ER2013. Flavors don’t go off in enough directions for my tastes. Just the typical Nic puro flavors found in any good cigar in the $6-$7 range.

With the leaves off the trees, the sun is blaring in and blinding me. I don a baseball cap so I can see the laptop screen.

Flavors begin to pick up. Which is natural for me after I diss the cigar for not being flavorful enough.

There is a baked bean essence. Now that is odd. I can taste the onions and green peppers and the tomato sauce.

Last year’s version was the perfect size for me. I like the tobacco vs. wrapper ratio. A big honker offsets that ratio and not for the better.

The wrapper is so integral to the flavor of the cigar that if you keep piling in more and more tobacco, the wrapper influence diminishes radically. My absolute favorite ratio is a 5.5 by 46 stick. This size just does it for me.

Sweetness permeates the main direction of the cigar.

Black pepper makes a tardy appearance.

I’ve had some lousy luck with cigars lately. I need to add a rock n roll story to compensate.

I am at the halfway mark.

And nothing has changed. The flavor profile is static. I am really disappointed. One thing you can almost always depend on is a short resting period before being able to light up a Garcia cigar. Two weeks or so and you are smoking heaven.

I think Johnson/Garcia got off the beaten track and spent very little time in blending this cigar. A limited production cigar should be something very special; especially from these guys and it just isn’t.

The price point. Considering this is a limited edition cigar produced only once a year in small quantities, the $8-$9 price range is tolerable. But not for this cigar. The L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014 is a complete let down. This is one of the first joint ventures that must either be half assed blended or old school blending needing months of humidor time.

The last third begins. The L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014 did not impress. I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to this cigar. Even if the last third is the sweet spot and really takes off, I decline to recommend it. The ER13 was such a better cigar.

Maybe that’s why the price is lower than the usual IPCPR Fever cigars coming out now. Nothing but double digit price points. Are you ready to spend $15 on a My Father cigar?

The cigar manufacturers will give you all kinds of bullshit about the process of blending this cigar that made it so expensive. And that is exactly what it is: Bullshit.

Have you smoked the New World by AJ Fernandez? Around $5-$6 a stick and it puts the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine to shame. And at almost half the price.

I haven’t been listing the flavors because there has been no changes whatsoever. The black pepper was there for moments and then vanished.

Construction has been good with a steady char line and no wrapper issues.

No need to bother with this cigar. But then maybe 6 months of humidor time will bring it to life. I skirt away from that old school technique.

I think the root of the problem is the size. The boys should have kept this cigar smaller. The wrapper vs. tobacco ratio is all off. I cannot think of another reason for the blandness of the L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014.

The last third finishes up with little change. Some of the sweeter flavors are a bit bolder but remain unimpressive.

Well, I will leave it up to you. The Johnson/Garcia boys have a record that cannot be argued. So maybe some real extensive aging will turn the tide of this cigar.

The L’Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014 must be the first Pete Johnson cigar blend I wasn’t crazy about. A shame.

And now for something completely different:

Stewart and I were on the prowl for women. Back then, Stew was just the drummer for Curved Air and not the drummer for The Police. I am 2 years older so I took the lead.

Back in the day, universities put on some really big concerts that would seat 5000-6000 people in their gymnasium/arena. Huge places. And we always packed the place to the gills.

90% of the time, we headlined. Before the concert, Stew and I went into the bar area where hundreds of good looking women stood with their nerdy boy friends who all had a crush on our chick singer. Women were just not into progressive English rock. But they came along after, I suspect, a lot of begging from their boyfriends.

At this time, both Stew and I were boinking the chick singer. For me it was sport fucking. For Stew, he got serious and the two eventually married. 20 years later, they divorced and Stew married a sweet young thing and the chick had been nicknamed Mama Cass because she really ballooned. I stayed in contact with the original keys player and he told me that when they started their reunion tour a couple years ago, that is what everyone called her. LOL.

This one night, as we perambulated around the bar looking for the best looking chicks, we came upon a standing table with 4 girls and their boyfriends. We stuck our noses in and asked how everyone was. The boys knew exactly who we were. And went bat shit. Which caused a chain reaction with the girls. They hung all over us which finally got to the boyfriends. They felt something was up.

Both Stew and I were in our stage clothes. Two tall fancy shmancy looking handsome lads.

Each one of us asked a girl if she would like to see the back stage area to which they giggled and said yes.

The girls told their boyfriends they’d be back in a few minutes. Stew and I looked at each other and smirked.
There was a slew of offices back stage. We took them into our dressing room and introduced them to the rest of the band. They couldn’t stop giggling.

We departed the dressing room and went in different directions. Stew and I picked out two empty offices and locked the door.

The girls had their clothes off before we could blink.

We were in separate offices but next to each other. I had the screamer. Stew had the “Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby, etc.”

There was a loud knock on Stew’s makeshift bordello office door. And then keys turning the lock. In walked school administration people and caught them both on top of the desk.

I whispered to my chick to quickly get dressed.

I heard lots of yelling before I left our office and we skedaddled without being seen.

Later, Stew told me he waved his dick at the school people and they ran off.

About a week later, we were told by our manager, Miles Copeland, that he had been notified in writing that we would not be allowed to play that university again.

I say it was worth it.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, L'Atelier Extension de la Racine 2014 Cigar Review, pepin garcia, pete johnson