Quesada Jalapa | Cigar Review

By Cigar Reviews by the Katman on November 17, 2014 • ( 1 )

Wrapper: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Size: 4.9 x 50 “Robusto”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $7.00 in boxes of 10

Today we take a look at the Quesada Jalapa made at the MATASA (Quesada Factory).

These cigars were released in 2012 and only 1000 boxes were released.

The tobacco came from an experimental project in 2002 in Jalapa, Nicaragua. The tobacco leaves were then allowed to sit for 10 years in cedar aging rooms until 2012.

The cigar feels very light in the hand. I expect an airy smoke. The wrapper is more matte finish than oily. Seams are tight. Lots of veins. There are some hard spots and some soft spots. The wrapper feels slightly toothy.

I clip the cap and find aromas of sweetness, earthiness, spice, leather, butter, and lemon.
Time to light up.

First puffs are equally filled with sweetness and red pepper. The draw is very airy as I predicted. This is not a jam packed stick. So I expect it to burn quickly. I lit up at 9:01am and I will keep accurate count.

Other flavors arrive: Creaminess, nuts, coffee, cedar, chocolate, and citrus.

The char line is perfect.

It is 9:06 am and I’ve smoked an entire inch in that 5 minute span.

The Quesada Jalapa is an excellent and flavorful cigar blend. The aging of the tobacco is encased deeply in this blend. The earthiness and tobacco are quite amazing.

I want to thank buddy, John Young, for gifting me a nice set of Quesada cigars.

More flavors show up: a thick, dense creaminess that is more like homemade whipped cream. The cedar element increases dramatically. A woody element, on top of the cedar, is very prominent.

Coffee and chocolate pair up nicely and along with the sweetness reminds me a bit of the Patel/Drew Java cigar.

The strength is a light medium body. The 10 years of aging plus the two years since have turned the Quesada Jalapa into a Smooth-Sickle.

The second third began a couple minutes ago. I have 3” to go and have only smoked this baby for 12 minutes. I don’t consider that an upside.

At the 3” mark, the cigar manages a subdued and balanced flavor bomb status.

I hope the flavor profile perks up a bit as I prefer my flavor bombs bold and nasty.

But then that is not what Quesada was aiming for. You age the cigar tobacco for 10 years so that it is a refined, sophisticated smoke. And based on that premise, that is what we are here to enjoy from the Quesada Jalapa. It has a Fuente-ish flavor style.

Here are the flavors once more: Chocolate, coffee, creaminess, buttery smooth, cedar, wood, leather, citrus, and nuts.

I am at the halfway point after 15 minutes of smoke time.

Quesada Cigars describes this as a medium/full blend. There is so much aging that it is barely medium bodied.
The Quesada Jalapa gets that magical toastiness that you only find in the best cigar blends. And that buttery creamy element just complements it perfectly.

The big drawback is that the cigar is not packed more tightly with tobacco. It is smoking much too quickly for a robusto. The Quesada Jalapa is now a true flavor bomb. The complexity gleaned from so many years sitting in cedar rooms and you get a very clean tasting cigar. Each flavor element is sharp and defined. There is no morphing of one flavor into another. Each stands on its own giving the cigar a stellar quality.

The price point.
$7.00 for a high quality stick like the Quesada Jalapa is a killer deal. I saw nothing that told me more than the 1000 boxes were produced. Which also tells me this cigar is in its waning moon phase. Don’t expect to find many more of these left. Although, John Young sent me a set of 8 cigars in a beautiful box that included a blend not yet released. See photo below.

I could only find the Quesada Blender Sampler at Pipesandcigars.com for $67.50. It contains:
(2) Quesada Jalapa Robusto
(2) Quesada Espana Robusto
(2) Quesada Tributo Julio
(2) Sample blends

The last third begins. It has now been 35 minutes of smoke time.

The flavors hinge on the buttery smoothness, the cedar, and the toastiness, of the blend.

The Quesada Jalapa is a helluva cigar and I don’t know how I missed it when it came out in 2012. Asleep at the wheel.

The red pepper disappeared long ago but now it is beginning to build in the last portion of the cigar.
This is the perfect cigar for newbies and experienced smokers alike. The strength is easy going and it is mega flavorful with balance and nuance.

It appears that this will be a 45 minute smoke. Longer than I predicted but still shorter than I hoped.

The construction has been first rate. Never needed a single touch up to the foot. The cap maintained its stability. And no wrapper issues.

In the sampler, is the Espana. I reviewed it here. And it is a superb cigar but I think I like the Quesada Jalapa more. The Espana doesn’t have the smoothness or the definition of flavors that the Quesada Jalapa has.

The only changes to the finish of the cigar are, if it is possible, the flavors smooth out even more. And the spiciness returns.

I would have been happier if the Quesada Jalapa lasted at least an hour or more, but considering the wallet friendly price of such an outstanding blend, that is nit picking.
Find them and buy them.

And now for something completely different:

Oh God. What story haven’t I told a dozen times?
An oldie but goodie….

We had finished mixing the “Live” album at George Martin’s “Air Studios” in London. Long after my part was done, I hung around just to hang around. For a musician, there is no more heavenly place to loiter than a recording studio. Also one that my hopes were up that I would run into the legendary George Martin. Didn’t happen. Still, it was a great place at night.

Air Studios had two recording suites. We were in Suite A. Pete Townshend was in Suite B mixing the movie soundtrack to the movie “Tommy.”

One night, it was only the chick singer and I at the studio. The rest of the band had taken off long ago.

We were in a dimly lit corner sitting on the floor with our backs resting against the big comfy couch. We were trying to roll a doob but in that light it was near impossible.

I heard the door to the studio swing open and I squinted my eyes to see who it was. It was a tall lanky figure of a man walking towards us but I didn’t know him.

As he was only a few feet away, I knew who it was. Pete Townshend. He took a break next door and heard we were in Studio A. He knew the chick from way back.

He plopped himself down next to us on the floor. I was introduced to Pete and I tried to mumble something intelligible but is was useless.

The two were reminiscing about the old days back in the mid/late 1960’s. They were name dropping like crazy. I just kept my mouth shut and listened.

Then Pete saw me fumbling with the joint and laughed. He said, “Don’t mess with that, mate. Here we go.” And he pulled a perfectly rolled J from his shirt pocket and we lit up.

We spent most of the night right there on the floor.
It was a wonderful experience.

The next day, the whole band was in the studio and Pete showed up and shook everyone’s hands.

He had heard parts of the play back of our album. He said he was impressed. He invited me and Stewart into a small recording booth where a set of drums was already set up. I grabbed my bass and plugged in direct. Same with Pete.

We played for a good hour. Just jamming on blues changes.

When it was over, he skedaddled back to Studio B.

Of course, my ego had me thinking I would always be a rock star. So my biggest regret was not to ask for a copy of what we recorded. Over the years, I begged the chick singer for a copy and she wouldn’t hand over a copy. I was really pissed off over that.

We found out a week later that Pete approached our manager and volunteered to produce our next studio album.
I was so excited when I heard this, I could barely sleep.

But weeks passed by and nothing happened.

I later found out that during this time it was Townshend’s heroin period. So it turned out to be just blabber and heroin talking when he made that offer.

But for a couple weeks I was on cloud 9.