Wrapper: Nicaraguan Aganorsa Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6.5 x 54 Toro (pigtail and closed foot)
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $9.00
My cigars have had 5 months of naked humidor time.
BACKGROUND:
The cigar was released in 2021 under the name Libertad.
The cigar was rebranded from Libertad to Fye in June 2022.
From ATL Cigars:
“A Nicaraguan puro born of an exclusive partnership with Aganorsa Leaf. Fye is a celebration of the Cuban-seed leaf and production process Eduardo Fernandez began curating more than twenty years ago. Fye offers notes of cashew and oak with caramel and raisin flavors developing for those willing to wait 2-3 years.”
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
The description from ATL above states that this cigar really shines with 2-3 years of humidor time. I decided not to wait. Who puts out a $9 cigar and says to wait? Ridiculous. If it needs years of post-release rest, then it should have been up to the manufacturer to do the heavy lifting by allowing the cigar to reach maximum output until they deem it ready to smoke…not the consumer’s responsibility.
On the upside, I read many reviews of the Libertad from 2021 and 2022 and the critics were favorable; so maybe the cigar taste becomes a swinging dick after a few years, but apparently the wait is not necessary.
Clove and Frosted Mini-Shredded Wheats. And then as my nose rests upon the giant shaft, I smell cinnamon, vanilla, red cherries, lovely floral notes, milk chocolate, cedar, a scoche of barnyard, and nutmeg.
The draw shows a clear and present danger. My PerfecDraw sidles away to the Bat Cave.
Behemoth sticks are a pain for me. I like to dangle from my giant open maw while I type. A cigar of this size is just too much jaw clenching. I told a nurse at Charlotte’s doctor appointment this week that I spent 25 years in San Quentin. Her mouth dropped. I never corrected myself. I don’t know what’s wrong with me either.
Nice smoke output. Cut. Print.
A spicy start. Black pepper and red pepper go to town. Creaminess avails itself to help quell the fire in my mouth and sinuses.
I taste serious blender’s intent. A hint of complexity. A lilt of fanned out flavors that dissipate the further they get from the mother ship.
With a big cigar, there is absolutely no way to figure out what is going to happen early in the cigar. It can swing your way, or it can take a submersible to the Titanic and implode.
Strength is classic medium.
The char line is listening intently as it doesn’t want to raise the ire of its smoker.
Spiciness leads the pack. Yet the strength remains evenly keeled with a nice creaminess that disallows my mouth from catching fire. I can breathe. You can drive a truck through my sinuses.
This blend is typical of the big cigar profile…it takes a few minutes to warm up and do the dance. As this blend only comes in one size, I had no choice for smaller sizes.
Smoking a big cigar is a totally different experience when you prefer smaller cigars. They are not as intense. They take their time. But a good cigar will eventually reward you by the halfway point. I get it. Dr. Rod likes his cigars in the extra fatty boy sizes. He’s a strange boy.
The ash is monolithic. Refuses to disembark. I gird my loins. Scars on your wiener are not attractive to the blue haired women at the retirement home. Did you know that STD’s run rampant at those places. Yeah, they do. They are all fucking each other. I guess if you must go out, what better way than laying on top of a naked woman.
Transitions consist of mostly savory notes of cumin, charred steak, mushrooms, cinnamon, nutmeg, and spicy peppers.
The low hanging sweet notes are vanilla ice cream, café au lait, black cherries, milk chocolate, and smoky cedar.
At 2” burned, the first sweet spot kicks in. The mysterious richness appears. Intensity of its flavor profile increases so that there is a nice kick in the arse.
Baking spices are now very prominent.
At 3” burned, strength hits medium/full.
Intensity of flavors grows quietly but steadily. The complexity follows suit. The cigar is growing on me. The finish is a motley crew of spiciness, creaminess, kitchen spices, black cherries, and grilled steak.
Like a kid plunging down a hidden well, the strength hits full tilt out of nowhere.
The swoons accompany the increasing complexity.
This is a pretty good cigar. If you like to pleasure yourself with a good cigar and your favorite liquor on the patio while the sun is closing its curtains, this is a perfectly sized cigar for that occasion. The blend does not ask much but to be loved. A slow roll with perfect smoke output. Cut. Print.
Creaminess in tandem with the spiciness of the Corojo steers the ship. Most knockaround cigars are now found in the higher price range of $8-$10 these days. Wishing and hoping for that experience with a $6 cigar is dwindling. Those days are gone. Exceptions are out there but it takes a lot of trial and error.
If you’re looking for a great deal on Southern Draw cigars, check out “Katman’s Great 8 Southern Draw Flight” from Cigar Page. You get 8 excellent sticks for only $39 and shipping is free.
The Fye is now screaming laughter. The blend has transformed itself just past the halfway point into a serious cigar blend. That rich depth of field is spot on.
I saw Buffalo Springfield in concert in 1966. Their first hit, “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” was climbing the charts nationwide. It was the first time I heard an exceedingly loud band. I had front row seats at Melodyland Theater in Anaheim. Fell instantly in love with those musicians. Back in the day, it was no big deal to be allowed backstage to meet the band. My concert going buddy, Skip, and I would do that for every concert. Growing up in L.A. was the perfect place to be in the 60’s.
The blend is super intense now. Not a newbie cigar unless you’re brave to the bone.
This is the thing about big cigars. They take you on a journey. This stick began mellow and pleasing but then turned into a monster. A good 2 hour+ smoke.
I tried this cigar early and it was a waste. The blend dictates a reasonable request for rest before it is ready to disrobe and bare all it has to give. Don’t touch it without several months of naked humi time.
Construction is excellent. The char line never relents in its quest for perfection.
$9.00 is a spot-on price point.
The cigar finishes at just under 2-1/2 hours.
You can purchase these cigars from sponsor Cigar Page.
RATING: 92
And now for something completely different:
My old friend and mentor, Hall of Fame drummer Hal Blaine, passed away on March 11, 2019 at the age of 90. Natural causes. We should all be so lucky to live that long.
On February 19, a huge 90th party was thrown for Hal at a club in Hollywood. The guests were all the finest drummers and musicians in the world. Hal was reported to be cogent and articulate. And he even played showing off the chops that made him famous.
I watched a documentary on HBO called “The Wrecking Crew.”
Two friends were highlighted in this doc. First, The L.A. Wrecking Crew was a group of studio musicians used over and over and over by just about every producer on the planet during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
They account for thousands of hits in the 1960’s.
Hal played on 40 “Records of the Year” at the Grammys.
Hal Blaine was prominently discussed and took part as one of the talking heads discussing the subject at hand.
My bass teacher, Carol Kaye, was another. My second cousin, Fred Selden, was an iconic L.A. session reed player. Mostly a jazzer but made a million bucks showing up for 3 sessions per day in his heyday. I watched him in the studio with 12–16-piece bands that had charts thrown in front of them and they nailed it on the first take without any practice. They were that good.
Fred pooh poohed my rock n roll style of playing. Yeah, back in 1969, I took lessons from bassist Carol Kaye because Fred introduced her to me as a way to get me to take music more seriously.
One thing hit home in the documentary…Hal and Nancy Sinatra discussed her 1971 Ed Sullivan special that was an hour of Nancy’s Las Vegas show in which Hal got top billing on the marquee of the casino.
When I had my TV show in L.A. in 1983, I got Hal and Darlene Love together. The Blossoms were on the Nancy show as well. And Darlene was part of that all girl group.
Hal brought this up to me a couple weeks before shooting my show. He told me he had the whole thing on reel-to-reel video.
So, he went out and bought a $2400 ($18,000 in 2023 dollars) Sony reel to reel video player/recorder. He had it stored away and gave me use of it so I could have a Hollywood facility transfer it to ¾” video tape.
Now this machine weighs at least 30lbs. Man, it was heavy.
Hal made me lug it from his yacht in Marina Del Rey to my car. And then to the tape facility and when I brought it back to Hal, he asked if I could hold on to it for a while as it was a real pain in the ass for him to put it back into storage.
Over the years, I kept bringing it up that I still had this thing and he just kept telling me to hold on to it.
So now, 40 years later, I still have the Sony Video Recorder. It sits in the dining room.
I got my ¾” VHS tape made and we did the show…using clips from the Sinatra special to show off Hal and Darlene. Hal even had a solo that he was very proud of. Sinatra had a full orchestra behind her.
Carol Kaye was the first big time female bassist in session world in L.A. She came up with some of the most famous bass riffs in rock n roll. The list is too long. She was the bassist on most of the Beach Boys’ hits. She played on albums by Simon & Garfunkel, Joe Cocker, The Righteous Brothers, Count Basie, and she came up with the riff for the “Mission Impossible” theme.
I have kept in touch with Carol over the years.
Back in the day, when other musicians discovered I was a student of Carol, they literally bowed down to me. I remember people bragging that they took bass lessons from a student of Carol. It was a bigger deal than I realized.
She only uses a pick while playing. And it drove me nuts because her music books that you worked from had the symbols: ⟰ or ⟱ over each written note. Each symbol represented how you hit the string. You had to hit the note with an upward motion of the pick and then the next notes might be downward motions.
I’d get reprimanded if I didn’t hit the string with the right downward or upward motion. I could play the riff perfectly but if my pick was not used properly, we’d start again.
I took lessons from her for about a year+. And then it was time to move on. I took lessons from her in her Hollywood Hills home while we sat in her dining room.
I highly recommend watching this documentary if you can. Especially if you are a musician.
Discover more from Cigar Reviews by the Katman
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
