Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano, Nicaraguan Maduro, Honduran Candela
Binder: Sumatran
Filler: Panamanian, Honduran
Size: 6 x 50 Toro
Strength: Medium
Price: $15.00
My cigars are the 2023 release and have 12 months of box aging.
BACKGROUND:
This is the sixth consecutive year that the Filthy Holligan Shamrock has been released.
1500 boxes of 10 cigars released each year.
“Barber Pole and Shamrock remain limited editions because the bright green tobacco we use needs to be consistent every year.” …Bradley Rubin.
Factory: Plasencia’s Tabacos de Oriente S.A.
From Alec Bradley Cigars:
“2021 marks the 9th release of the Filthy Hooligan Barber Pole and the third release of the Filthy Hooligan Shamrock. Both cigars feature a flavorful, bright green Candela wrapper leaf, celebrating the onset of Spring. The additional wrappers on the cigars create unique flavor experiences enjoyed by enthusiasts worldwide. Only 2000 boxes of Filthy Hooligan Barber Pole and 1500 boxes of Filthy Hooligan Shamrock are to be released in 2021.”
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Note: I’d like to slow down because my brain is telling me I’m old. I’ve decided to re-focus my efforts on just bringing you critiques of good cigars…and shit-can reviewing the bad ones. Let the young reviewers do that. If you’ve noticed that my 2024 reviews have been very positive, there is a distinct reason. I’m not losing my mind; I’m bringing da funk and da noise of the good stuff. I will re-post this declaration of independence several more times on future reviews so that I’m on the record about my intentions.
The draw is just outside the parameter of what I like. My PerfecDraw tool is hopping on one foot and then the other like a child that has to pee. I give it the nod and 20 seconds later, voila…the suckability of my cigar is spot on.
I love a good Barber Pole. Some guys view it as merely a gimmick. These are the same guys that have no sense of humor.
Chocolaty and creamy start. The candela plants its flag with lemon, grassiness, and peppery goodness.
Strength is medium but hints at muscle waiting in the wings.
Love a cigar that says ‘I’m here’ on the first puffs. I’m an impatient man. Age only makes you more patient with idiots, not things. Thanks to the digital world, idiocy is enjoying an all-time high.
The cookie monster. Chocolate chips, brown sugar, molasses, and cinnamon. And this is after only a few minutes. What might await? Whoa, Nelly.
Seeing photos or videos of aging rock stars is dreadful. So old and yet most still insist on dying their hair. Do they think that no one knows they’re in their 70’s & 80’s?
Do flavors change as each stripe passes into eternity? It is pretty much the same as pink or white Good & Plenty candies. Some swear they can taste the difference. So be it.
Nicely constructed cigar. A slow roll. Takes its time. Like saying ‘baseball, baseball, baseball’ to yourself so you can hold out.
Honduran tobacco has seen its day come and go. Camacho used it to perfection. But it doesn’t have the punch or slyness smokers crave in the 2020’s. Soil is everything.
The days of The Funk Brothers. The Wrecking Crew, or Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section are gone. Currently, session players emulate those guys. So, you still get a taste.
An inch in and a huge wallop of sweetness grabs my attention. With it, some gorgeous complexity and richness. The cigar is now from Planet Wop-bop-a-loo-bop.
Berry notes stand out. The creaminess crosses into mushroom soup and candied almonds.
The burn and purtiness spark my attention:
This blend is nothing like currently available cigars. It is the cheese. It stands alone. AB isn’t the most creative blending outfit. But this they got right.
‘Mexico.’ James Taylor Live. The man is a master at hooks.
I’m on a boutique coffee binge. I found a local bean business called Stone Creek Coffee. I tried to get them on board as a sponsor. They chose to ignore me. Despite that slap in the puss, they make some superb java. I’m a big fan of their Costa Rican blend. It ain’t cheap and it is very addictive. You’ll never go back to Yuban or Starbucks.
As the mind is a bendable thing, I taste rich and exotic coffee. See. No matter what the cigar really tastes like, the reviewer puts suggestions into your brain. I don’t see it as psychological warfare; but rather it gives the curious cigar smoker a leg up in his cigar experience. A good thing. But smoke output is really a stupid thing to concentrate on. Really.
A superb cigar. I read some reviews of the 2020 version which is basically the same blend. Some liked it and others gave it a pass. This is a limited release. And it’s a good cigar. A fun cigar. Flavors keep moving like a walking bassline.
The halfway point. One hour. Strength is medium/full and ticking.
A sweet spot blossoms and brings super rich notes of creaminess, chocolate, mixed nuts, lemon, sweet summer berries, the soil of exotic lands, butter cookies, cinnamon, brown sugar, café au lait, a hint of grassiness, and peppers galore. Nice.
A $15 stick. Worth it? Hell yeah. As a brilliant reader recently commented, this is the new $8 price tag of yesteryear. If you like interesting, constantly morphing, colorful cigar blends, the Shamrock is for you. It ain’t AJ. It ain’t Dominican or Peruvian. It ain’t Tatuaje. Every time this happens…I must resist the pull of the wallet. Do I stop and buy more? Shit. I hate reviewing good cigars.
This is a first cigar of the day smoke. You burn your second and third cigar and your palate crispifies as the day wears on. It ain’t you, it is a perfectly normal body and spirit thing. I wish it tweren’t so.
Smoke output is great.
The strength is pulling at my diminishing arteries. But no nicotine in sight. I’m completely lucid. Don’t laugh.
Look again at the leaf stats and tell me you’re not intrigued.
So close to being a flavor bomb. Yet it is restrained while dominating a wide spectrum of attention-grabbing tastes. Trust this old man, you’re going to like this cigar long time.
Moose and Squirrel give this blend a big nod.
You can find these cigars, discounted from the $15 price tag, from sponsors Luxury Cigar Club (15% off with promo code ‘katman’) and Cigar Page.
RATING: 96 (Yeah I know this is a dog whistle to my readers).
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by the Katman 
Whatever happened to the Rubin/Tetens partnership?
OK Phil
This is your 8th 96-100 in March alone! WTF, Phil. As I have mentioned before we share the same palette and are the same age. Because of that I just buy whatever it is you rank 96+. Well… now, because you’ve got some sort of March Madness thing going on my wallet is flat and Rod won’t give me any money. So stop already!!! Maybe start reviewing Gurka and Comacho for a while. If this trend continues I will have to stop buying my wife wine and fancy shoes and we all know what happens then!
Charlie
PS I see January 2025 clearly now: “Announcing Katman’s top 87 cigars of 2024”.
Good day, Mr. Katman, sir. Long time listener, first time caller. Or reader. So glad comments are back.
I agree, if the Katman rates it 96+, I am called with more allure than a naked siren’s bosom and song which pulled me in to the shoals when I was a young lad in the US Navy; I am powerless to resist. I must buy. I will say, as I got started smoking cigars, your review on a shitty Gurhka (you called it a dog turd) I randomly found put me onto you and I’ve never looked back, you’ve never steered me wrong. Forgive my syntax, I just worked all night.
Thank you for being such a steadfast soldier in the war against cigar corporate greed to let us dog and pony show boys know what to buy. You’re my hero. And mentor. And a father figure. *Ahem* I mean, thanks, Phil.
Thank you William.
Phil