Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut Deas Florado 2002
Binder: Ecuadorian Havana
Filler: Dominican and Peruvian
Strength: Medium
Price: $20.00
From MBombay Cigars: “At its core, Kesara boasts a filler blend of Dominican and Peruvian tobaccos, aged for an exceptional 16 years—imbuing the cigar with unparalleled depth, complexity, and refinement. The Ecuadorian wrapper, aged for 3 to 4 years, adds a silky smoothness and a perfectly balanced character. Once meticulously rolled, each cigar undergoes an additional 2-year aging process, ensuring that every note is harmonized to perfection before reaching your hands.”
MBombay cigars? Never heard of them. The brand came across my radar a few weeks ago, so I clicked over to their website. Damn! These suckers, in cigar years, are older than the Katman…and that’s impressive.
I bought a couple of each variety and decided to review this Kesara Robusto.
I punched it. The draw was perfect, so I fired it up.
About half an inch in, the flavor notes stopped me in my tracks, slapped me around, and said “pay attention.” I was being bombarded by something very different. Is it the Deas Florado wrapper? The unusually long aging process? I don’t know… I can’t decipher it. It’s like when you are a guest in some exotic foreign country and your host brings you dessert. Your mind expects the American sugary-sweet profile. Nope! You take a bite, your mind short-circuits for a second, goes blank, and registers a big question mark. “It’s good, I think, maybe. What IS this?”
In the first half inch, I’m immediately hit with unsweetened apricot wrapped in some unknown baked pastry shell with a dollop of cream. This is rich, and the flavor lingers. This is a very complex profile. A floral note appears with a bit of sandalwood and a mild white pepper on the retro-hale.
“What is this???” I’m still baffled. This Kesara speaks a foreign language.
The fruity note becomes more defined in the second third. Sandalwood morphs into a creamy cedar note with apricot and orange peel, topped with a sprinkling of white pepper. The bread note transitions now. It’s more like a chapati note. Chapati?? Really??? OK then!
This Kesara reminds me of some of the women I dated in years gone by, women I wouldn’t want to get involved with long-term, but I will always remember the “Wow… what was that?” experience.
For a while, I was a full-time traveler after I temporarily ditched the boring life of a pharmacist. Being single and in my late twenties and early thirties, I had the chance to date women from cultures quite unknown to me; women of different races, smelling of exotic, unknown perfumes, and speaking unfamiliar languages. The only approach: “go with the flow because you’re off the beaten track.”
I’m off the beaten track with this cigar. It is speaking a language unknown to me.
The final third sees the fruit disappear, and the flavor notes turn into a woodier baking spice. It’s more of a Cuban profile now, with a very pleasant twang. I was thinking this might be a nubber, but then a sudden blast of pepper killed it. I put it down.
My reaction to this cigar is similar to a Beatles fan who puts on “Within You Without You” with sitar and tabla for the first time after listening to songs like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Love Me Do.” It’s a WTF?!? moment.
I live for “WTF” moments. Life just wouldn’t be as interesting without them.
This is a good cigar. The burn is razor sharp, the draw is perfect, and the construction couldn’t be better.
Would I buy a box? No, but I will keep a couple in my humidor to resurrect my palate when it gets bored. Smoking the Kesara is a journey off the beaten path and is well worth the trip.
Katman here: My friend and non-sponsor, Luxury Cigar Club, sells the MBombay Cigars line. Ben Rotem has graciously offered a 15% off with promo code KATMAN15.
RATING: 93-94 on the Kat Scale.
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
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