The Hiram & Solomon brand the brainchild of Fouad Kashouty and George Dakrat. The brand features lines themed around Masonic ideas. All their cigars are rolled at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua. The Fellow Craft has been around since 2015 and was the highest scoring cigar in our Blind Tasting with all attendees at the 2019 Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
Fellow Craft is described as a medium to full bodied blend that features a Habana Oscuro wrapper, Indonesian Sumatra binder, and Habano Jalapa, Habano Ometepe, Ligero Habano Estelí fillers. It comes in four sizes: Robusto 5 x 52, Toro 6 X 52, Gavel 5 X 60, and Gran Toro 6 x 60.
“Good smoke output with a nice spice to start. Spice turned to more of a molasses flavor than to pepper. Cedar and leather were also present.” –Jake P. (Jake P.)
“The flavors coming off this cigar are immediately enjoyable, and blend well together. I’m getting salted sunflower seed, buttery caramel cream, or one might even say butterscotch. Coffee, chocolate, & marshmallow also seem to be in play here. There a nice sweetness that makes the retro very pleasant, but the finish is short and leaves you wanting another puff of deliciousness right away.” –Randy B. (randobush)
Flavor: 91 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“The bitter tannin’s shift to a more pleasant espresso note at the start of this third. The creamy smoke has turned sweet causing a wonderful pairing. Almost wish I freeze this moment in time but we must smoke on.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“The second third was more chocolate and floral. Started to get a little char flavor. I think the cigar started to burn a little hot so I took a little more time in between puffs, that seemed to help. After I slowed the smoking down the char subsided and earth and hay showed up.” –Jake P. (Jake P.)
“The tannin notes make a return at the start of the last third. So much that I am forced to reach for a bottle of water. All the traction that the cigar made in the second third were quickly undone by the bitter tannins. This happens cause there is nothing to balance it out, which is really a shame. As we get to the last inch of the cigar we get a return of the sauteed mushrooms so I choose to set it down there and try to go out on a “high note”” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“The last third was my least favorite. Musty grass with a slight bitterness took over to end the cigar. not a great way to end.” –Jake P. (Jake P.)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 93
“Great draw with a good amount of smoke output.” –Jake P. (Jake P.)
Burn: 88
“Burn was ok. Started to burn hot towards the middle which caused me to take more time in between puffs.” –Jake P. (Jake P.)
Construction: 88
“The cigar felt good in the hand. No soft spot could be found. The salt and pepper ash held on for about an inch before fall off cleanly.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“This cigar seemed young to me. Other then the middle third, I find it hard to say anything good about this cigar. I will have to revisit this cigar, once this review is posted, to find out if the damage to the foot of the cigar cause this cigar to perform so poorly. At this moment I find it hard to recommend this cigar to anyone. ” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“It started off real good, but 5minutes into it, the burn got very uneven, and got worse as time went on. The cigar tended to keep going out, and burned as even as a crooked politician. I had to keep puffing fast to keep it going, which made the tobacco too hot, which in turn created some tongue bite and a bitter taste to it. I am not sure if this was just a faulty one, but the experience was leaving much to desire. Flavors were great, cigar looked great, but didn’t burn or smoke worth poo. ” –Joseph S. (Bearded Bastard)
“This cigar had some fantastic flavor to start off. From the looks of this dark wrapper I was expecting some good dark earthy flavors. That is exactly what I was getting. Molasses, spice and wood notes mixed in made this very enjoyable. With that being said, right around the half way point it took a turn in the less enjoyably direction. The cigar was burning hot turning most of the flavor to char. Had to take more time in between puffs to lessen that. Although it eventually subsided the damage I think was done and just mushed all the flavors together to get a mostly musty earth. Not how I would have liked it to end.” –Jake P. (Jake P.)
“From first light to the end of the final third, this cigar was enjoyable with every single puff. Nice and complex with medium strength from beginning to end. Transitions were subtle and original flavors were maintained through the smoking experience. That’s good, because the flavors were delish.” –Randy B. (randobush)
"This cigar had some fantastic flavor to start off. From the looks of this dark wrapper I was expecting some good dark earthy flavors. That is exactly what I was getting. Molasses, spice and wood notes mixed in made this very enjoyable. With that being said, right around the half way point it took a turn in the less enjoyably direction. The cigar was burning hot turning most of the flavor to char. Had to take more time in between puffs to lessen that. Although it eventually subsided the damage I think was done and just mushed all the flavors together to get a mostly musty earth. Not how I would have liked it to end." -Jake P. (Jake P.)
