Overall, this was a tremendous smoke, not even taking into account the fact that it's pretty young and hasn't been released yet. I can only imagine how these will be in 6 months or a year. The draw and burn were both spot on and I had no issues with construction. I think Jon Huber has struck gold again with this release and I will definitely pick up a box for myself.
The Hechicera Maduro is the second and final blend from the Sotolongo Cigars partnership with Christian Eiroa and was released in August of 2014. The cigar has a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler. The Robusto measures in at 4.5”x50 and carries an MSRP of $7.46.
The Battleground Cigars Lincoln is an infused cigar. It is aged in seasoned bourbon barrels. The Emancipator vitola measures in at 6”x50.
Overall this was a great smoke. Very well rounded and balanced with some pepper spice at the start that changed into more of an all spice or cinnamon flavor. There was some very good sweetness to it that was almost caramel like during most parts. The draw and burn were both very good as well. This is probably the only cigar that I can remember smoking where I really noticed the aroma and that the wonderful aroma of the cigar did add to the experience. There is no way someone could smell the aroma of this cigar and not fall in love with it.
I have always enjoyed the idea/premise of the chef's editions. Everyone loves a good cigar pairing be it a pairing with bourbon, whiskey, beer, or even my favorite. Coffee. One thing we do not get a chance to do is pair cigars with food as it's not easily done in today's world. I was excited to see the chef's for this year's edition as it has Masa Takayama on the panel who by all rights is very much a true cigar smoker. You can't google his name without stumbling across him with a cigar. I have had the pleasure of smoking the chef's editions the last few years and this hands down is the best yet.
Earlier this year, Royal Agio Cigars, the parent company that owns the Panter and Mehari's brands, entered into an agreement with Drew Estate who will be handling the distribution of these brands in the United States.
I'll preface this by admitting full well that I don't generally enjoy larger RG cigars, and typically smoke 46RG and below. That being said, this cigar blew my mind. I've always had fondness for the Neanderthal line, and with this cigar, I think Skip and Mike finally distilled their goal into the perfect package. It's squat and buff, in your face and unrelenting, and yet you keep wanting to come back for more. My total smoke time was 1 hour 55 minutes, but with a nubbing tool I could have squeezed another 10-15 minutes out of it; very impressive for such a short cigar. If you're a fan of strong cigars with a complex variety of flavors, regardless of vitola preference, I recommend you get your hands on one of these as soon as you can.
Amazing would be an understatement for this fine luxurious smoke. Ample amounts of complexity and well balanced medium bodied flavors were extracted and deeply appreciated as the blender really knows how to make a grade A smoke. I cannot sing praises high enough... you MUST... in fact I demand you to buy a Bespoke Basilica A and experience what this cigar has to offer... you will be forever spoiled.
This was an excellent cigar. I have never come across a PDR that I didn't enjoy, but this one was among the best. I could also sense in it great aging potential and I believe time will only bring out more of the spice and coffee bean I detected in pre-light. These will not be around long, and I would advise against hesitation on purchasing some of these, as they will not lost long. I remember debating on pulling the trigger on a box of these when they were available years ago, and now regret not buying it even more. Buy a box of these, you will not be sorry.
This was a cigar that I was looking forward to ever since I heard of the idea. With fire cured tobacco making an appearance in some prominent cigars recently, this was a slightly different option in the same area. With the tie in of Scotch, I think it makes for another interesting style. With this cigar, the amount of peat flavor wasn’t as prominent as I was expecting. I can understand why this version was the initial release as you wouldn’t want to overpower anyone with that aspect, so I agree with this being the initial release. As it stands, this is a cigar that I would recommend to anyone that enjoys peaty Scotch or just smokiness in general in their cigars. This would even be a good fit with a new or casual cigar smoker as the blend isn’t overpowering at all. For me, I would deem this cigar a success and it makes me look forward to the 50% peat cured filler version to get even more of its characteristics. Then, it will be interesting to see how the 75% version fares.