Pappy Van Winkle Tradition

Pappy Van Winkle TraditionAs someone who drinks bourbon on a daily basis the idea of the Pappy Van Winkle Tradition cigar was an exciting event for me. Whether it had anything to do with the whiskey itself really didn’t matter it was the idea that a blend had been made for us whiskey drinkers and gotten the seal of approval from Julian Van Winkle himself. I might have been a little over zealous in texting photos to everyone I knew once I got them using the unicorn emoji and #bejealous but like I said I was excided. (What can I say, my friends and I are all immature.)

Willy Herrera made this particular blend during his tour of the Drew Estate factory in Nicaragua while deciding to join the Drew Estate team. Several other blends where given to Julian to sample and ultimately this was the one he found himself going back to and like that the Tradition was born. Now that we have the quick history behind it, on to the important stuff.

Construction of the cigar is solid as is the case with pretty much anything you get from Drew Estate. The seams on the wrapper are tight and even and the feel of the cigar throughout the body is full with no dead spots. The wrapper itself has very minimal veining giving it a smooth complexion. The color is a light roasted coffee bean with a just a hint of the oily sheen you’d expect from an Oscuro. The feel of the cigar is full but yielding to pressure between the fingers

The smell from the body is woodsy and semi-sweet. From the foot there is the distinct smell of raisins, leather and, perhaps it’s my imagination because of the excitement but bourbon as well. I choose a straight cut for this cigar and the cap comes off easily and has no effect on the integrity of the cigar. The pre-light draw is firm but not to the point that you feel you’re fighting with it. The pre-light flavor is that of fresh brewed tea and hay.

It lights easily and burns evenly as it starts with mild resistance on the draw. The cigar produced plenty of smoke that had a light mouth feel and had a nice sweet scent. The initial flavors to me were spice and pepper with a citrus finish but remained mellow making this an easy to smoke cigar and paired well bourbon. This flavor carries on for the first half of the stick.

The second half of the smoke shows the peppery flavor becoming slightly more prominent with the taste of fresh bread and hints of leather nudging its way on to the pallet. The ash was light grey and held tightly for the duration of the smoke, only falling off when requested. The burn stayed consistent and even through the duration of the cigar.

The overall construction of this cigar was top notch and the Belicoso size was perfect for me. The flavors were fantastic and were blended to the point that none of the flavors were overpowering but mingle together to as a great smoke. This made for a rich, complex smoke that you could either pay attention to all of the subtle nuances or just sit back and relax and enjoy. Not surprisingly this cigar paired very well with bourbon but could easily be enjoyed with coffee or sparkling water. If you happen to come across these pick up whatever you can because you will not be disappointed.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro

Filler: Indonesian and Dominican

Sizes: Coronita 4 x 46, Robusto Grande 5.5 x 54, Toro 6 x 50, Belicoso Fino 5 x 50

Also available in these sizes but only available in certain ways.

Churchill 7 x 48: Exclusively available at Drew Diplomat Spirits Retailers

Lonsdale 6.5 x 44: Box Exclusively at Drew Diplomat Rewards Events in October, November and December 2017

Corona 5.5 x 44: Available exclusively from Jonathan Drew and Julian Van Winkle

Price: $21.00-$26.00

Website: Drewestate.com

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 pints

Suicide King From Traficante Cigar Company

Traficante Cigars Suicide KingBeing fairly involved in social media it was hard not to notice the serge in Traficante sticks being passed around and quite a lot of them through our club members. Finally curiosity got to me and I checked out their website. I liked their stance on how they operate and their idea of building camaraderie in the industry aligned with our philosophy so of course I placed an order. Some of the prices are slightly above average but from a vendor who produces less than 1,000 sticks a day the prices are justifiable.

For my first smoking experience with Traficante I chose their box pressed Suicide King. It comes in one size, a 6×50 Toro. The wrapper is a rich dark espresso color, is fairly smooth with some veining. The cigar feels spongy to the touch but the rolling is consistent all the way though with no dead spots. The pre-light draw is easy which goes with the soft feel of the roll. Even though it feels soft and the pre-light draw is easy the construction is solid and it is a well crafted cigar.

It lights easily with no issues and seems to burn well. The flavor is rich and earthy with a lasting finish. Smoke production is full but feels light. Even though it has an easy draw to it the cigar does not burn hot or fast. This held up until just past the first third of the cigar.

Just past the first third the burn line became A bit uneven and an inspection of the foot showed a bit of tunneling. This began to worry me but I hit the uneven burn with my torch to bring it up to speed and carried on. After about 1/4 – 1/2 an inch more the burning kept even and the tunneling disappeared. (Side note: This has not happened again with either the second one of these or others from their line that I have since smoked. We’ll chalk this up to a one time occurrence.)

The flavor profile stayed consistent throughout the cigar with a bit of nuttiness being more apparent towards the final third. The cigar burned with no issues for the remainder of the smoke and had a tight greyish ash that held on for a good inch or so before knocking it off.

For my first go around with a company I was pleased with the taste and overall construction of the cigar. While there was that moment of uncertainty I was glad to see that it was just a minor hiccup and I’m sure that the other cigars I purchased from them for reviewing will not have this issue. If your looking for a break from your everyday cigars I suggest giving Traficante a try you won’t be disappointed.

 

Wrapper: Maduro (Most likely Nicaraguan)

Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican

Sizes: Toro (6 x 50)

Price: $13.44

Website: Traficantecigar.com

Rating: 4 out of 5 pints

 

AK-47 Cigar Punch From Hollow Point Gear

Hollow Point Gear Cigar PunchWhen it comes to cigar accessories everybody needs a good reliable cutter. Now I know we all have our favorite one that stay with all of our usual cigar accoutrements, whether it’s a guillotine, scissors or a maybe a V notch. However how many times have you ended up somewhere with your travel kit, pulled out the cigar you’ve been looking forward to smoking all day and your lighter then had that “Where the hell is my cutter moment”? So what do you do then? Well you could break out your knife and hope you remembered to sharpen it recently so it’s sharp enough to cut the cap properly without damaging the whole thing (No comments Fran we all know you sharpen your knives religiously) or you could have the convenient AK47 cigar punch from HollowPointGear.com that slips right onto your keys with the attached grenade ring so you always have a solid back up plan.

I’ve had this little guy now for about two months or so now and have used it on at least 30 cigars and AK47 Cigar Puncheach time I’ve had no problems getting a solid, clean punch. It makes for a good draw on the cigar and most importantly doesn’t cause any damage to the wrapper. My only complaint with this thing is that there is no opening on the back of the shell to clear it so the cut caps do build up inside but this in only a minor issue. The bullet cigar punch is handcrafted with a real once-fired AK47 (7.62 x 39mm) bullet casing, and a real once-used (not sure what they did with the grenade after pulling the pin) grenade pin.

Do yourself a favor and pick up one of these AK47 cigar punches from Hollowpointgear.com. At a cost of $11.99 the first time you need it because you don’t have anything with you to cut that $12.00 stick this guy has already paid for itself. While your on the site be sure to check out their other items as well.

Cost: $11.99

Website: Hollowpointgear.com

Rating: 4.6 out of 5 pints