The Stogie Guys

There are very few new cigars that I would feel comfortable about buying a box of without trying. A high price doesn’t guarantee quality, and good inexpensive cigars are hard to find. That makes a box of cigars that I’ve never tried before a real gamble, no matter the cost.

One of the few boxes I will buy blind is the annual Singulare release from Illusione. I’ve bought at least one box of the Singulare release every year since it was first introduced 2010, which also happens to be my favorite. (Though if you read the reviews of the 2011, 2012, and 2013, you’ll see I’ve been impressed with them all).

The latest Singulare is called Anunnaki after the Sumerian God. (Who said you’d never use that semester of Ancient World History?) Every year the size and blend changes. The 2014 format is a “double robusto”(5.5 x 54).

Anunnaki started shipping last November, but apparently all 2,000 boxes of the production weren’t ready to ship just then; mine has a box date from mid-January. Each box has 15 cigars and the price is $13 per cigar. Like many recent Illusione offerings, it’s made at the Nicaraguan TABSA factory, as opposed to the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras where earlier lines were rolled.

The Nicaraguan puro has a Corojo ’99 wrapper (the same wrapper as the Illusione Epernay) over dual binders of Jalapa Criollo ’98 and Estelí Corojo ’99. The cigar, which was blended to feature low priming tobaccos from the Chilamate farm in the Jalapa region, contains only a small percentage of Ligero.

Once lit, I found a tasty combination of sourdough bread, cream, and light cedar that’s very similar to the Epernay, but with more sweetness and a velvety texture. It starts out mild, though it does build to a more medium-bodied profile. Past the halfway point, it adds coffee notes and more wood spice, though it maintains excellent balance throughout.

With solid construction and complex, balanced, and interesting flavors, I have no second thoughts about buying this box blind. Fans of Illusione’s Epernay, of which I’m one, will particularly enjoy this classic, mild- to medium-bodied cigar. The Illusione Singulare LE 2014 Anunnaki earns a rare rating of five stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five-stogie rated cigars can be found here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Read through the articles in the StogieGuys.com A-Z Guide to Rye and you’ll notice lots of references to Indiana rye (LDI/MPGI/Seagram’s are just a few of the  operation’s names). As complete a list as I know of companies that sell their ryes is available here, but some of the best-known include Bulleit, Templeton, George Dickel, Angel’s Envy, Willett, and High West (though the latter two also have other sources for their rye).

While some of the companies that sell MPGI products obscure the source, MPG Ingredients, as the former Seagram’s distillery is now known, is very upfront about what it offers. Aside from its 95% rye mashbill, it has recently added two additional rye recipes with lesser rye contents.

The biggest reason MPGI’s rye is so ubiquitous is, at a time when rye is hot, MPGI actually has a significant amount of aged stock to sell. In my opinion, a second and nearly as important reason is that the 95% rye is quite drinkable at a relatively young age, with much of it presumably bottled at between two and five years of age.

This makes the Smooth Ambler’s Old Scout offering a little different. The 99-proof rye features a 7-year age statement, which sets it apart from other widely available Indiana ryes.

The result is a copper-tinted whiskey with citrus, candied fruit, and light oak. The palate has good wood spice, but also deep bourbon-esque sweetness and floral notes. The finish has some pickle brine and orange peel.

Pair it with a medium-bodied cigar like an Arturo Fuente King T Rosado Sun Grown, Bolivar Royal Corona (Cuban), Tatuaje Black, or RoMa Craft Intemperance.

At $40 a bottle, Old Scout Rye is a nice value with enough complexity to be enjoyed neat, but it also makes a nice Manhattan. It’s not as brash as Bulleit (one of my favorite value ryes) but the age gives it more woodiness and depth of flavor.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

When it was first released a few years ago, the Undercrown Flying Pig was only sold in Europe. Now Liga Privada retailers in the U.S. are able to carry the zeppelin-shaped perfecto. The $12 cigar features the Undercrown’s characteristicly oily Mexican wrapper around a slightly tweaked blend. The result is a very rich combination of coffee, dry chocolate, and woody spice. It starts out medium-full bodied but ramps up as the cigar progresses. While I slightly prefer the Corona Viva size of the Undercrown line (especially taking price into account), this is still an excellent, flavorful cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Discerning cigar smokers still flinch at memories of the cigar boom of the mid ’90s. From 1993 to 1997, annual handmade cigar imports skyrocketed from under 100 million to well over 400 million.

The result wasn’t good for consumers. Many established manufacturers couldn’t ramp up production while still meeting quality standards, and lesser quality “Don Nobody” brands flooded the market.

Good cigars were suddenly difficult or sometimes impossible to find, while poor and mediocre cigars were being sold for high prices. From the perspective of consumers for whom cigar smoking was more than a fad, the bursting of this cigar bubble was a good thing, even if it took a few years for things to stabilize.

For the industry, the boom wasn’t so bad. First off, they sold a lot of cigars in the peak of the boom, and the smart ones had enough foresight to be ready to weather the coming bust.

The longer-term benefits to the industry were the lessons learned. Cigar makers are rightfully weary of sacrificing quality for quantity, even as total handmade cigar production has crept up towards mid-boom numbers.

So, at some point, the question has to be asked: Are handmade cigars approaching another bubble that’s about to burst? There are good reasons to think not, but maybe some warning signs too. First off, the growth has been far more steady this time. Also, you don’t hear as much from industry types about a coming end to boom times, which I’m told was seen by many as almost inevitable during the mid ’90s, even if the exact timing or speed of the collapse were largely unanticipated. The counter is that it’s hardly unusual for bursting bubbles to not be anticipated by most people in them, otherwise people wouldn’t lose so much money in those bubbles.

One of the things that worries me is the ever-increasing price of new cigars, especially the increasing number of cigars sold by companies that aren’t themselves cigar makers. Many of these cigars are of good quality, but they don’t always offer particularly good value for smokers, in part because they have to buy their cigars before they sell them to retailers.

Then there are the pending potential shocks to the established cigar industry. FDA regulation has the potential to wipe out numerous brands introduced in the past few years. Other possible market-shattering events include the full end of the Cuban Embargo, or a natural disaster striking a major growing region.

I don’t want to bum anyone out here, but cautious optimism is usually a more intelligent outlook than unrestrained exuberance. While a collapse like the cigar industry saw after the peak of the ’90s cigar boom seems unlikely, industries don’t usually grow forever.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

When you mix straight bourbon whiskey with straight rye whiskey, what do you get? When High West Whiskey out of Park City, Utah, wanted to sell its concoction, they called it “Bourye,” a portmanteau of bourbon and rye.

A quick note on terms for American whiskey: Bourye has no legal meaning. Federal regulations have strict definitions about what certain terms mean, so although a combination of straight bourbon whiskeys can still be straight bourbon (and multiple straight ryes still can be called straight rye), a combination of straight rye and straight bourbon cannot be called straight whiskey, even if it is (as High West calls says on the bottle) “a blend of straight whiskies.”

The original Bourye, first released in 2009, combined 10-year-old bourbon, 12-year rye, and 16-year rye (a tweaked Bourye was just released in the past few months). Son of Bourye, as you might expect, is a younger version.

In Son of Bourye, High West takes a five-year-old bourbon (at least five years, the label says), and mingles it with a five-year rye whiskey (the percentage of each isn’t disclosed). Both spirits are sourced from the Lawrenceburg, Indiana, distillery that provides spirits for many whiskey companies that bottle bourbon, and especially rye, that they don’t distill themselves.

Son of Bourye is bottled at 92-proof. It isn’t easy to find, but is not impossible to locate above retail, which is usually between $45 and $50.

The nose is pleasant, although not particularly distinctive with caramel and hints of pine and citrus. On the palate, some of the interplay between the rye and bourbon comes out with honey, oak, and mint spice. Floral notes, clove, and cinnamon also hit the palate. The finish lingers nicely with dried fruit and wood spice.

There are enough subtleties in Son of Bourye that a full-bodied smoke would overpower it. Instead, try a mild or medium cigar like Cabaiguan, Illusione Epernay, or a Cuban Montecristo.

Ultimately, there is a lot to like about Son of Bourye. The blend of straight bourbon and straight rye is a fairly new category of spirits which has emerged as whiskey companies look to provide a new, unique product to a booming market. When compared to other bourbon/rye combinations (like Jefferson’s Chef’s Collaboration, Wild Turkey Forgiven, and the original Bourye) High West’s Son of Bourye measures up quite favorably in terms of the value it provides.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In November, I reviewed the Ezra Zion Tantrum P.A., the first Ezra Zion cigar we reviewed. Today I take a look at another recent Ezra Zion blend: the Honor Series FHK.

FHK, the second in the Ezra Zion Honor Series, was released at the beginning of 2014. The blend is billed by Ezra Zion as its “first true multi-country cigar blend.”

Made at Plasencia’s factory in Nicaragua, FHK uses a Mexican Maduro wrapper around an Indonesian binder. The filler is a combination of Brazilian and Nicaraguan filler.

Only 2,000 FHK boxes are split between the line’s four sizes: Inspired (5.5 x 50) and Truth (7 x 44) sell for $189, or $9 each; and Stature (7 x 54) and Character (6 x 52) sell for $210, or $10 each.

The wrapper is a mottled medium brown color. The cigar starts out with a combination of clove, cinnamon, and malty sweetness. It is medium-bodied with some cedar spice and a light, earthy finish that lingers on the palate.

Ezra Zion describes the FHK blend as “creamy and malty, reminiscent of a craft beer,” and I’m inclined to agree. The body, spice, and sweetness profile remind me of a Scottish ale.

Before I give my assessment of this particular cigar, let me admit a little bias. The flavor of the wrapper is one that doesn’t frequently impress me. While there are good Mexican-wrapped cigars, if you gave me two cigars (one with a Mexican wrapper and one without), knowing nothing else I’d be inclined towards the one without the Mexican wrapper.

That said, the Ezra Zion Honor Series FHK is well-made, balanced, and flavorful. While I much prefer the Tantrum P.A. from Ezra Zion, the FHK Truth still earns a respectable rating of three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The Red Wheat Harvest Collection (or maybe it’s Signature Craft Harvest Collection Red Wheat… it’s not entirely clear) is part of the rapidly expanding Jim Beam Signature Craft line. The name is a mouthful, but it’s actually quite descriptive of the many ways this limited offering differs from your standard-issue Jim Beam.

What’s most notable about Red Wheat is the mashbill which, unlike every other Beam bourbon to date, uses wheat instead of rye, along with corn and malt barley. And the 11-year age statement makes it considerably older than every other current Beam offering except its recent 12 Year Signature Craft.

The bronze-colored spirit features a nose full of vanilla, damp oak, and a hint of dried fruit. On the palate there’s a lush creaminess, cookie batter, vanilla, and a hint of red apple. The finish is long with some clove and wood spice.

It’s a got hints of that distinctive Beam yeasty funk, but there’s a lot more going on than just that. There is a soft, delicate edge that adds to the complexity and enjoyability.

It also makes the Red Wheat a versatile bourbon for cigar pairing. All but the strongest cigars would make for an excellent pairing, from a mild Connecticut-wrapped cigar to a medium-full Nicaraguan blend.

It deserves to be tasted neat, as too much water or ice could tame the 90-proof spirit. Really there’s not much to complain about, except maybe the price.

Certainly, $45 for a 375 ml. bottle is very steep. But then when you consider that the only other wheated bourbons with similar age statements (Van Winkle Lot B and Weller 12 Year) are becoming exceedingly difficult to find at retail, the cost isn’t so ridiculous. My recommendation: See if you can try some at a bar before going in on an entire bottle.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys