The Stogie Guys

Blade and Bow is a new bourbon brand launched earlier this year that uses extensively-aged bourbon, which is in increasingly short supply. Two offerings, Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Blade and Bow 22-Year-Old Limited Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, were introduced this year.

Both feature whiskey aged at the famed Stitzel-Weller Distillery, which stopped distilling activities in 1992 but has been used to age bourbon. The standard Blade and Bow (without an age-statement) even uses a small amount of original Stitzel-Weller bourbon as part of its solera aging system in combination with other whiskies.

Despite its age, the limited release Blade and Bow 22-Year-Old bourbon doesn’t use Stitzel Weller bourbon. Instead, it is a combination of bourbons distilled at what is now the Buffalo Trace Distillery (then called George T. Stagg) and the New Bernheim Distillery (which is now owned by Heaven Hill, maker of Elijah Craig and Evan Williams).

I recently received samples of each and here are my tasting notes:

Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon ($50)

Light gold in color with a nose featuring vanilla, apricot, and light oak. On the palate, it shows butterscotch, apple, pear, buttered cornbread, and pine. The finish features cereal grains and wood spice.

The solera aging simultaneously shows off youth and age and reminds me of a spicier, more intense version of the recently-released I.W. Harper (no age statement).

Suggested cigar pairings: Arturo Fuente King T, Las Cumbres Tabaco Señorial, Paul Garmirian Symphony 20th Connoisseur.

Blade and Bow 22-Year-Old Limited Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon ($150)

Dark copper hue and one of the most fantastic noses I’ve ever encountered, reminiscent of a Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year, with wonderfully intense wood balanced with rich sweetness. The palate doesn’t quite live up to the high standard set by the aromas, but it does show off its age with deep wood, brown spices (clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon), figs, and burnt caramel. The finish is long with wood and more vanilla.

Such a high price is always hard to justify when there are so many excellent bourbons for far less, but the this limited offering does have all the characteristics that make old bourbon sought-after by many bourbon fans.

Suggested cigar pairings: Sobremesa Cervantes Fino, Bolivar Royal Corona (Cuban), Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch.

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys/Blade and Bow

When anticipation runs high, the possibility of disappointment seems to run even higher. There’s no doubt that this year’s releases from two former Drew Estate notables were among the most anticipated events for cigar smokers.

I haven’t yet had Steve Saka’s Sobremasa so I can’t comment, but, for my taste, Nick Melillo’s El Güegüense more than lives up to expectations.

Melillo, whose work at Drew Estate ranged from factory oversight to blending during his decade-long tenure, started Foundation Cigar Co. after going out on his own. El Güegüense (which means “The Wise Man” and is pronounced “el-way-wen-say”) honors a satirical play of that name which is an integral part of Nicaragua’s history.

Fittingly, the sticks are Nicaraguan puros and are rolled in Estelí. There are 5 sizes, packaged in boxes of 25. The 50-ring gauge Robusto is longer than average, at 5.5 inches. The individual stick price runs about $10.

Melillo went out of his way to give customers information about the cigar’s components. On his website, he describes not only the tobaccos but also the areas where they were grown, the primings used, and, in a video, even talks about the farms where he procured the tobacco.

The oily wrapper, which has a mouth-watering prelight aroma, is a shade-grown Jalapa Corojo with a nearly perfect cap. Other areas of construction and performance—draw, combustion, smoke production—are first-rate.

As you would expect, El Güegüense displays quite a bit of pepper, especially in the opening. But it is far from overwhelming, and there are many other subtle flavors that come and go.

There is not a lot of nicotine kick, and I’d say strength runs in the high-medium to low-strong range.

Overall, El Güegüense is a highly satisfying cigar, and one that I’d recommend any smoker try. In fact, it has my first five stogies rating of 2015.

[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

In February 2014, it was announced Drew Estate would open its first Drew Estate Lounge at Corona Cigar Company’s location in Sand Lake, Florida. “In addition to the branded Drew Estate Lounge, Corona Cigar Company will be working with Drew Estate [to create] a series of unique, limited edition, lounge-exclusive offerings,” said a press release at the time.

This September, six exclusive cigar sizes were announced for the lounge. The sizes are all presented in a toro format (6 x 50), with half featuring a soft-press and half a box-press. The blends include Undercrown (box press), Liga Privada No. 9 (box press), Herrera Estelí (box press), Natural (soft press), Tabak Especial Dulce (soft press), and Tabak Especial Negra (soft press). You’ll note the three non-infused cigars are box-pressed, while the flavored cigars have a soft press.

“The introduction of the world’s first Drew Estate Lounge has been a rousing success at Corona Cigar,” said Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of the retailer. “These exciting new offerings from Drew Estate will add another dimension to the cigar smoking experience in Corona’s Drew Estate Lounge and [are] guaranteed to excite our customers.”

The Herrera Estelí Box Press boasts the same makeup as the Herrera Estelí blend that was introduced in 2013—a golden Ecuadorian Habano wrapper around a Honduran binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. (When Herrera Estelí hit the market, it provided some much-needed diversification for Drew Estate’s non-infused premium cigar business, which had previously focused on dark, full-bodied smokes; namesake Willy Herrera brought a more traditional—some would say “Cubanesque”—sensibility to blending, whereas Drew Estate had been firmly full-throttle Nicaraguan.)

The press on this lounge exclusive is notably sharp and square, rendering it strikingly dissimilar to its Herrera Estelí predecessor vitolas. Further differentiating it is a secondary band that reads “Corona Cigar Co. – Exclusivamente Drew Estate Lounge – Orlando, Florida.” The spongy cigar has familiar pre-light notes including molasses, sweet hay, and cinnamon butter. A punch cut is all that’s needed to reveal a very smooth cold draw.

Once lit, that ultra-easy draw translates to a light, airy smoke texture with toned-down flavors of oak, white pepper, syrup, cream, and almond. Herrera Estelí was never a heavy blend, but something about the square press makes it, in my opinion, lighter in body and a little drier in terms of mouthfeel. As the toro progresses, the intensity gradually steps up, though I don’t think the strength or body ever pass the medium point.

Throughout, the combustion qualities are superb. Expect a straight burn line that requires no touch-ups, above-average smoke production, and a white ash that holds well.

I personally slightly prefer the non-pressed Toro Especial (6.25 x 54) vitola in this blend (and I currently consider the Lonsdale Deluxe (6 x 44) to be the best in class). That said, the Drew Estate Herrera Estelí Box Press that’s exclusive to Corona Cigar Company’s lounge is still a treat, and certainly not a bad buy at $10. In my book, it earns four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick A

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.”

This new limited release from Christian Eiroa has quite the story. It is said to be created from Honduran tobacco grown and kept by his father, Julio, to mark his son’s 20th anniversary in the cigar industry. The cigar’s elaborate packaging befits the lineage. The Robusto (5 x 50) runs around $12. Surprisingly, the blend is considerably less potent than the cigars with which Christian Eiroa made his mark. This one is medium in strength with a lot of the leather often found in Honduran leaves. As you smoke, that profile will almost certainly remind you of the major contributions made by the Eiroas over the years.

Verdict = Buy.

–George E

photo credit: N/A

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.”

Houston-based Stogies World Class Cigars has commissioned some of the industry’s best brands to produce a family of “H-Town” lanceros, including Quesada, Tatuaje, Room 101, Fratello, and La Palina. A Four Kicks Lancero from Crowned Heads was added to the series in October. It retails for about $9 and features the familiar Four Kicks recipe—Ecuadorian Habano wrapper around Nicaraguan tobaccos—in a lancero format (7.5 x 38). Bready in texture with notes ranging from crisp honey and red pepper to spicy cedar and chewy leather, this well-constructed specimen is a joy to smoke and an easy recommendation, especially if you’re a lancero admirer and/or a Four Kicks fan.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys