Month: August 2016

Rocky Patel Decade 10th Anniversary – Box Pressed
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Nose: Aroma’s of Cigar. Very little aroma-lift from the wrapper.
Black Pepper. The foot is earthy.
Construction: Loose pack at mid-stick. Very soft.
Ignition: Lights Easily. Stays lit until the half-way point.
Draw: Medium-minus.
Ash: Dark Gray. Fell within the 1st 3rd; repeatedly fell quickly throughout the smoking experience.
Burn /Endurance: Expired at the 1/2 and again within minutes. Needs regular attention. Went out again 1/2″ before the label.
Room Aroma: Heavy Tobacco.
Taste: Black Pepper at the start. Nuttiness through most of the stick. The cigar didn’t reveal the tasting notes suggested on the website.
MouthFeel: Smoke clings to the palate. Sticks like glue to the hard-palate. Becomes bitter past the half.
Nicotine: Heavy. Got a buzz at the 1/2 and with a stronger buzz a couple of puffs after.
Conclusion: Visually, it’s a pretty cigar. Nice dual-label. Thin veins. Smooth hand-feel.
So for appearance, the Rocky Patel Decade is visually appealing
Rocky Patel Out
However, the smoking experience started falling apart before the 1/2 way point. The Rocky Patel Decade needed several re-lights. When it went out for the 3rd time – didn’t make it much past the 1/2 way point – so did my enthusiasm for the cigar.
And it’s not just because of the re-light issues. The cigar is one-dimensional, meaning a variety of taste/aromas didn’t develop through the cigar.
It started & stayed with pepper spice without ever revealing anything else.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

“Rocky Patel
DECADE
Perfection takes time. For the Rocky Patel Decade, it’s the perfect blend 10 years in the making. The Decade showcases a rare, gorgeous Sumatra wrapper surrounding a secret blend, featuring only the finest tobaccos in the world. The result is a rich and toasty medium-to-full-bodied smoking experience with flavors consisting of espresso, dark chocolate, sweet spice, white pepper with a silky smooth finish. Complexity, balance and elegance earned the Rocky Patel Decade rating of 95 points. It’s an instant classic. Truly one of the best cigars ever made.”
Rocky Patel

 

   The Cigar: Invictis Centurio. TreJ Cigars.          Invictis Full Stick @ValBradshaw 24pt
Wrapper:  Ecuador Habano.
Wrapper Aroma from Head to Foot:
Quite sweet from the head through to the middle where dark chocolate & vanilla became prominent.  Gets a little mint-y towards the foot.
At-The-Foot: Earthy
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Criollo ’98 and Piloto Cubano
Blended by: Jose Blanco. Las Cumbres Tabaco.
Tabacalera La Palma factory / Dominican Republic. 
Designed by: Emma Victorsson

Vertigo down showing punch cleaner
Cigar Cut & Ignition. Using the Vertigo Lighter / Punch combo. Great Punch; perfect entry; easy pop-out cleaning head.
TreJ Invictis Ignition: A couple of puffs and we’re smokin’!
Firm pack. Just a bit of a tight draw on the initial puffs, but then it loosens up nicely.
TreJ Invictis Tasting Notes:  Vanilla and Cotton Candy.
Got a bit of mint there. The smokiness is lingering in the back-palate.
Cocoa and coffee coming through on the 1st third.
Heading to the half-way point, Invictis is a medium body cigar with great draw and tastes/aromas of cream, almond & just a bit of graphite.
I’d suggest smoking this cigar more wet than dry. Biting down a bit allows a lot more smoke to filter through. Ash is a lovely white with slight grey striations.
The burn is holding even as it approaches the 1/2 point.
Past the 1/2 point, there was more toasted aroma/flavour on the TreJ Invicitis.
The ash hasn’t yet fallen – to me, a sign of great construction.
The TreJ Invictis is a lovely smoke.
Great for either the novice or the experienced cigar aficionado.
The ash fell just past the 1/2 way point and burns well, needing no additional attention.
Taste & aroma remain true. No sign of “heat” coming through after the ash fell; again, to me, a sign of impeccable construction.
Cigar maintains an even burn as it approaches the band.
As a matter of fact, it’s burning even better. Temperature remains consistent, making the smoking experience a treasure of length, balance and complexity.
There’s no flaws to the TreJ Invictis – often a rarity in cigars. It just keeps burning even & true. A pleasure at any time, this cigar suits any time of day.
You’ll need at least an hour for this cigar … an hour well spent.
Truly, a joy to smoke!

Lot 40 Sideway w: VB promo
TreJ Invictis paired with: Lot 40 Canadian Whisky: Wow. The whisky changed from something sweet to something savoury with the TreJ Invictis Cigar. Lot 40 overpowered the cigar a bit. Aromas and flavours a bit subdued; just a hint of cocoa.
Getting a bit of cereal on the nose at the 1/2 point of the TreJ Invictis cigar.
As the cigar approaches the band, the pairing with the whisky is rather neutral.
It’s a good pair, but the whisky isn’t offering anything that I would call complex.
The finale of the TreJ & Lot 40 Canadian Whisky is pleasant and acceptable.

Legendario Invictis
TreJ Invictis paired with: Legendario Rum:
I love how the cigar smoke has brought out concentrated sweet aromas from the Legendario Rum. On the palate, the creaminess & buttery impressions of the rum is staying true. I got some poppy-seed just now; very cool tasting experience.
Honey comes through on the Legendario Rum nose at the band stage of the TreJ Invictis.
Notes of milk chocolate and sweet cream.
Sweet spice compliments all the other flavours and aromas of the smoke.

Glenfarclas Invictis
TreJ Invictis Paired with: Glenfarclas 40yo Speyside Scotch:
The Invictis Cigar is adding a briny aroma-note to the Glenfarclas 40yo, which is a little unusual, but very interesting and not unpleasant.
Candy Corn on the nose of the whisky. Beautiful fresh rose aroma.
I love the aroma combinations lifting from the whisky, but have to admit that on the palate, the body of the Scotch doesn’t quite match the body of the cigar.
Just got a hint of coconut from the retro as a puff of the TreJ Invictis cigar came through.

Invictis Paired with: Coffee
Espresso expresses a bitterness associated with 70% cacao.
The Invictis Cigar is definitely a cigar best paired with spirits.
The espresso just sticks to the palate a bit too much.

The Spirits: Technical Tasting Notes on the Spirits prior to pairing with TreJ Invictis Cigar:
Lot 40 Canadian Whisky
Color: 24kt Gold
Nose: I got a little saltiness on 1st whiff, but that blew off, exposing the spicy sweetness classic to Canadian Rye: Caramel. Orange Peel & Brown Sugar.
Quite Earthy which I think might work well with the TreJ Invictis Cigar
Palate:  Smoke.  Orange Marmalade.  Charcoal on the retro.
Finish: Medium. Sweet
43% abv

Legendario Rum
Color: 18kt Gold
Nose: Candied Lemon. Tropical Fruit. Brown Sugar . Banana
Palate: Butter. Nougat. Almond. Lemon. Tannin
Finish: Medium. Savoury
40% abv

Glenfarclas 40yo Speyside Scotch Whisky
Color: 18kt Gold
Nose: Floral. Marzipan. Hint of Orange
Palate: Orange. Walnut. Sultana. Lemon.
Finish: Long. Tannin. Citrus
46% abv

Coffee:
Espresso.

In summary:  the TreJ Invictis Cigar works well with any of the brown spirits selected in this pairing exercise. It’s a cigar you’ll enjoy from beginning to end, but for my money, it’s Legendario Rum or Glenfarclas 40yo for the best over-all cigar and spirits tasting experience!
TreJ Cigars
Ron Legendario Rum
Glenfarclas
Lot 40 Canadian Whisky

Saturday August 6.16. #SmoothDraws #CigarHerf
I smoked the 6.5 x 46 Jericho Hill by Crowned Heads.
Jericho Hill Label

Easy ignition using a Vertigo Lighter.
Tons of smooth, satisfying smoke filled the room.
The Cigar started off rather mild, with initial impressions of Cappuccino … then creaminess.
The ash fell early, within the 1st 1/3.
I prefer when an ash has some staying power.
But after the ash fell, a whole new set of tastes showed up.
It started with the nuttiness of chestnut, followed by distinct red berry fruit. Cranberry.

The Jericho Hill taste profile got deeper as the 1/2 way point approached.
Bitter Cocoa. A hint of gingerbread.
The aroma was topped off with a whiff of roasted meat.

Just as things were getting interesting … the cigar went out.
It re-lit easily and revealed the sweet spice of cinnamon.
Towards the end, the smoke became just a tad cloying, meaning it stuck to the hard palate a bit, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
What I really liked about it, is the tastes from this box-pressed #Cigar lasted well after the end. I was still tasting the cocoa and nuttiness an hour later.

“Jericho Hill is a hedonistic blend of the best Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, resulting in a rich and robust taste profile that is focused, potent, and complex. The smoke is a full-throttle experience that assaults your palate at break-neck speed, races around your mouth for a hundred miles, and leaves your taste buds in a cloud of power, intensity, and excitement. Manufactured at My Father Cigars S.A., Esteli, Nicaragua, and distributed by Crowned Heads, LLC.”
Jericho Hill Box Press 4 Cigars