When we were out in Colorado last month for the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival, we went to an event the night before at Havana Manor in Longmont, CO. with Pete Johnson and Janny Garcia. It turned out to be a cigar industry who’s who, and we ran into a bunch of friends. While there my buddy Storm Boen (Op: Cigars for Warriors) introduced us to Dean Parsons of Epic Cigars. Dean is a hockey player from Newfoundland (the Canadian province where they make the enormous dogs) who relocated to the Caribbean and got into the cigar business. Sounds like a logical progression, right? I decided to sample his wares this week, so I could slip in this video from the festival.
As if you’d expect anything else, I started out with the Epic Maduro Reserva 60×6. Brazillian Arapiraca wrappper with a Cameroon binder. Just now reading that I know why I was totally blown away by this cigar. I love that combination of wrapper and binder, you don’t see it every day. It had a very unique (and delicious) meaty flavor, like smoking a perfectly cooked steak. Just enough fat, pink in the middle, mouth watering! This is a flavor bomb of epic proportions, and certainly aptly named. This is a cigar I’ll be looking for as it really performed well in all departments, it was a hat trick, great flavor, burn and draw. It was a beautiful looking cigar too!
Friday I selected the Corojo Reserva 54×6. I appreciate the clever names Dean has given each vitola! This cigar has Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers like the Maduro, with a Corojo Ecuador wrapper over a Dominican Piloto Cubano binder. This was another great burning cigar with excellent flavor. It didn’t have the uniqueness I was hoping for, but it certainly was a solid, satisfying cigar in the medium to full flavors range. An interesting side note, Dean was telling us that he sent Altadis a cease and desist letter over the Montecristo Epic when it came out, and instead of the giant company crushing the little guy with litigation, they signed a coexistence agreement!
Yesterday I smoked the third cigar in the Epic line, the Habano. This was released at this years IPCPR show, and it has a n Ecuador Habano wrapper, a Cameroon binder and the Dominican/Nicaraguan fillers like the rest of the line. Once again, the construction on these was perfect. The burn never needed correction, and the draw, while a little snug, was acceptable. I thought it has a nice spicy and earthy flavor. Perhaps if I had smoked the maduro last, I would have enjoyed this and the Corojo more, but the Maduro set the bar high and similar flavors I was looking for in the Habano and Corojo weren’t there. I think the Epic lineup plays a full three periods, for sure.
I may smoke some goodies from Michael Giannini’s Foundry line this week, then next Saturday I’m going to attend The Smokin’ Goose, a multi-vender festival hosted by Goose’s Tobacco Outlet and Cafe. This is being held at the historic Sunny Brook Ballroom & Convention Center in Pottstown, PA. It’s only a few miles up the road and I’m looking forward to seeing this inaugural event succeed so close to home. So, until the next time,
CigarCraig
Damn, I lived in Longmont a lifetime ago, when it was all about sugar beet and turkey processing. Looks like the times have indeed changed. Looks like I’ll have to track some of these down.
Travel to Colorado several times a year with son living 12 miles away from Longmont. Just put this one in my phone and will definitely visit when I head out for Christmas.
I didn’t realize you were so close, I will be at the smokin goose also.