Nat Cicco Aniversario, Particulares and Casa Cuevas Cigars

I’m taking advantage of every Sunday that it’s warm enough to enjoy a cigar as I write my Sunday post. Soon enough it will be too chilly. So I lit up something special from the PCA show, the new Sangre Nueva from Casa Cuevas, but more on that later. So far it’s amazing. Friday evening I was in the mood for a larger cigar, so I grabbed the Nat Cicco Aniversario 1965 Liga No. 4 Churchill. This is a square pressed, 7″ x 54 cigar with a pigtail cap. I picked up a few of these last month when I met up with Dean Parsons at Cigar Mojo. I like this blend, which has a dark Ecuador wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I hadn’t ever smoked any Nat Cicco cigars until Dean sold his company, Epic Cigars, to them and joined their team. This cigar performed well and was delicious, with some earthy, sweet flavors. I think I prefer the smaller sizes though, they seem to have more pronounced flavors.

Last night I smoked a Particulares Deliciosos, from Sindicato, distributed by Gurkha. Sindicato and Gurkha share CEOs in Jim Colucci, who had retired from Altadis several years ago. I only include that factoid in case anyone wondered how Sindicato came to be distributed by Gurkha. Particulares is a really old brand name, going back to the late 1800s, and the branding reflects that heritage. The cigar is a Nicaraguan puro, and is 6″ x 52 and is made at TABSA, the Aganorsa Leaf factory. For me, the cigar started off unnecessarily strong, it was really spicy and peppery. I regretted selecting it, to be honest, but I figured it would settle down, and it did, a little. It remained a powerhouse, spicy cigar throughout. It was pretty good, despite the rough start. I might try it again, but it’s not going to be a priority.

Now, the Casa Cuevas Sangre Nueva. I’ve said before what genuinely nice people the Cuevas folks are. Luis, and his son, Alex are instant friends, one feels like one has known them forever. This cigar was blended by Alex, who is 24, I think. I have shoes older than him, heck, all of my children are older than him! I regret not taking time to interview him at the show, but the two days I was there they were pretty busy. This cigar has a Cameroon-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador, a Honduran Corojo binder and Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Pennsylvania fillers. I don’t want to start anything, but I was under the impression that African Cameroon tobacco is a Sumatra seed, but I suppose if they got the seeds from the African Cameroon plants it could be called Cameroon seed. They weren’t handing out samples of this at the show, but I have connections! This is a SPECTACULAR cigar! I want more. I’m smoking this early in the morning (for me), with coffee, and it has been distracting me from writing the whole time. It’s on the fuller side of medium, with some of the nutty Cameroon flavors, and earthy cocoa. Alex, his father and grandfather can be very proud of this cigar, the new blood is on the right track! I have to get my hands on more.