Smoking Some Black Label Trading Co. Gordos

Friday evening I picked up a selection of Black Label Trading Company cigars in the 6″ x 60 size. I actually don’t mind the 6″ x 60 format, it’s not my go-to, but I don’t shy away from it. I think if it’s done right, buy the right maker, it works, and if it fits into the time I have, it’s perfect. This five-pack of cigars had been sitting in a display of samplers on the counter at Son’s for quite a while, and it intrigued me, so I sprung for it. I smoked four out of the five, the Lawless will have to wait for another time. I started with the Emilio Cavatina on a fresh palate. I never smoked the original Cavatina, although I smoked a lot of the other original Emilios, and still have a couple AF1 and 2, Grimalkin, etc. in the humidor that are going on ten years old. This Cavatina was a delicious cigar. It has an Ecuador Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, and Nicaraguan fillers. It had some nice cocoa and sweetness with a little spice. Thoroughly enjoyable. I’m certainly going to try other sizes.

Later in the evening I lit up the Last Rites. I’m not sure if I’ve smoked this line in the past or not, I know I’ve smoked the Viaticum, but that’s different, and this was the first time I’ve smoked anything from BLTC in 6 ring gauge. The Last Rites seems to have a similar wrapper to the Emilio, Ecuador Maduro, with a Honduran binder and a blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. As this was my second cigar of the evening, and I was doing some other things, it was hard to put too fine a point on tasting notes, but I never do anyway. It was a great cigar. Very full flavored and earthy, along with the coffee/cocoa flavors I like. Right up my alley. I could have squeezed three gordos into my 6 hour shift, but I really didn’t want to. I like to rest a little in between cigars. 

Saturday afternoon I went with the Royalty. This one has an Ecuador Corojo wrapper, Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. Now, this cigar has a lighter wrapper than the others, not as light as a shade grown wrapper. The Royalty has a brighter flavor than the other cigars represented here. It still has the full flavors of coffee and spice,  but maybe with a little cream and sugar to take the edge off. I really enjoyed smoking this cigar on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. This is another cigar I’ll try in a toro or robusto. 

Last night I went back to the darker wrappers, and smoked the Salvation.  This 6″ x 60 has what they call an Ecuadoran Sungrown wrapper, Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. Ecuadoran Sungrown confuses me a little, because I thought the whole appeal of growing in Ecuador was the frequent cloud cover that replicates growing under cheesecloth, or shade, reducing the labor costs. This was another cigar that suits my palate well, it’s dark, rich and heavy on the espresso and spice. I may smoke the Lawless today, or I may put it away for another day, probably the latter, but I have some general observations about this little experiment of mine. First, like I said, I don’t have a problem with 6″ x 60s, and these didn’t seem to compromise any thing for flavor or construction. All burned perfectly and had a good draw. My go-to remains a Toro. I find a general consistency in a lot of the BLTC cigars, probably because my palate lacks the sophistication to pick up subtle differences, but I think a lot of their dark cigars taste very much the same to me. that being said, I really like that taste, so I’m very happy with everything I smoke with a BLTC or Black Works band, I just don’t have to worry too much about what I grab! Makes life a little easier for me I guess. Gives me something to work on, and since I have a broad range available to me I’ll work my way through. Great cigars, nice people, I like.

That’s all for today, until the next time, 

CigarCraig