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by Craig Vanderslice | August 11, 2024 · 9:59 am

Some New Hoyo de Monterrey, Bolivar and Alec Bradley Cigars

I have long been a fan of the Hoyo de Monterrey brand, going back to the ’90s. I smoked the maduro (and double maduro) Rothschilds, and when I wanted to splurge, I picked up an Excalibur No. 1 (for about $5!). I even wrote an article back in 2012 comparing the Punch and Hoyo brands (Punch vs. Hoyo-de-Monterrey, A Debate Finally Settled). I always get a little excited when General Cigars comes out with a new Hoyo. This time around they have the Oscuro and Rojo. I sense a theme at the company, after the release of the CAO Fasa Sol and Noche, releasing two cigars with different wrappers. I, as I usually do, tried out the Oscuro first. The Hoyo de Monterrey Oscuro has a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, and comes from the HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras. The wrapper is dark, I had high hopes. I smoked a couple of these and found that the initial flavors were weird, bordering on yucky. Creosote, came to mind, like how burning a railroad tie might taste, very pungent. The company has tasting notes of cherry cola, white and cayenne pepper, molasses and rye bread. I’d have to really reach to get maybe the molasses. It moved to tolerable after a while, but never really tripped my trigger. Construction was good! I’ll let some age for a while.

Moving on the the Hoyo de Monterrey Rojo, which has a Honduran Jamastran wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. Both of these were in the Toro size, 6″ x 52, which made me happy (although I might have prefered the Oscuro in the Rothschild, as it would have been done quicker). I really liked this cigar! As was the case with the CAO Fasa, I liked the “natural” more than the maduro! This cigar has what I refer to as “bright” flavors, a citrus tang, and just good tobacco. This was a really nice cigar and I look forward to smoking more. These are both priced from $5.99 to $8.49, darned reasonable these days.

Next up was what I believe to be the first Alec Bradley cigar produced under new ownership, the Alec Bradley Safe Keepings. This is the first in a line that is from the Alec Bradley bled book, a Nicaraguan puro made at the Oliva factory. It uses Jalapa, Condega and Esteli Criollo 98 tobaccos, and prices run from $10.49 to $15.19. I had the robusto, which is 5″ x 52. I find that I like robustos on a Saturday afternoon after the chores/projects are done, possibly before an afternoon nap. No nap yesterday, but it’s been known to happen. Considering Criollo usually isn’t my bag, nor are flavors I consider woody, this was a really nice cigar. It has a woody sweetness, medium bodied, and really quite elegant. The band is kind of cool, it leaves room for alterations for future releases. I can see the starry, crescent moon background being changed to a sunny blue sky for another release. I was surprised how much I liked this.

Finally, I smoked the newest addition to the Bolivar line, the Bolivar Cofraida Oscuro. Like the Hoyo Oscuro, this has a Ecuador Sumatra binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, but has a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. It comes in three sizes, Robusto, Toro and Gigante, I had the 5″ x 54 Robusto. I believe this line started as a JR Cigars exclusive, much like the Hoyo Excalibur line, that was before JR was acquired by Altadis. I really like this cigar, it’s up my alley. It has rich, dark chocolate with some spice. Remember when they came out with the Bolivar with the big red band? I really liked that cigar, although I prefer the classic Simon Bolivar bands. That one was a Foundry line, this one is in the Forged line. This is also a reasonable priced cigar, I’ll be on the lookout for the toro. Remember when the Cuban Bolivar was a really strong cigar?

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, bolivar, cigar, cigars, Cofraida, hoyo de monterrey, oscuro, Rojo, Safe Keepings

by Craig Vanderslice | December 3, 2023 · 9:43 am

Lampert Cigars 1675 Series and an Alec Bradley Fine and Rare

Last week I talked about the Dominican and Costa Rican Lampert cigars, this week I smoked their Nicaraguan selections. All three of these are made at the AgroIndustrial Nicaraguense de Tabacos S.A. in Condega, Nicaragua, which is owned by the Ortiz family of Omar and Indiana Ortiz fame. We have been hearing about Indiana Ortiz for a few years, She did some work with the Psycho Seven folks when they were around, and was then doing some things with Mombacho. Fingers crossed for Lampert Cigars! I was presented with the three cigars in the range, the Azul and Rojo in Robusto and the Morado in Toro. Now, one would think I’d smoke the Morado first, its a toro and it’s Maduro, but I bucked convention and went with the Edición Azul first. It was Thursday evening, I was getting started later than usual, and a 5″ x 50 rubusto fit the time best. Picking the right size cigar for the time at hand is an important skill to develop, I’m always available for consultation. Best advice is not to be in a position to need a smoke! Anyway, the Azul is not blue at all, it has an Ecuador wrapper (no further information, but it’s probably a Habano), Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Peru. I do love a little Peruvian tobacco in the filler! This had a sweet cane flavor throughout, with that little twinge of peruvian spice. It was a thoroughly enjoyable cigar all the way through, and I’d love to sample the toro, and even their short robusto at 3¾” x 52 is very intriguing. So far, so good with the Lampert Nicaraguans!

Friday night was maduro toro time, so the Lampert Edición Morado. I joked that Morado was a misspelling of Maduro, of course it’s Spanish for Purple, This one was 6″ x 52, has a Mexican wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It’s listed as full strength, I found it to be medium personally, but I’m old and jaded. This was a good maduro cigar, it had some dark coffee, bittersweet chocolate, and maybe some dried black cherry notes, fairly typical of the genré. I enjoyed it immensely and, once again, am intrigued by that short robusto size. As much as I like Toros, Churchills, even Gordos from time to time, sometimes a short smoke is warranted! Maybe it’s a second smoke, maybe you aren’t sure if you are going to be interrupted, who knows? I know a guy who knows a guy, there has to be a shop that sells singles or 5ers.

Finally, yesterday afternoon (late morning, really), between running some errands, I decided to tackle the Edición Rojo. This one also lists the wrapper as Ecuador, but I’m going to say it’s a Connecticut Shade varietal. I’ve come to realize that the names of the cigars match up to the bands color, not the wrapper, so this doesn’t have a rosado wrapper, it’s on the dirty blond side, much like an Ecuador Connecticut would be. This was the 5″ x 50 Robusto size, and, while I really liked this cigar, I don’t know if the smaller size interests me as much. I found that this cigar had a lot in common with the Azul, that sugar cane sweetness, which I really like. instead of the spice the Azul had, it had a more nutty undertone, perhaps smoother and milder. I liked it, it was quite good. One think I found that the three cigars had in common was that they all smoked really well. I don’t know that I ‘ve smoke many cigars from this factory, but I look forward to seeing more. Thanks to Andrew for getting me the samples, and to Kap for making the introduction.

Last night I decided to smoke something new to me, but several years old, that I’ll probably never have a chance to smoke again. I was watching hockey, and watching the Flyers play the Penguins always gives me anxiety. I guess it’s because I really hate the Penguins and I hate it even more if the Flyers lose to the Penguins. So I went with a cigar that came from my Secret Santa (time is running out to sign up, BTW!) last year, Mitch, an Alec Bradley Fine and Rare HOF / 506. This was the 2019 Fine and Rare release if my research is correct, and was a tribute to David Rubin, Alan Rubin’s father. The Fine and Rare line typically uses ten types of tobacco. The nuts and bolts of this one are a Honduran Trojes wrapper, and undisclosed binder, and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. By the way, I used the term “nuts and bolts” because Alan Rubin’s father was in the fastener business, and it seems appropriate. This was a really spectacular cigar. There were a range of baking spice type of flavors, it was really quit a treat. It burned well, lasted well into the third period (it’s 6¼” x 54 with a box press), and was good to the last drop. The Flyers won in a shootout, which gives me anxiety against any team, when it’s the Penguins I don’t breath until it ends! I don’t have another Fine and Rare to smoke Monday night when the two team play again, but I think I’ll be meeting up with an out of town visitor at a local shop anyway, so I’ll find something else.