Tag Archives: Sherry Cask

News: Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask Released For Holiday 2020

In lieu of my regular Wednesday post I’m going to catch up on a few news items from the last few days in a barrage of posts. Lazy, I know, but it’s been a hectic few days. As the Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask is a favorite of mine, I find this one to be particularly exciting.

 

DIESEL RELEASES EXCLUSIVE WHISKEY ROW SHERRY CASK BLEND FOR HOLIDAY 2020

 

Diesel is ringing in the 2020 holiday season with a new twist on its wildly-popular Whiskey Row Sherry Cask blend. Created exclusively for the 2020 holiday season, the barber-pole wrapped cigar comes in just one size, packed in a branded and bonded tabletop whiskey barrel. 

 

The 5” x 56 Gordo bears the blend’s original Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and is intermixed with a Connecticut Shade wrapper to deliver interludes of unexpected creaminess. The blend was developed by Justin Andrews, blended by AJ Fernandez and is handcrafted at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Estelí.

 

Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask calls upon a proprietary aging process developed by AJ to deepen the complexity of the blend by barrel-aging the rare Brazilian Alagoas Arapiraca binder leaf in Rabbit Hole’s Pedro Ximénez Sherry barrels. This process brings forth subtle notes of honey, vanilla and molasses. When blended with spicy Nicaraguan Habano leaves and crowned with natural and maduro Connecticut wrappers, the result is a cigar that delivers all the makings of an ideal smoking experience: spice, creaminess, subtle sweetness and complexity. 

The cigars are presented in a keepsake wooden whiskey barrel that holds ten cigars and includes a lid that doubles as an ashtray. This special offer was produced in limited quantities and will sell for a suggested retail price of $124.99 for the cigars and barrel. Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask ship to retailers on October 26, 2020.

The original Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask launched in 2019 and has received critical acclaim, including a 91 rating from Cigar Aficionado, and inclusion in Cigar Snob’s list of the top 25 cigars of 2019.

 

About Diesel

Handcrafted by artisans in Estelí, Nicaragua, Diesel cigars are “bold by design.” The brand challenges the current conventions of the handmade cigar category through the bold, unapologetic style of its Cigar Master, AJ Fernandez. Diesel cigars are unified by their deeply complex flavor which is achieved through AJ’s steadfast adherence to time honored cigar making techniques and his insistence on using the highest quality tobacco. The Diesel portfolio includes Hair of the Dog which was released in 2019; Whiskey Row which launched two expressions, one in 2019 and one in 2018, and Diesel Grind which debuted in 2017. For more information, visit www.dieselcigar.com.

 

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The Diesel Delirium and It’s Three Predecessors

As we settle into our new version of reality, I decided to dig into the new Diesel Delirium samples which General Cigar Co. generously provided. But before I did, I figured I’d pre-game a bit with some of the newer Diesel cigars that have come along over the past year or so. There’s the better part of a box of original Diesel Unholy Cocktails that my son bought in 2011 in the humidor that I thought about dipping into, there’s a rental fee that’s overdue! Maybe today. So I started with the Limited Edition Diesel Hair of the Dog. The Diesel Hair of the Dog is a 6” x 52 toro made of all Nicaraguan Habano fillers with an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Ecuador Sumatra Binder. Like all Diesel cigars, this is made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua.  I really like the sweetness in this cigar, and the cedary flavors. It’s on my top three Diesel cigars, for sure. 

 

Next up was the Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask. To recap, It’s wrapped in Connecticut Broadleaf, it has a Brazilian Arapiraca binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I never did get an answer on my question about the tobacco being cultivated on three continents. Central America isn’t a continent. It’s a lie and I won’t stand for it!  OK, maybe it’s not a great big deal, this is one of my favorite cigars. I still think it tastes like dessert. It’s s rich, raspberry chocolate cake. I smoked a robusto this time, which I think I like the best, although I still haven’t tried the Gordo. The next time I’m able to visit a cigar shop I’ll pick one up. Not sure when that will be, but it’s on my to do list. My favorite Diesel cigar so far, and pretty high on my go-to list. 

 

This was all the pre-game show for the newest in the Diesel line-up, the limited edition Diesel Delirium. HEre’s the poop from General cigars: 

Diesel is set to roll out “Delirium,” a limited-edition offering of the boldest Diesel blend to date. Only 5,000 boxes have been made and will be released in early March.

Delirium follows the Diesel’s Hair of the Dog (2019) which sold out in under three weeks.

Senior Brand Manager Justin Andrews said, “Diesel Delirium is about disruption. It’s a cigar that demands the smoker’s full attention and while it follows Hair of the Dog, the two blends couldn’t be more different. Delirium’s definitely powerhouse of a smoke, but it’s not just that. It’s also about dimension and balance, and that begins and ends with the blend we developed. This is a cigar that we recommend enjoying when you have time to commit to really experiencing the full spectrum of taste it delivers.”

Blended by AJ Fernandez, handcrafted at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Esteli, Nicaragua and developed by Justin Andrews, Delirium is made with an Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and a blend of Nicaraguan ligero and Ometepe. A cigar for the initiated, Delirium is a peppery smoke that delivers an array of spices, with hints of nuts and an unexpected touch of nougat on the palate.

Diesel Delirium is available in one size Toro (6” x 52) which will sell for an SRP of $10.00 per cigar. The cigars are presented in rustic, ten-count wooden boxes with two compartments, each containing five cigars. The 5,000 cigar release will hit stores on March 2 and is expected to be an almost instant sell out.

Launched in 2014, the original Diesel Delirium was introduced by Cigars International and was only available for a short time. The updated blend reflects the popularity of cigars that are both full-bodied and complex.

 

I love the size of the Delirium, and the combination of the Sumatra wrapper and Broadleaf binder is really good. It’s got some power from the start, it slaps you around a little, but it settle in and is really a good smoke. I liked it so much I did something I don’t usually do and smoked two of them consecutively just to make sure I liked it as much as I thought I liked it. I was right, I really liked it a lot. It has some spice, but it has some sweetness too, and strength. It’s a cigar that lets you know you’re smoking a cigar. The two I smoked had great burn and draw as well. This is going to fall just below the Sherry Cask in my Diesel countdown, it gave it a run for its money, and it could come down to value, as the Sherry Cask has a great price and this is a little higher. Anyway, it’s a great smoke and I enjoyed it.  

 

I figured I owed the original Diesel Whiskey row another shot. There’s still something about this cigar that I don’t care for. I know people love it, but it doesn’t do it for me. There’s a mushroomy, loamy, umami flavor that I don’t like. Burn and draw are great, I still smoked it, but it’s not a cigar I’m going to seek out, like the Sherry Cask. Heck, I’ve bought more of the Sherry Cask when I had some at home already. Nope, not into this one. If you like this one, and can compare it to other cigars, I’d be interested in knowing what other cigars they are so I can see if I like those cigars, or avoid them!

 

That’s more than enough for today. We woke up to a bad thermostat on the house heater (a month out of warranty!), so I need to shop for a new one. Great, just what I need, not only an expense, but I have to go out in public! At least I don’t have to call “the guy” to come charge me 10x to fix it!  

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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A Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask and a Montecristo Ciudad de Musica Cigar

I feel like a put out a load of posts this week leading up to the TPE. There was plenty of other news, but I’ve made a pledge to myself to keep things positive, and not report anything negative or divisive! I’m going to advocate unity from here on out and try to keep my cynical, sarcastic (I had a superior call me that once, then he gave me an award!) comments to myself. Sure, I have my opinions on things, and I have recently voiced my opinions on things and stand by them, but from here on out I’m taking the “can’t we all just get along” stance. I have to back-burner some other website ideas I had, but I’d have register them anonymously anyway 😁.  Anyway, I smoked a few other cigars this week, I want to write an in-depth post about one, but I’m waiting for more information. I revisited the Diesel Whiskey Row Cherry Cask, this time in the Toro size. I’m not sure if I’ve written about this in this size, I know I’ve really enjoyed the robusto, and, being a bit of a Toro fan, I wanted to try it in that size. I bought a few last week, and didn’t get around to smoking them, but found myself meeting a friend in the cigar shop again and felt like that’s what I wanted to smoke, so I grabbed a couple more. I’m not sure why I can’t just buy one cigar. Anyway, I seem to think I smoked the Toro a while ago and liked the Robusto better, but this time I really did enjoy the Toro. In this cigar, and I don’t know whether it has to do with the color of the band, or the cask aging, but it’s like smoking a raspberry chocolate cake to me. I love the sweet, dessert flavor I get from the cigar. I suppose I’ll have to give the 6″ x 60 a try, but I wonder if that might dilute the flavors I like. I won’t know until I try, I suppose. These are priced well in the $7-9 range, and have a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Brazilian binder and Nicaraguan fillers. Without the cask aging, there’s a lot to like in this blend.

 

The other cigar I want to talk about was a gift from my Secret Santa Adam. This is a cigar I probably wouldn’t have chosen to sample on my own, as it only really has one thing appealing to me. Honestly, there aren’t a great many Montecristos that I really like, there’s the White Vintage Connecticut, and the Espada, and Probably the AJ Fernandez. The Montecristo Ciudad de Musica is a collaboration between Crowned Heads and Montecristo, made at E.P. Carrillo‘s Tabacalera Allianza in the Dominican Republic. I’ve always approached Crowned Heads with some ambivalence, bordering on apathy. They always had a “we’re the little guy, we are anti-corporate” thing going on, then they go and make a cigar with the biggest company out there. I get that it’s a huge deal to have your company name on the biggest name in the biz, it’s really cool. Hang on, let me go back and read my first few sentences…OK…I’m back on track. This cigar pays homage to Nashville, the City of Music, or Ciudad de Musica, and has a Habano wrapper grown in Ecuador, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers and comes in four sizes. Initially, this was only available in Casa de Montecisto stores (CdM, see a pattern?, like Crowned Heads and Condor and Huber?, The Angels Anvil and TAA? Jon Huber loves that stuff apparently), then sold in TAA stores, and I did see these in my local shop which is a TAA store. I’m not sure if these are available to a wider range than that at this point or not. So I would like to thank Adam fo sharing this delicious cigar with me, because it was probably one of the most delicious cigars with the either the Montecristo, or Crowned Heads name on it. It was medium bodied, and had a very nice sweetness that I found very appealing. It wasn’t too heavy, or too light, it was just right, and the construction was perfect. I am a fan of much of EPC’s products, and have been for an awful long time, and this one is among the better I’ve enjoyed. I was stunned. I had mixed expectations. I expected a great smoke because of the person who shared it with me, but I had reservations because of my past experience with Montecristo. This is definitely a case of keeping an open mind, it was a delicious cigar, I may try other sizes.

 

That’s all for today. I need to spend the day packing for my trip to the TPE show.  Please let me know if there’s anything you want to know from the show! I have a few appointments, but will be free-ranging otherwise. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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