Welcome back to Cigar Coop’s coverage of Puro Sabor 2023, the Nicaraguan Cigar Festival. This is taking place in Nicaragua from January 23-27, 2023. The Nicaraguan Cigar Festival is split between two cities: Granada (Jan 23-24), and Estelí (Jan 25-27). Today we take a look at day three of Puro Sabor.

Day three saw the festival move out of Granada and into the city of Estelí. If you are an active reader of Cigar Coop, you know that Estelí is the epicenter of the Nicaraguan cigar industry from a production standpoint. It was an early morning departure from Granada, and a 105-mile drive via bus up the Pan American Highway to Estelí.

About 20 miles south of Estelí, we stopped in the town of San Isidro at a farm owned by Victor Calvo for lunch. Over the next three days, lunch and dinner would be hosted on the grounds of a different factory or farm. What was really cool about this lunch was that it took place in a massive tobacco barn – complete with hanging tobacco. The food was good too!

The next stop was the first of the factory visits to Estelí which would comprise the lion’s share of the activities over the next 2 1/2 days. Stop number one was at one of my favorite factories to go visit, Joya de Nicaragua.

Joya de Nicaragua is the oldest cigar factory in Nicaragua. If you have followed Joya de Nicaragua on this website, you know that this is a company that ties its own history very closely to the history of Nicaragua. In a lot of ways, this was a very fitting first stop for this festival. As I’ve mentioned in previous installments, part of the purpose of Puro Sabor is to showcase the rich culture of Nicaragua. The tour of the factory was given by Joya de Nicaragua President Juan Martinez, who did a great job of explaining this tie between his company and Nicaragua.

Juan also then gave us a tour of the factory. By no means is Joya de Nicaragua a small operation. It’s a factory that employs over 400 people and has 80 pairs. The tour provided a great opportunity to see Joya’s processes in action – including wrapper sorting, bunching and rolling, quality inspection, packing, and shipping.

The afternoon concluded with a blending seminar. Basically, this was a chance to blend your own cigar. We were given a library of tobaccos to choose a wrapper, binder, and a selection of fillers from to include in the blend. We were also given some background on the leaf origins and primings that were available. We were allowed to taste the tobaccos prior to selecting our tobaccos.

In case you are interested, here is what I picked for my blend.

One other note is Puro Sabor has partnered with companies outside the cigar industry. One major sponsor has been Flor de Caña, a company world renowned for its rum. They have been participating in several activities here – and were on-site at Joya de Nicaragua blending seminar providing samples.

The evening dinner was hosted at STG Estelí, the factory owned by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG). One thing I can tell you about STG is that they know how to throw a party – and the evening gala for day three was no exception. The evening featured food, spirits, music, and even fireworks.

I usually don’t talk in-depth too much about the evening events, but one thing Puro Sabor has done extremely well is have open seating. This is not the case with every festival as I have seen some where the manufacturers all have private tables. Not only does this make it difficult for folks like me to find seating, but I think it deprives consumers of the opportunity to interact with the major players in the cigar industry.

During the evening, the Nicaraguan Chamber of Tobacco and STG paid homage to the late Hector Vanegas, the Manufacturing Manager at STG Estelí. Vanegas passed away in 2020, but given this was the first time Puro Sabor has been held since then, he was honored on this evening at STG Estelí.

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop

 

Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the Quesada 1974 Toro.. This is a cigar blend previously assessed in September 2021 in the Robusto size.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Cameroon Seed
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: TABADEX (Quesada Cigars Factory)
Toro: 6 x 52

At the 2021 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, Quesada Cigars launched a 6 x 52 Toro line extension to its Quesada 1974 line. For Quesada, the year 1974 is significant because that was the year the Quesada family would open its first cigar factory. The Quesada 1974 originally was launched at ProCigar 2019 and released to Spain early that year. By the time the IPCPR Trade Show rolled around, it was made available to the U.S. market. The Toro size became the fifth size in the 1974 line.

The blend to the Quesada 1974 features a Cameroon seed wrapper grown in Ecuador. There are Dominican tobaccos on the binder and filler, along with some additional Nicaraguan tobacco used in the filler. The Dominican tobaccos were grown directly by the Quesada family. Production comes from TABADEX, the Quesada factory. The 6 x 52 Toro was presented in ten-count boxes.

The Quesada 1974 Toro opened up with notes of wood, orange rind, apricot, and bread. The apricot and bread notes moved to the forefront early on. There was some black pepper on the retro-hale. The second third saw the apricot notes remain in the forefront, but start to diminish past the midway point. There was also some baker’s spice that joined the wood and orange rind in the background. There was more smoothness on the retro-hale. By the last third, the bread notes had more of a grainy component to them and some pepper emerged on the tongue. There were notes of orange rind, wood, baker’s spice, and a slight amount of pepper present. The apricot sweetness had pretty much subsided.

The Quesada 1974 Toro delivered a profile of mild to medium strength and body for the first two-thirds. By the final third, both the strength and body progressed to medium in the final third. The burn performed excellently, requiring minimal touch-ups. As for the draw, it had a touch of resistance – which is a positive.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

I found the Quesada 1974 Toro to be the best vitola in the line to date. When comparing it to the Robusto, the Toro is more dialed back and the flavors are nuanced. This seemed to work extremely well for this flavor profile. In the end, while the Toro size might be for the contemporary smoker, I found this size to smoke more like a connoisseur size. This is a cigar I could easily recommend to any cigar enthusiast. It’s a cigar that I would buy and smoke again. Given a price point under $10.00, it makes this easily worth a box purchase. With a score of 92 points, this cigar easily exceeds the threshold for Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence.

Quesada Corner

Back in December 2021; Ben Lee and I featured this cigar on the Quesada Corner.

Note: Due to age restrictions, you may need to click Watch on YouTube below to view.

Summary

Key Flavors: Bread, Apricot, Orange Rind, Wood, Baker’s Spice, Black Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Excellent

Rating

Value: Box Purchase
Score: 92

References

Previous Review: Quesada 1974 Robusto
News: Quesada 1974 Toro Announced
Price: $9.25
Source: Quesada
Brand Reference: Quesada

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop

Originally posted on September 29, 2022 @ 4:17 pm

 

Celebrity-branded cigars are nothing new, but as 2022 opened up Espinosa Cigars would announce it was releasing a cigar done in conjunction with restauranteur, Guy Fieri. The announcement of Knuckle Sandwich would set off a lot of energy in the cigar business. While celebrities have branded cigars before, one can argue that Fieri has one of the biggest reaches of any celebrity to release a cigar to date. Over the years, company president Erik Espinosa had developed a friendship with Fieri, who is also a cigar enthusiast. When Fieri approached Espinosa about doing a cigar, Espinosa was initially hesitant but opted to do it with the understanding that Fieri himself would support the brand. For 18 months, Fieri worked with Espinosa and Hector Alfonso Sr. on sampling potential candidates for his cigar. In the end, the Knuckle Sandwich brand was born – and it would be launched in two blends – a Habano and a Maduro.  Today we take a closer look at the Habano blend in the Toro H size.

As mentioned Erik Espinosa had asked Fieri to get involved with supporting the brand once it was released. He was in attendance at the 2022 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, the Great Smoke 2022, La Zona Palooza 2022, and has visited many retail shops over the past few months. One could easily make the case that Fieri has provided some of the deepest celebrity support of any cigar brand. It seems to have paid off because there is momentum in the brand. This led to the addition of a limited edition offering under Knuckle Sandwich called Chef’s Special. There are also further plans to expand the brand.

The two blends of the Knuckle Sandwich bring together the best of two worlds from Espinosa Cigars. On one hand, the company is known for its use of Habano wrapper, so it’s no surprise that there is a Habano-wrapped Knuckle Sandwich. On the other hand, the Maduro uses a dark Sumatra wrapper, a wrapper that has seen more use out of Espinosa as of late.

For now, let’s turn our attention back to the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

In addition to a Habano wrapper from Ecuador, the Knuckle Sandwich Habano blend utilizes Nicaraguan tobaccos for the binder and filler. Production comes from AJ Fernandez’s San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua – a factory that Espinosa uses for some of its production.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: San Lotano

Vitolas Offered

The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano is offered in three sizes. Each is presented in 20-count boxes. It is worth noting the three sizes of the Habano blend are also in the Maduro blend. The initials used on each vitola name represent people in Fieri’s life.

Corona Gorda R: 5 5/8 x 46
Robusto J: 5 x 52
Toro H: 6 x 54

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper of the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H had medium brown color with a slight rosado tint. There was some oil on the surface of the wrapper. Upon closer examination, there was a slight amount of mottling on the wrapper. There were some veins and some visible wrapper seams.

The band of the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano had a black, red, gold, and white color scheme. On the center of the band is a gold-colored skull with a chef’s hat sitting on a black background with some gold adornments. Above the skull is the text “KNUCKLE SANDWICH” in white font arranged in a curved fashion. Below the skull is a red and white Espinosa insignia logo. To the left and right of the skull is the text “ESPINOSA” in white font sitting on a red background. The far right of the band has a larger red and white Espinosa insignia logo that acts as a band fastener. There are various red, black, and gold design elements. Finally, the upper and lower portions of the band have almost a gold-powder effect to them. The footer is finished with a black colored ribbon.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to remove the cap of the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H. Once the cap was removed it was on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered a mix of earth, wood, and natural tobacco. Overall this wasn’t the most exciting pre-light draw. Since the pre-light draw is not factored into the numerical score or value rating, there was no loss of points here. It was now time to remove the ribbon on the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H, light up the cigar, and see what the smoking experience would deliver.

Tasting Notes

The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H opened up with a wide variety of notes including earth, cedar, natural tobacco, herbs, citrus, and nut. As the cigar experience moved through the first third, the natural tobacco and herbal notes moved into the forefront. Meanwhile, the citrus, cedar, earth, and nut flavors settled in the background. There was an additional layer of red pepper on the retro-hale.

During the second third of the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H, some red pepper remained on the retro-hale but emerged on the tongue. The pepper joined the citrus, cedar, earth, and nut flavors. Meanwhile, the herbal and natural tobacco notes remained in the forefront. The later part of the second third saw the pepper and cedar increase in intensity.

The final third saw the natural tobacco and herbal notes remain primary. The cedar and pepper notes were both the most prominent secondary notes. There was some muddling of the flavors during this stage. In the more distant background were the citrus, earth, and nut flavors. This is the way the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H smoking experience closed. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

On each of the samples of the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H, the burn path and burn line started out straight. As the cigar moved into the second third, the burn required more in the way of touch-ups to maintain a straight path and line. While the touch-ups did the trick, there were more touch-ups needed than required. The resulting ash was mostly white with some dark streaks in it. This was an ash that was firm in composition. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels.

Draw

The draw to the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H had a touch of resistance to it – making it an ideal draw. At the same time, this cigar produced an ample amount of smoke. This surprised me as this wasn’t much of an open draw.

Strength and Body

The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H started out with medium strength and medium body. Both the strength and body increased throughout the first half. By the second half, the body progressed into medium to full territory while the strength remained medium. In terms of strength versus body, the body maintained a slight edge.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

If there is one thing I’ve been critical of with Espinosa Cigars, it has been the fact they have way too many Habano wrapper releases. At the same time, I do think Espinosa has done a good job at creating unique flavor profiles so these Habano releases don’t compete with each other. Perhaps the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Habano Toro H stands alone as the most unique of those flavor profiles. The problem is that I don’t think it is the best of those flavor profiles. Coming in at 88 points, it’s a good cigar but not on the level of some of the company’s other releases. Given the $13.50 price point, it’s one I would recommend trying a sample of first. At the same time, the blend is still intriguing enough for me to explore it with further aging and/or different sizes.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Herbal Notes, Citrus, Cedar, Earth, Nut, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full (1st Half), Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Try a Sample
Score: 88

References

News: More Details Surface on Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich
Price: $13.50
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Espinosa

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop

Originally posted on October 29, 2022 @ 5:18 pm