News: Casa 1910 Revolutionary Edition Cuchillo Parado

So often as cigar smokers we imagine cigars being made in only a few small regions. What we may not realize is that cigars are being crafted in many places on earth. One such origin that gets overlooked is Mexico. We all may be well aware of Mexican San Andrés tobacco, but would be mistaken to assume that is all that Mexico contributes to the industry. While cigars have long been rolled out of Mexico (the Turrent family being most known), a new company began touting Mexican craftsmanship in 2021, seeking to bring a modern outlook to Mexican cigars for the craft market: Casa 1910.

The company’s name originates from the Mexican Revolution that started on November 20, 1910—the set date of the revolution. However, six days prior to that date, in a city called Cuchillo Parado, an armed uprising started against the government. These two parts of Mexican history—the year and the city—became the company’s name and first cigar.

Casa 1910 Revolutionary Edition Cuchillo Parado Breakdown

Cuchillo Parado is part of the company’s Revolutionary Edition series (noted by the orange sub-band), being a Mexican puro rolled in Mexico and created by Casa 1910 blender Juan Manuel Santiago Casillas. They are made in an undisclosed factory located in the San Andrés Tuxtla region. The wrapper is Mexican Sumatra aged for three years; this ingredient surrounds a Mexican San Andrés binder (aged for five years) and San Andrés filler. Once rolled, the cigars are aged for another six to eight months. The tobacco comes from the Veracruz area of Mexico, which has optimal sunlight, humidity, and volcanic soil, providing ideal conditions for growing. Cuchillo Parado comes in only one size—a robusto—and arrives in 10 and 20-count boxes.

Appearance

Cuchillo Parado comes in a wooden box, bright orange in color, reminding me of the colors for Syracuse University. It’s a solid orange box with an oval crest displaying “Casa 1910” with the name of the company in Spanish, as well as “Veracruz” and the place of origin of the tobacco around the perimeter. In the center of the crest is a snake wrapped around an eagle claw—all set in gold. The label of the cigar contains two bands—the main band is orange and gold with the brand’s crest, and the second band is solid orange with gold writing of the cigar’s name, “Cuchillo Parado.”

The wrapper of Cuchillo Parado is a creamy coffee color. There is a rough feel to the cigar/leaf, almost like medium-grit sandpaper. There are some prominent veins noted as well. The color of the orange contrasts the hue of the cigar, and they complement each other and make for a lighter-looking cigar.

Smoking Experience

A V-cut was used on the Cuchillo Parado, and there were no issues with the cap of the cigar. The cold draw came with strong hay and musty pool water flavors. Lighting the cigar, it took to flame very easily with no issues. At the start there were strong hay flavors with some salted pork notes. There was also some spicy pepper that hit the tongue. The odd component of musty pool water from the pre-light (or perhaps stale tea) then came into play in the smoking experience. The retrohale gave a harsh red pepper or habanero flavor that did burn the nose slightly.

The hay flavor continued but did ease up a bit, not hitting as hard on the palate. The middle part brought some cinnamon and coffee notes, with hints of black tea. There were still some odd stale flavors that came and went, but improved as the smoke went on. The retrohale calmed down, being more along the lines of enjoyable red pepper with touches of black pepper spice. Finally, going into the last part of the cigar, it carried hay and some sharp spice that stung the tongue some. A new odd flavor of vegetable or green leaf came into play, which did not enhance nor take away from the smoking experience.

Cuchillo Parado being a Mexican puro brings a very interesting smoking experience—one that I, and likely many other cigar smokers, have not experienced. The smoke output is surprisingly mild, differing form the punchy characteristics usually found with Mexican wrappers over the more common binder/fillers of Nicaragua. The ash was a very light gray and flaky. The draw was on the firm side; this might explain some of the odd flavors and notes throughout the smoking experience. The burn was very wavy and did require touch-ups—more than I would normally like.

Would I Smoke This Cigar Again?

Casa 1910 as a company has a good mission statement, and their goal of adding to the premium cigar lifestyle of Mexican cigars should be applauded. I believe this should be encouraged as well. However, this cigar needed something more to contrast its subdued core flavors (or possibly something altered to remove some of the odd flavors encountered throughout). Perhaps some Nicaraguan tobacco as a filler could have helped bring a more balanced smoking experience. I think for the cigar nerds this is an experience that should be tried, but I don’t see myself revisiting this cigar anytime soon. With that said, I will keep Casa 1910 on the radar and try other cigars that they release.

The post Casa 1910 Revolutionary Edition Cuchillo Parado appeared first on Cigar Dojo.

Originally posted on February 7, 2023 @ 6:22 am