Back in August, you may recall, my family took a trip to New Orleans and one of the souvenirs I picked up was a three cigar sampler from Cigar Factory New Orleans. Actually, my son and I both picked up the sampler, and smoked them together. I’ll include my interpretation of his impressions along with my own. The sampler was packaged in a very nice slide top box, containing a box of matches and a brochure with information about the blends. We visited both locations while we were there and were impressed with the talent of the rollers as well as the knowledge of the folks working there. Over the course of the last week my son and I smoked the 3 coronas that were contained in the sampler box. I selected the order starting with what I judged the mildest an moving up to what I figured would be the strongest.
The first cigar was the 5 ¼” x 44 Plantation Reserve corona. This cigar had a Connecticut shade wrapper, which led me to expect a mild cigar. While certainly not a strong cigar, I wouldn’t characterize it as mild. Corey enjoyed this one more than I did. I found it to have a bitterness that was off-putting. It burned and drew perfectly and was a very nice looking cigar.
The second cigar was the Vieux Carre Cafe, which at 6″ x 46 is less of a corona than a lonsdale, but still a very nice size. This one sports an African Cameroon wrapper, however, I didn’t get that usual Camerooniness that I associate with that wrapper. Maybe I just got another dud, because I thought this cigar lacked any real character, there were even some just plain bad flavors every now and then. Again, Corey enjoyed his example, despite a small wrapper split at the head. Again, the burn and draw were spot on.
The third cigar in the box was the Tres Hermanos Numero Tres, a 5¼” x 46 corona gorda. This is just about my favorite size wrapped with a Broad-leaf Maduro wrapper. As a broad-leaf fan from way back, my expectations were again high. This time I wasn’t disappointed. It started out very aggressively, with a big spicy blast of flavor. It settled down pretty quickly to a fairly full bodied and full flavored hour or so of cigar goodness. Clearly my favorite of the trio. These folks do know how to construct a cigar, because the burn was razor straight and the draw was perfect. Corey concurred and even commented that he would consider purchasing this cigar again. I have read reviews of cigars that mentioned dried dark fruit and, until now, I never thought I’d taste such a thing in a cigar. I think I actually did taste something akin to dried plums or something similar. I say this risking ridicule as I really don’t consider myself much of a cigar reviewer. This is a cigar both my son and I smoked to a finger burning nub.
In summary, Corey enjoyed all of the cigars in this sampler, while I only really enjoyed the Tres Hermanos. This sampler was around $22, which I thought was expensive, but I accepted it as being in a tourist area and figured it was a souvenir. They sell these in boxes of 10 and 25, and are not really too unreasonably priced in those quantities. I would actually consider buying the Tres Hermanos again. My one criticism is that their website gives only very vague information about the blends. I would like to know if the Tres Hermanos is wrapped in a Connecticut Broad-leaf or some other kind of broad-leaf, or if there is any local tobacco in the blend. The best part of the whole experience was having been in the storefront factory and watching them roll cigars, as well has sharing the experience with my 21 year old son. If you ever find yourself in the Crescent City, stop in and try some of their cigars!
That’s it for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
