La Unica, Quorum and Brick House Cigars

I really would love to get down to Tampa in the near future to see what J.C. Newman is doing with the historic “El Reloj” factory there. They have been remodeling it in celebration of their 125th anniversary, and I imagine it’s going to be spectacular. I haven’t ever really been to Tampa, funny enough. It’s just such a weird time. Anyway, I smoked some of the more pedestrian of the J.C. Newman offerings lately, and I figured I’d discuss them here. Let’s start out with the Quorum. I’ve actually smoked a bunch of these maduro toros over the last few weeks and I have to be honest, they aren’t bad. They’ve all had pretty good construction and a nice mild to medium strength. These are made in J.C. Newman’s PENSA factory in Esteli, and run around $2.50 a cigar. I’ll be honest, I’ve avoided these for years figuring they were cheap and just not good, but I was wrong. They are inexpensive, but they are a tasty smoke. The Maduro has a Sumatra wrapper, Broadleaf binder and Nicaraguan fillers, and has a bit of a meaty flavor, with a hint of sweetness. For what it is, it’s not a bad cigar at all. If I’m sitting down to relax with a cigar and I’m worried about the price, I’m probably spending a few dollars more for something else, but If I want a decent cigar to smoke while I’m doing something else, this isn’t a bad way to go. I really need to work on being less of a cigar snob.

La Unica is a brand that takes me back. This was probably the first premium cigar that was sold in a bundle. Of course, now it’s a boxed brand, but in the 80s and 90s it was in a bundle, and it wasn’t a particularly cheap bundle, but cheaper than box brands at the time. It was made by the Fuentes, and came/comes in Connecticut shade and Connecticut Broadleaf. Of course, 25 years ago when I smoked these, I preferred the maduro, and I probably still would, but I smoked the Connecticut Shade No. 400, the 4½” x 50 Rothschild this week, and I’ll be darned if it didn’t taste exactly like I remember them tasting 20+ years ago. I thought it was a very good tasting shade cigar, and shade cigars are usually my last choice. I recently listened to a certain podcast where the tasting panel didn’t particularly care for it, and I can’t agree with their assessment. I felt like it was a perfectly tasty cigar, and would and will smoke it again. Of course, I want to smoke the Maduro version now! Smoking the La Unica was a bit of a sentimental journey for me, it made me want to line up an Excalibur, a Don Carlos Robusto and maybe find a Canaria de Oro Rothschild.

Last night I felt like continuing with the J.C. Newman theme, and I really wanted to smoke a Diamond Crown, but I didn’t really feel like there was anything happening that was worth celebrating with a cigar like that. I know I’ve been smoking some great cigars here and there lately, but I still feel like I need something to go right in my world before I feel like I deserve to smoke a Diamond Crown. It’s a weird way to think. I might have to just grab one and take a walk today and get over it. Heck, there are other more expensive cigars I’ve smoked over the last several months that I didn’t “deserve”. Whatever. I did feel like I deserved a Brick House yesterday, and I found a Corona Larga. Brick House is one of the few brands where I’m not picky when it comes to wrapper, I enjoy all three equally. This one had the Ecuador Havana Seed wrapper, and is 6¼” x 46 with Nicaraguan binder and filler made in the same factory as the Quorum. The burn and draw on this cigar was perfect, as good I could expect from any Diamond Crown. Flat ember with all components burning at exactly the same rate, a miracle. The flavor is sweet and earthy tobacco, and it’s good. It’s a small ring gauge, so it requires a slow draw. The 60 ring Mighty Mighty is good too, and you can afford to puff on that a bit more aggressively, but this one requires some more finesse and patience when smoking. It still falls into the budget range, and is worth every penny. Good stuff.

Well, that’s about it for today, it looks like it’ll be a beautiful day. Whether you’re relaxing, getting some yard/house work done, or attending a local peaceful protest while observing the appropriate social distancing, I hope you enjoy a great cigar along the way! Until the next time, 

CigarCraig