Half Ashed 175: Unbanded 033

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Unbanded 033 from DC

Sent in by DC all the way back in 12/2016, tonight’s featured cigar, Unbanded 033, is draped in a dark”ish” wrapper (mid-tone brown with some much darker mottling) and a sweet but cedary aroma from the foot.  It is 5” x 50 by my measure, with moderate veining and a wrapper that looks dry but *feels* oily and supple.  Let’s see how badly we can be fooled, shall we?

Cigar News

• • Habanos Festival
  • PROCigar Festival
  • CLE sent out an email a couple weeks ago, detailing the fact that they are making a concerted effort to fill backorders on many of their cigars…and that effective this week they will no longer be opening any new accounts until they’re caught up.  The backorder situation must be sizable, as they mentioned they hope to be caught up by 3rd quarter 2018.
  • Erik Espinosa is once again releasing the Wasabi.  It was originally released a couple years ago as a lounge exclusive, although it’s more widely available this time around.  There are only 5,000 cigars in this production run and they’ll retail around $8. There aren’t any specifics to be found about the blend, although it’s described as a “spicy candela.”  This intrigues me. I’m not at all a fan of candela wrapper in general because it often comes across as “papery” or vegetal in flavor to me. For some reason, though, I’m fascinated by the idea of a spicy version….and exactly what that might mean.
  • Fresh on the heels of the sale of my once-beloved Tampa Humidor, Casa de Montecristo continues their very aggressive strategy of acquiring/partnering with retail operations, this time in South Florida.  The Mancave, a south FL retailer, will be opening a CdM franchise next month. The new location will be over 2k square feet, and will feature a bar in addition to the cigar lounge. This brings the CdM number of facilities up to nearly 30, with a majority owned by Imperial.
  • Lots of news coming out of Tatuaje/L’Atelier.  Co-founder Casper Johnson has announced his departure from L’Atelier to take a job in the music industry.  Trailing this news was the announcement that L’Atelier will merge with Tatuaje by the end of this month. I’m not especially clear what this may mean to those of us who just enjoy the product.  The cigars from both companies, to my knowledge, will continue to be produced by My Father and be distributed much the same.

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

• Craig –
  • Unbanded DC#2 – Addition by subtraction: not spicy, not overly bold or full = Old school dominican soul?
  • AVO Synchro – I’m left wanting. I enjoyed this cigar for its individuality back upon release. I did not enjoy this cigar because of its monotony at this time. It’s a shame. I wanted this line to consistantly remind me of the LE releases of the 2000s that really shined well on the legacy of AVO cigars.
  • Headley Grange Drumstick – An interesting cigar. It smoked bigger than it was. This cigar is an almost 8” long lancery that took abuse, smoked quickly and NEVER harshly. Enjoyably sweet and homey. If this cigar was 5” long I’d be a regular buyer.

 

• Kip
  • Mike brought be down some RoMaCraft Aquitaine back in January.  I’ve been hitting those pretty hard the past couple weeks. Too hard, based upon how quickly my stash has dwindled.  I just simply can’t seem to keep my hands off them. This line may very well be my favorite Nicaraguan cigar in the marketplace today (Ecuadoran wrapper and Cameroon binder notwithstanding).
  • I’m still pawing at my pipes as well.  Lately, I’ve been smoking through a tin of GL Pease Sextant.  I think I may have mentioned this blend last episode. KY/Latakia/Turkish/VA, with a very slight spritz of rum.  The rum is applied sparingly, which leaves it plenty dry to burn well but imparts a nice, caramel note across the otherwise traditional English campfire flavor.  I’m not sure I’d smoked this before popping this tin; I wish I had…I’d have bought a bunch of it back in the day to set aside. I enjoy the fact that the latakia is front-loaded.  What i mean by this is that it is dominant early on, but subsides by mid-bowl and lets the Virginias bring their sweetness into the foreground. Whether by design or simple palate calibration on my part, the effect is spectacular.  I love it.