L'ATELIER

I’m in the infant stages of smoking all my 1-off cigars in the Ark.  I have so many random single sticks right now that I need to try and rate…it’s fucking ridiculous.  So I’m on a mission to run through about 10 or so smokes and get a feel for them and see if I’d buy anymore.

 

One of said cigars is the “52” by L’Atelier.  This cigar brand happened to be rated something like a 92 or 91 in an issue of Cigar Aficionado.  I was at Binny’s a few months ago and picked one of these bad boys up to try. 

Country: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Ecuadorian

Price: $8.00

Strength: Medium to full

Length: 4.75

Ring Gauge: 52

L’Atelier is a newer brand of cigars within the Tatuaje profile, blended and rolled by the My Father Cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.  L’Atelier pays homage to the Cuban Cohiba Behike.  Offered in a 52, 54, and 56 ring gauge and all having a pigtail cap, L’Atelier is a medium-full bodied cigar using all Nicaraguan filler and binder tobaccos with an Ecuadorian wrapper!

Maybe it’s me, but Nicaraguan cigars are steadily becoming my least favorite cigars.  Not sure what it is about tobacco from that region, but it always seems to start off bitter and harsh and rarely gains any complexity!  Maybe I’m an idiot and don’t know what I’m talking about but the last three cigars I’ve had from Nicaragua were less than pleasant to smoke.  Maybe I just haven’t let them sit in the Ark long enough?  The 52 was really no different.  I wasn’t that impressed with it in the end.  The Cigar was well constructed.  It had an average draw.  Upon lighting that bitter harsh taste filled my taste bids up!  It took a few draws before that went away.  The cigar really never changed much over the course of the smoke.  I did notice some slight pepper notes and leather to earthiness but it was faint at best.  It wasn’t a smooth cigar.  Midway through I was ready to toss it.  But I finished it up.  Towards the end it got extra harsh and extra hot.  The only thing about this cigar I remotely got was the strength.  It was closer to the strong side.  I was a little buzzed when I finished.  I would like to buy another L’Atelier and leave it in the Ark for a few years and see if it mellows.  Another Nicaraguan blend the Quorum is similar.  Those were harsh and fuck but after about 3 years they’ve mellowed and are enjoyable.  Maybe the same can be said for the L’Atelier 52?

Cheers!

GREAT DIVIDE FRESH HOP @greatdividebrew

Last summer on one of my hundred trips to Colorado Steveo and I made a pilgrimage to Great Divide Brewery in Denver!  While there we sampled several beers including their famous variations on their Yeti Stout!  I grew pretty smitten with Great Divide’s beers!  The brewery and taproom is very cool too!  If you’re ever out there and don’t have some nagging bitch with you I would suggest stopping by their brewery and getting a flight of something you love!  You won’t regret it! 

So I was on twitter (Captain Fantastic@jsherer74) a few months back and noticed Great Divide had released their Fresh Hop Ale!  That same day I happened to be on a comic run in TH and stopped at Friday’s for a brew and sure as shit they had Great Divide Fresh Hop on tap so I saddled up to the bar and had one of their cute bar-maids pull me a pint of it!  It was tasty!  But the awesome didn’t end there…I stopped by Baesler’s and they had bombers (20 oz) bottles of Fresh Hop!  So here we are!  The picture you see is of that same bottle I bought that day! 

I took said bottle to the Ginger Ninja’s mansion for this week’s installment of Cigars N Brew!  I should mention the Ginger Ninja’s house is huge and he has a sweet outdoor patio/deck!  He made some of the best burgers I’ve had outside of a trendy restaurant and they provided the perfect foundation for a pint of Fresh Hop!

ABV: 6.10%

Style: American Pale Ale

IBU:  55

Brewery: Great Divide – Colorado

Beer Advocate: 92 Exceptional

Seems like fresh hop ales are in style right now.  I’ve had a few from Sierra Nevada which were fucking amazing beers IMO!  Fresh Hop by Great Divide is no exception.  One thing about these fresh hop beers are that the hop aroma is evident right off the bat when you pop the top!  It doesn’t take long for that smell to hit your nose.  These beers are meant to be enjoyed in a set period of time while the hoppiness is at its peak!  He hop profile was not overwhelming.  55 IBUs is a pretty fair bitterness and is enjoyable without destroying your taste buds.  The color is a nice golden with a hint of amber.  The head is thick and frothy like an IPA.  Fresh Hop had a refreshing taste with floral notes followed by had slight bitter malt finish!  I would say it’s like a toned down version of Great Divide’s Titan IPA!  I recommend this beer if you can get your hands on it!  You won’t be disappointed, especially with a good meal or after a shitty day at work!

Cheers!

DIAMOND CROWN ROBUSTO #4

Of all the cigars I’ve tried over the last few years there have been a few that I can honestly say were awesome and worth the money I’ve spent on them!  The Diamond Crown Robusto #4 is definitely one of those!  I first tried this cigar around 2.5 years ago on Thanksgiving Eve at Fridays.  I was by myself and I can’t tell you what I drank or ate but I can tell you the cigar I had was an amazingly tasty smoke…the Diamond Crown Robusto # 4.  I bought my first one at Smoker’s Choice in Bloomington, IL.  At around $11 a stick it was a tad on the pricey side especially for a cigar I hadn’t tried.  I bought it and it and after that pre Thanksgiving smoke it earned a place in my top 5 favorite cigars to smoke!

Country: Dominican Republic

Wrapper: Natural

Strength: Medium

Length: 5 ½

Ring Gauge: 54

Packaged in elegantly-appointed boxes of 15, these aromatic cigars are expertly handcrafted by tabacalera A Fuente and the Newman families using only the finest tobaccos and aged Connecticut shade grown wrappers.  Several styles are available all boasting a 54 ring gauge.  The cigars are equally matched by Diamond Crown’s elegant line of Humidors, made exclusively by Reed & Barton.

I smoked this particular Robusto #4 the other night.  The cut was nice and clean.  Thewrapper has a smooth taste with a hint of sweetness.  The draw was amazing.  In fact it may have been too good because it didn’t take long for this cigar to get going and burn fast.  Like the billing above mentions this was a very aromatic cigar with hints of spice and cedar in the smoke.  The taste is equally impressive.  The strength says medium but I feel this cigar was more to the milder side.  The taste was smooth and creamy with nutty notes as well as sweet cream with hints of nutmeg.  The burn was true and the ash stayed on for a considerable amount of time. 

If I had to compare the Diamond Crown Robusto #4 to another cigar I would use the Davidoff

Special Series line of cigars in which the Short Perfecto is one of my all time favorites even more so than offerings from Opus X.  The Diamond Crown Robusto #4 may not have the balls  of the two aforementioned smokes but it’s my opinion this particular cigar can hold its own with any cigar in or above its price point and strength including some Cuban offerings.  I bought this particular cigar at Binny’s. 

Cheers!

FONSECA COSACO

If I keep trying Cuban cigars I’m pretty much going to hate everything else I have in the Ark…that being said the other day I decided to try another Cuban cigar; Fonseca Cosaco! 

Country: Cuba

Wrapper: Cuba

Strength: Light-Medium

Length: 4.8

Ring Gauge: 40

Here is another unusual format, this time from Fonseca.  A little shorter than the Mareva and the Londres and with the same guage as the latter.  Very affordable and ideal for beginners in the world of Cuban cigars!

This is another free Cuban I received from Bell Hop.  What I find interesting about the Fonseca brand is most of their cigars come wrapped in tissue paper and it is a pain in the dick to get off!  That being said this was yet another amazingly smooth and tasty smoke from that country who had the balls to place Nukes 100 miles from the continental United States thus dooming its existence to a never ending embargo from said U.S.A. who’s still super butt-hurt over the whole Cuban Missile Crisis!  I’m gonna go off on a tangent here for a second…it’s pretty ridiculous that we can’t bury the hatchet with Cuba!  Last summer the United States and the People’s Republic of Vietnam conducted Joint military maneuvers in the South China Sea!  Let’s see here the United States lost around 58,000 soldiers and the Vietnamese lost an estimated 800,000 civilians and soldiers as a result of that conflict and we’re doing joint military exercises together.  In comparison the Bay of Pigs invasion netted around les s than 10 dead Americans and around 114 dead Cuban exiles!  Really?  We can bury the hatchet with Vietnam and not Cuba!  Talk about a grudge!  Retarded!  Bad form on both parties! 

Anyway the Fonseca like the Ramon Allones was more of a Corona size cigar and although not as flavorful as the Allones Cuban Corona just as smooth and tasty!  The cut was true.  The cigar was well made which is no surprise for recent Cuban offerings.  The draw was a tad on the tight side but I had no problems with it after lighting.  The cigar burn true and had a nice ash.  The cigar was extremely mild yet tasty.  I noticed earthy hints along with a slight nutty flavor.  The smoke was very aromatic and pleasant!  This cigar is what it is, just a mild Cuban cigar with a good character and flavor.  I’d recommend the Cosaco to anyone trying a Cuban cigar for the first time.  I’m not sure you want to hit the ballsy ones right off the bat like I did (Partagas Serie D No. 4). 

Cheers!

QUESADA JALAPA @quesadacigars

I broke this tasty little treat out for last week’s NLF Draft at McHooligan’s.  I originally purchased this stick at Binny’s Beverage Depot.  It’s been in the Ark for about 6-7 months now.  I waffled for a few days in advance of the draft trying to decide what stick I wanted to smoke in anticapation of the Steelers shitty draft picks!  Turns out the Steelers indeed drafted pretty shitty, but the Quesada Jalapa was a great smoke!

Country: Dominican Republic

Wrapper: Claro

Strength: Medium

Length: 4 7/8

Ring Gauge: 50

The Quesada Jalapa features the same binder/ filler blend as the Quesada Espana, but the difference is in the wrapper.  The Jalapa utilizes a silky-smooth Nicaraguan grown Jalapo Claro wrapper that gives these cigars their distinct flavor profile.  You’ll get sweet notes of butter, cream, nuts, cedar, and a slight hint of spice in this smooth, medium bodied smoke.

The cigar cut nice an easy.  The draw was a little bit tough.  It didn’t take a lot of effort to light this stick up and even though the draw was a bit tight it gave way to a smooth smoke right off the bat.  Some Nicaraguan cigars I’ve had start off harsh then give way to their respective flavor profile, but the Jalapa was smooth right from the get go, a testament to its quality.  As mentioned above in the general description the Jalap was silky smooth.  I got notes of butter and nut with slight hints of earthy flavor.  The burn was even and true.  It went out once on me but I think that was due more to weather than the cigar itself.  Midway through I may have noticed a slight hint of spice, but the cedar notes were definitely there.  The ash was solid and I nearly smoked it down to the label before the ash fell off. 

This is the second offering from Quesada I’ve tried.  I was pleasantly surprised with this smoke.  The description ways medium strength, but I feel this was more mild than medium.  Either way I think I would buy another Jalap and age for awhile in the Ark! 

Cheers!