The Edit

Tasted by Eann – Tuesday 4th August

A few weeks ago we held our big Summer Cigar Festival at the Trent Navigation in Westbridgford. One the cigars on that night was the My Father Opulencia Robusto which was presented by Helen from TOR Imports.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to sample the cigar on the night, however, on a recent  evening out with one my friends I finally got round to trying it – and I was not disappointed. The cigar is a Grand Robusto measuring 5 1/2 x 52 and has a generous 50 minute smoke time. Appearance wise it is relatively dark in colour with an almost ‘dusty’ appearance.

The palate is amazing – starting off almost nutty with a gentle sweet edge to it, however it develops amazingly the more you get into it. It starts getting a bit more earthy by the middle point of the smoke by which point the sweetness has died away. There is a touch of leather and coffee in there but I got an almost blue cheesy character – not unpleasant in any way, but adding a slightly briny, unusual finish.

This ranks in my top ten for the year so far – don’t be put off by the cheese….

Over the last few months we have listed a whole raft of new pipe tobaccos, from such illustrious names as Cornell & Deihl, Wilson’s Of Sharrow Mills and one of the most warmly received, Fribourg & Treyer.

Two star performers within the F&T range have been Flake Tobaccos, the old, traditional style of tobaccos used by sailors and seafaring folk alike. Because of the way they are made and the fact that they are compacted means that they won’t blow away when trying to pack the pipe, so that no matter how bad the conditions are, you can still enjoy a smoke!

Fribourg & Treyer Vintage Flake
Using a stunning combination of specially selected Virginia tobaccos and expertly blended together, the Vintage Flake is then aged under pressure to produce an extraordinarily mellow flake tobacco. The Virginias exude a rich, nuttiness with soft hints of straw. The palate is medium-bodied and quite silky – there is quite a bit of sweetness, but it is tempered by a gentle streak of minerality which keeps it all nicely balanced.

Fribourg & Treyer Special Brown Flake
We are back to the maritime theme for this, the Special Brown Flake, which is a rather delightful Navy flake. A mixture of Red, Mottled Virginia’s and Golden Carolina Flue cured Leaf, blended with small quantities of Turkish Havana and medium strength, Dark Fired Kentucky.

The finished leaf composition is then allowed to infuse together for several days after which it is divided into cakes of 10 pounds. Rum is then added, then it is cold pressed for several weeks during which the harmonising of flavours takes place, resulting in a very slow burning, perfect Navy flake tobacco.

Discover something new – it’s not all fake news!

The Vegueros Centrofino, although not a well-known brand from Cuba, in my humble opinion it is one of the best.

Centro Fino is a classification for the leaves of the sun-grown tobacco plant taken around mid-way up the plant. These generally constitute Seco leaves in the blend of a Havana cigar and are valued for their satisfying taste and aromas.

These stunning cigars have performed really well in the cigar press recently scoring a lofty 92 points in Cigar Aficionado and added to that, they always perform exceptionally well when we put them on at our cigar events.