Eiroa First 20 Years

Posted by magiccityburn

Holy Smokes! Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Christian Eiroa?


In 1995, Christian entered the cigar business working for his father, Julio, at Caribe. Later that year, the family purchased Camacho cigars where Christian was able to make a name for himself in the premium cigar world. Business was good enough that, in 2008, Davidoff acquired Camacho. And in 2012, Christian started CLE Cigars, his current venture where his lines include Eiroa, Asylum and Edgar Hoill OSOK. In November last year, Eiroa started shipping a new premium cigar called First 20 Years to commemorate his first twenty years in the cigar industry. One of CLE’s reps is a friend of the show and we joke that he might as well be a co-host. Jason said early on as this cigar was just shipping that this was going to be a tremendous cigar and that he’d personally purchased a box and intended to purchase another one. I’m unaware that he’s given out any free samples of this cigar to anyone, meaning I’ve also personally paid for every one I’ve smoked.

I think I grabbed one from the first box to pass through Cigars and More 280 before they’d even been put into inventory and I’ve had a couple more since. What a stick! Anyone who has listened to the show knows that I’m a big fan of the Nat Sherman Timless Nicaraguan and the Liga Privada T52 by Drew Estate. Those two cigars and an occasional Padron 1926 are the mainstays of my “I’m going to the beach for the weekend” cigar lineup.

So this past weekend, Mrs MagicCity Burn and I headed down to the beach. I shook things up and didn’t take a Timeless or a T52 with me. I smoked four cigars while I was there, including the 2015 Cigar of the Year, My Father Le Bijou boxpressed, and the unquestionable star of the show was this Eiroa First 20 Years. It’s a full bodied masterpiece. The exact blend hasn’t really been discussed or released, but we’ve been told it’s a boxpressed Honduran puro and that’s good enough for me. It has a deep, rich Maduro wrapper and its construction and burn have been flawless every time. The flavor profile sits well with my Nicaraguan leanings lately. It’s heavy on cocoa and espresso, with just a hint of cinnamon. And this stick has a really pleasant aroma from start to finish. It’s on another level from most other handmade premium cigars.

It absolutely holds its own with an Opus X or a Padron 50th at a fraction of the price. From a budget perspective, I want to say these run about $13 locally, plus sales tax, as opposed to $20 or more for an Opus and $17 to $100 depending on exactly which Padron you’re lighting up.

Perdomo Champagne Noir – Cigar review

Posted by magiccityburn

Picked up a Perdomo Champagne Noir Robusto to smoke while I waited on the Boston Butt I smoked for the Alabama v. Arkansas game that we watched at home. Excellent stick. Picked it up at a local shop for $6.

This is my first cigar review, period. I’ve read plenty of them, so maybe I’ll work out a framework that works for me.

The Champagne Noir falls into the medium to full bodied spectrum of handmade cigars. It also falls into the lowest price point where I typically smoke. I tend to be able to find cigars I like at about $5, about $10 and special treats at $15 or more. I’ve smoked $40 cigars too. They were good, but I’m not sure that there’s enough of a difference between the $15-20 range and $40 for me to justify them on any more than an occasional basis. This isn’t my first Champagne Noir. It won’t be my last.

This was a Robusto cigar at a 5″ x 54 ring gauge. The cigar is made entirely from Nicaraguan tobacco. The wrapper is a Habano Maduro. The binder and filler are also from Nicaragua. The cigar was wrapped in cellophane. After removing the cigar from the cellophane, I immediately noticed the construction was very good. The cigar was tightly wrapped and consistently firm to the touch. The wrapper was veiny but not oily.

Prior to lighting the cigar, I noted smells of cocoa and some floral notes. I used my Xikar VX cutter to clip the cap. The pre light draw was smooth. And after toasting the foot of the cigar with my torch lighter, I was greeted with a slightly sweet first draw. Definitely heavy notes of cocoa on this cigar. This is one of those cigars that my wife is OK with me smoking around her. A couple weeks ago at the beach, she even decided she would taste it (and noted it tasted better than those nasty cigarettes I used to smoke several years ago).

The burn was also very even. If you look at the slideshow below, I did get one good ash column out of it before it broke off. The cigar didn’t burn unnecessarily hot, nor did it require maintenance re-lights. Start to finish the cigar took me just shy of an hour and a half watching the early SEC game.

Bottom line is that Perdomo has a great budget stick on their hands. This smokes better than a $6 cigar. I’ll keep smoking these. And I might even continue to let the wife take a draw from time to time. I tend to like cigars that are more full bodied than this. But this is just right for someone who likes light to medium bodied cigars looking to get into something with a little more oomph.

[slideshow]