Cigar Review: Garcia & Garcia, My Father

No. 2 Belicoso, 5.5" x 54 ring gauge, approx. $11
Since I last reviewed a My Father cigar, the company making them has changed names from Garcia & Garcia to "My Father Cigars," a result of a lawsuit from Altadis, but their website still is a mass of "Coming Soon" notifications. These regular My Father cigars are, like the Cedros Deluxe variety, composed of Nicaraguan filler and binder and a rare, sungrown Ecuadorian Habano-Rosado Hybrid. As stated in my previous review of the Cedros, I wanted to find out how the lack of cedar wrap affects the flavor, which was heavier on woody flavor than I prefer.

The wrapper was slightly bumpy and a little oily. There were no flaws, tears, cracks or discoloration. The aroma from the body is cocoa and a little barnyard; from the foot there was a strong chocolate aroma. I still think the My Father band is one of the nicest around--very well-designed and attractive. The color of the wrapper is a nice medium-brown, like a light milk chocolate. The prelight draw was very easy and the flavors were great: chocolate, coffee, and a spicy tingle on the lips.

After lighting, there was an initial burst of cedar and black pepper. There was a lot of cedar in the retrohale, too. So far, even without the cedar wrap, there was a lot of cedar flavor in this stick--at least so far. One of my first observations was that there was a lot of smoke and that is was thick and creamy. The pepper spice builds quickly from next to nothing to a fairly high level, although not painful. Through the first third, there was a lot of cedar, but not as much as with the Cedros Deluxe. There was also some roasted nut flavor and at this point it was a very nice medium-to-full bodied smoke.

The second third saw the introduction of black coffee and leather notes, while there was still some cedar and quite a bit of pepper. The smoke continued to be oily and mouth-coating, resulting in a very long finish. The construction was superb: a straight burn despite the breeze and a very good draw (which is not always a given in a torpedo-shaped stick).

The last third saw a steady buildup of pepper again, along with coffee notes and touches of chocolatey sweetness. Overall, an excellent cigar with only one real flaw: price. At $11 or more per stick, it is just hard to justify buying the My Father cigar very often. I did enjoy this one a lot more than the Cedros Deluxe version, though, so I now understand what all the hype has been about.

Body: 8/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 9/10

AFP Scale:
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 9.5/10