5.5" x 46 ring gauge / Price TBAEarly this year, word emerged of a new cigar in the works from the minds of Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega...otherwise known as EO Cigars. This cigar would be a powerful bomb of a smoke and would carry the moniker "La Bomba." Really? With the way most of us gringos pronounce that, people will expect it to be accompanied by a Ritchie Valens song. The addition of the extra-long pigtail fuse isn't helping matters...funny, yes...but it struck me as a little gimmicky, too. The cigar was originally supposed to drop around the beginning of May, but were apparently delayed. That was about the time I received this pre-release sample in the mail, though (along with just about everyone else on Twitter, I imagine). Currently I'm hearing late June release, which will put this review at just the right time. What else can I tell you? Nothing really...exact blend has not been revealed and neither has pricing, but if these are any thing like other 601 cigars, they will be made by My Father Cigars and be reasonably priced. I have mixed feelings about yet another "powerhouse" cigar hitting the market. On the one hand, don't we have enough cigars that sacrifice flavor for strength and some pseudo-manly challenge: "Are you man enough to smoke this?" On the other hand, I have a hard time believing that My Father Cigars would produce a stick that truly leaves flavor by the wayside to accomplish some ultra-strong, potentially vomit-inducing cigar. All the preceding is really just my own rambling editorial commentary...and I tried to put all these preconceived notions aside to give this stogie a fair chance.
I have to say this cigar looks superb...perfect roll, perfect triple cap, even the fuse that I made fun of is well-attached. The wrapper is oily with mostly small veins and just a little bit of tooth. I'm going to guess Ecuadorian Habano just from the looks of this, but I could be wrong. I got a whiff of leather as well as earth and hay on the wrapper...a more pungent earthiness along with chocolate on the foot. If I had to guess the filler based on general aroma (this is not a good practice) and history of the makers, I'd say probably Nicaraguan. I used my Xikar MTX to remove the tail and a small section of cap, leaving a very good draw. I noted flavors of earth and leather, mostly, on the cold draw, although there was a bit of sweetness and some hay as well.
The cigar lit well and evenly, giving immediate leather and cedar notes, along with a strongly peppery retrohale. So far nothing I have experienced has done anything to dissuade me from believing this is a product of My Father. The body was quite full right from the beginning, although there did seem to be a good amount of flavor as well. La Bomba got somewhat harsh in the middle of the first third, which didn't surprise me much as the cigar is billed as full-force, but it mellowed a bit after I slowed down my smoking pace. I noticed that the body seemed to mellow a bit too, down to the bottom of the full range. I continued to get lots of cedar flavor along with an earthy base and a sweet chocolatey finish. The retrohale was still spicy by the time the first third was done, but not painfully so.
During the second third, La Bomba got a bit smoother still, almost taking on a creamy texture, although the body and strength of the cigar was always in full evidence as well. I got more earth and chocolate on the palate as the cedar faded into practically nothingness. On the retrohale, I got a sweet roasted nut note with practically no spice at all.
The final third was more leathery again, with some sweetness still as the body ramped up into the full-full region again and the nicotine strength really started to show itself. In all, this was more flavorful than many of the full-strength cigars out there, but since I don't smoke "full-force" cigars all that often, it will likely only get make its way to humidor occasionally. It requires a strong constitution and a full stomach and is not something I could recommend to any but the most experienced smokers. The construction was immaculate, requiring no touchups and providing a great draw and plenty of smoke the entire time. If I had to compare it to something, I'd probably say the Cain Habano, but with more flavor and more strength.
Body: 9/10
Strength: 10/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
I have to say this cigar looks superb...perfect roll, perfect triple cap, even the fuse that I made fun of is well-attached. The wrapper is oily with mostly small veins and just a little bit of tooth. I'm going to guess Ecuadorian Habano just from the looks of this, but I could be wrong. I got a whiff of leather as well as earth and hay on the wrapper...a more pungent earthiness along with chocolate on the foot. If I had to guess the filler based on general aroma (this is not a good practice) and history of the makers, I'd say probably Nicaraguan. I used my Xikar MTX to remove the tail and a small section of cap, leaving a very good draw. I noted flavors of earth and leather, mostly, on the cold draw, although there was a bit of sweetness and some hay as well.
The cigar lit well and evenly, giving immediate leather and cedar notes, along with a strongly peppery retrohale. So far nothing I have experienced has done anything to dissuade me from believing this is a product of My Father. The body was quite full right from the beginning, although there did seem to be a good amount of flavor as well. La Bomba got somewhat harsh in the middle of the first third, which didn't surprise me much as the cigar is billed as full-force, but it mellowed a bit after I slowed down my smoking pace. I noticed that the body seemed to mellow a bit too, down to the bottom of the full range. I continued to get lots of cedar flavor along with an earthy base and a sweet chocolatey finish. The retrohale was still spicy by the time the first third was done, but not painfully so.During the second third, La Bomba got a bit smoother still, almost taking on a creamy texture, although the body and strength of the cigar was always in full evidence as well. I got more earth and chocolate on the palate as the cedar faded into practically nothingness. On the retrohale, I got a sweet roasted nut note with practically no spice at all.
The final third was more leathery again, with some sweetness still as the body ramped up into the full-full region again and the nicotine strength really started to show itself. In all, this was more flavorful than many of the full-strength cigars out there, but since I don't smoke "full-force" cigars all that often, it will likely only get make its way to humidor occasionally. It requires a strong constitution and a full stomach and is not something I could recommend to any but the most experienced smokers. The construction was immaculate, requiring no touchups and providing a great draw and plenty of smoke the entire time. If I had to compare it to something, I'd probably say the Cain Habano, but with more flavor and more strength.Body: 9/10
Strength: 10/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
Have you tried this one yet? What did you think? Please leave a comment below...
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