Robusto, 5" x 50 ring gauge / $4.75, Burns
I have made my beefs with certain cigar company websites known at times in the past, but I didn't expect quite what I got from the Alec Bradley website...I couldn't click on anything! There was a list of cigars at the bottom the page...couldn't click on any of them. There was a rotating slide show of cigars...was not clickable. There was a downloadable "Online Product Catalog" that came down as a Zip, then expanded to a PDF, but still didn't have any mention of the American Classic (or other new products). I know cigar making is very old school, but I do wonder why it takes most manufacturers so song to update their websites with new information. I took the vital stats for this cigar from some famous online retailer's website. The American Classic is supposed to be a throwback to the cigars that were popular on the American market 100 years ago. It uses Nicaraguan fillers from Condega and Esteli, a Nicaraguan binder from Jalapa, and a Honduran grown Connecticut shade wrapper. This review is of my first experience with the blend. (Correction: I made a mistake by not testing out the company's website on more than one browser. I normally use Firefox and it does not work on that browser, but it does seem to work correctly on Safari on Mac and iPad as well as Chrome Mac. Thank you to the representative from Alec Bradley who pointed out my error in the comments section.)
The band is colorful and attractive, with foil and embossing helping it to stand out. This could look cartoonish and cheap if not done right, but that didn't happen here. The wrapper was far from perfect and unblemished, but I would hardly call it ugly, either. It was a shade or two darker than many Ecuadorian Connecticut wrappers, with some dusky mottling and not much in the ways of oils to the eye or to the touch. The aroma, though, was great; I got a strong scent of tilled earth with some natural tobacco and a little chocolate on the wrapper; a more manure-y earth and chocolate on the foot. My Xikar Xi delivered a clean cut as usual and I noticed the draw to be a bit tighter than I would prefer, but not nearly tight enough to try to use a draw poker or anything drastic like that. The cold draw flavors were classic mild cigar flavors or natural tobacco, molasses sweetness and a bit of earthiness.
I lit the American Classic Blend using the soft flame of my Colibri Hybrid and it got started burning easily and fairly quickly. I immediately noticed a creamy coffee note along with sweet natural tobacco; the only surprise here was the amount of spice on the retrohale...I thought it was great, but I wonder if this is really something that would have been common in the broader American market 100 years ago. Maybe...although no cigar smokers from then are likely to still be alive, so it's hard to know for sure. As I smoked through the first third, I noticed hints of molasses from time to time and that the coffee note became more prevalent, bringing a little more bitter balance into the cigar. It was decidedly mild bodied, but with a nice flavor nonetheless.
I had a couple issues with burn line, notably a canoe that reappeared a couple times. The ash was strong and I had to forcibly tap off at an inch or so. Well into the second third, I noticed a crack appear in the wrapper. This was unfortunate, but could be due to the less than optimal smoking conditions: it was 60 degrees and a little windy which could have led to the wrapper drying too much, even though I was out of the direct wind. The flavor in the second third was not as pleasant as in the beginning; I got mostly natural tobacco and earth with just a little sweetness mixed in.
In the end, the cracked wrapper caused no further problems, but the flavor did not get any better in the final third. The American Classic took on a rather bland earthy note with no distinctive flavors to keep me interested. If the entire cigar had been up to the level of the first third, this could have been a great mild cigar, but it turned out to be about worth the price of admission and no more. Because of its mild body and lack of strength, this would be an excellent cigar for newer smokers and it at least did not have the sometimes nasty aftertaste that many bundled cigars have. By those standards, it is great for someone who wants to buy from a local shop instead of doing their shopping online. For cigar enthusiasts, though, this may very well leave you wanting for something more.
Body: 3/5
Strength: 3/5
Complexity: 4/5
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10
I have made my beefs with certain cigar company websites known at times in the past, but I didn't expect quite what I got from the Alec Bradley website...I couldn't click on anything! There was a list of cigars at the bottom the page...couldn't click on any of them. There was a rotating slide show of cigars...was not clickable. There was a downloadable "Online Product Catalog" that came down as a Zip, then expanded to a PDF, but still didn't have any mention of the American Classic (or other new products). I know cigar making is very old school, but I do wonder why it takes most manufacturers so song to update their websites with new information. I took the vital stats for this cigar from some famous online retailer's website. The American Classic is supposed to be a throwback to the cigars that were popular on the American market 100 years ago. It uses Nicaraguan fillers from Condega and Esteli, a Nicaraguan binder from Jalapa, and a Honduran grown Connecticut shade wrapper. This review is of my first experience with the blend. (Correction: I made a mistake by not testing out the company's website on more than one browser. I normally use Firefox and it does not work on that browser, but it does seem to work correctly on Safari on Mac and iPad as well as Chrome Mac. Thank you to the representative from Alec Bradley who pointed out my error in the comments section.)
The band is colorful and attractive, with foil and embossing helping it to stand out. This could look cartoonish and cheap if not done right, but that didn't happen here. The wrapper was far from perfect and unblemished, but I would hardly call it ugly, either. It was a shade or two darker than many Ecuadorian Connecticut wrappers, with some dusky mottling and not much in the ways of oils to the eye or to the touch. The aroma, though, was great; I got a strong scent of tilled earth with some natural tobacco and a little chocolate on the wrapper; a more manure-y earth and chocolate on the foot. My Xikar Xi delivered a clean cut as usual and I noticed the draw to be a bit tighter than I would prefer, but not nearly tight enough to try to use a draw poker or anything drastic like that. The cold draw flavors were classic mild cigar flavors or natural tobacco, molasses sweetness and a bit of earthiness.
I lit the American Classic Blend using the soft flame of my Colibri Hybrid and it got started burning easily and fairly quickly. I immediately noticed a creamy coffee note along with sweet natural tobacco; the only surprise here was the amount of spice on the retrohale...I thought it was great, but I wonder if this is really something that would have been common in the broader American market 100 years ago. Maybe...although no cigar smokers from then are likely to still be alive, so it's hard to know for sure. As I smoked through the first third, I noticed hints of molasses from time to time and that the coffee note became more prevalent, bringing a little more bitter balance into the cigar. It was decidedly mild bodied, but with a nice flavor nonetheless.I had a couple issues with burn line, notably a canoe that reappeared a couple times. The ash was strong and I had to forcibly tap off at an inch or so. Well into the second third, I noticed a crack appear in the wrapper. This was unfortunate, but could be due to the less than optimal smoking conditions: it was 60 degrees and a little windy which could have led to the wrapper drying too much, even though I was out of the direct wind. The flavor in the second third was not as pleasant as in the beginning; I got mostly natural tobacco and earth with just a little sweetness mixed in.
In the end, the cracked wrapper caused no further problems, but the flavor did not get any better in the final third. The American Classic took on a rather bland earthy note with no distinctive flavors to keep me interested. If the entire cigar had been up to the level of the first third, this could have been a great mild cigar, but it turned out to be about worth the price of admission and no more. Because of its mild body and lack of strength, this would be an excellent cigar for newer smokers and it at least did not have the sometimes nasty aftertaste that many bundled cigars have. By those standards, it is great for someone who wants to buy from a local shop instead of doing their shopping online. For cigar enthusiasts, though, this may very well leave you wanting for something more.
Body: 3/5
Strength: 3/5
Complexity: 4/5
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10
My local B&M have these and I have always skipped over them although I don't know why. Now maybe I do.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I totally agree with you about cigar company websites. I hate when they are all built out in flash, take forever to load and then don't do a damn thing. I just want to contact those people and be like, listen I'll do you website for you lifetime supply of cigars :). Great review, I haven't had much luck with the AB's lately though, wasn't a big fan of Black Market nor the Prensado.
ReplyDeleteMost cigar companies don't seem to understand or care how important their websites can be as marketing tools. They don't maintain or update them, causing a lot of frustration in trying to get any information. I can get more info from bloggers like yourself rather than the websites, and it just doesn't seem right that they won't make the same effort.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried this one yet, since I've seen so many divergent views on it, but for the price, I should just give it a shot.
Our website utilizes HTML5 so it accessible on most devices including iPhone, iPad, etc.. The banner at the top is not clickable, but all of the cigar links below on the front page are. The American Classic is there as well. Maybe you need to refresh your cookie settings?
ReplyDeleteMy apologies...it does appear to work using some (most?) browsers. I use Firefox 12 as my primary browser and it stubbornly refuses to work there. It does work in Safari and Chrome on my Mac and in Safari on my iPad. I should have checked at least one more place before declaring the website broken...but...most consumers will use one browser and if it doesn't work there, they won't be checking it in several others. If it's possible to make a fix that will enable the site to work properly in Firefox (a fairly popular browser) it should be done, in my opinion.
Delete