Cigar Preview: AKA Solace Cloud Nine

Robusto Extra, 5.50” x 50 ring gauge / $7.75, approx.

At this year's IPCPR show AKA cigars debuted their new Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapped cigar, the Solace.  The cigar is comprised of Honduran and Dominican fillers from the Kelner & Eiroa families, the binder is a Honduran criollo, and the wrapper is Ecuadorian Connecticut shade.  All of the tobaccos have at least 4 years age on them.  The cigar comes in seven different sizes from a 4.5"x42 petite corona all the way up to a 6"x60 toro gordo.  AKA says that this cigar is aimed at the mild and medium bodied smoker, but will satisfy the full bodied smoker.  I did get to smoke an unbanded pre-release of this cigar before this show sample.

The wrapper on this cigar was a nice even golden hay in color.  There was some oily sheen to it as well, which has become more common on the newer EC cigars I've seen.  There were almost no veins to is, with the only ones I could see were very fine.  Giving the cigar a squeeze I didn't note any soft spots while it was fairly firm to the touch.  One other note on the presentation is that there was a fairly well executed triple cap.  Putting my nose to the wrapper brought the aroma of hay with barnyard coming from the foot.  After clipping it and taking a cold draw on it I got notes of sweet hay with a good draw.

Lighting the cigar up brought a large amount of spice on the retrohale and tongue.  It was a little more than even some of the stronger EC cigar's of late.  After taking a few puffs on it I started to get notes of earth, hay, cinnamon with a sweet finish coming through.  As I got about 1/2" in the spice on the retrohale toned down with some of it moving to a tingle on the tongue.  Towards the end of this third I started to get some green herbal notes with a hint of creaminess too.  The draw on the cigar was pretty much perfect, as it has been on almost all of the AKA cigars I've smoked.  The burn was slightly wavy, but that was probably do to a bad light on my part.  The ash on this sample wasn't as flaky as I've experienced with other AKA blends.  I would classify this cigar towards the upper end of medium at this point.

Moving into the second third the spice did tone down quite a bit but didn't go completely away.  The flavors didn't really change for me as I smoked through this third.  The construction continued to be pretty spot on and the body or strength didn't change.

As I moved into the final third the spice did start to come back quite a bit, with the strength building to the upper end of medium.  The flavors didn't change much from the beginning of the cigar, but they were quite pleasant.

Overall this was an enjoyable cigar.  It is one of the better Ecuadorian Connecticut cigars in my opinion.  I don't know if every mild body smoker could really handle the power that this cigar has.  No, it isn't an butt kicker, but if you're not used to it, it might be.  I could definitely see myself enjoying this cigar with a cup of coffee and the paper in the morning.  I will be picking up a few more to keep on hand for just those rare occasions.