Cigar Review: 7-20-4 Hustler

Robusto, 5.5” x 52 ring gauge / $9.85, Burns

Hard to believe it’s already been four years since I moved from Southern California to East Tennessee, but as I sat down to review a cigar I was reminded that it was, in fact, 4 years tomorrow that we rolled into our adopted home state (well, my birth home state, too, for that matter, although I grew up out on the Left Coast...my wife and I feel very lucky still to have escaped). Anyway, what brought it to mind was the fact that I had not even heard of Kurt Kendall or 7-20-4 Cigars before the move. I don’t remember the first time I heard of them, but I know we were in Tennessee and it very well may have been a mention by Brian Hewitt of Stogie Review, either in a review or on Twitter. The first time I ever saw them for sale was at the now-defunct Leaf and Ale in Knoxville, but in the last year or so Burns finally started carrying them. Along with carrying the first line, they were one of the early shops to carry the 1874 line, a great addition to the catalog. Then one day I walked in and saw a box of barber-pole cigars on the front table; “The Hustler” had arrived before I had even heard of it anywhere else. That could be that I’ve just been too busy with too many things to hear every bit of news coming out; there was a time when I tried to keep up with everything, but some days I just feel pulled in too many different directions. But that’s a story for some other time besides a cigar review.

Are barber pole cigars gimmicky? A bit. But you shouldn't assume that means I think the word "gimmicky" is a negative. Gimmicks are simply a marketing strategy...employed to attract attention. Once the hook is in, you have to deliver great quality, though, or you may only get one sale from said "gimmick." I skipped the Hustler the first couple weeks it was in my regular shop for a couple reasons: I can't remember a barber pole stogie that I was absolutely wild about and it was a little pricey; but I finally succumbed to curiosity...and the fact that it had received some good reviews elsewhere...and purchased a Robusto. One interesting thing about the Hustler: a single box comes with 3 vitolas in it: 52, 54 and 58 ring gauge (with increasing lengths, too). While this does solve an issue for retailers about how to find room for multiple sizes on the shelf, I would imagine it does make things a little harder when you run out of one size but have plenty of the other two. Is 7-20-4 selling “refill bundles” to shops for that? Just curious. The Hustler has Nicaraguan fillers, a Brazilian binder, and Brazilian Mata Fina and Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper leaves. This review is based on my first sampling of the blend.

The Hustler has an cool, retro look to it. More of turn of the last century than anything as new as Art Deco. Colorful and eye-catching, like the barber pole wrappers are. Those wrappers did look very well rolled, with the exception of a small chunk of Connecticut Shade that was missing from my cigar. It appeared that it had probably broken while the roller was applying it and he/she just skipped a small portion and applied the rest. Not that it except it to affect the burn or flavor, but it did seem a little odd. Handmade products...blah blah blah...some irregularities may occur...blah blah blah. Because it is a case of appearance only, and since I’m only smoking one stick for this review, I am going to overlook it for rating purposes. The shortened, “docked” pigtail added to the retro feel. I gave the wrapper(s) a good sniff and picked up hay and earth notes; on the foot, I got a strong whiff of chocolate. I used a Xikar Xi cutter to achieve a very clean straight cut; the resulting draw was just a little tight, but had interesting flavors of cherries, hay, cocoa powder and earth.

It took a longer time that I expected to get the Hustler lit, but I was patient (unusual) and got it going correctly. It started off with plenty of earth flavors, but a nice mix of sweet, dried fruit and chocolate were in there, too. While the draw was tighter than I prefer at the very start, after a few minutes, it loosened up a bit. The retrohale had a little pepper spice to it, but was more bready than anything else. The lighter flavors of hay and dried fruit seemed to pick up and lead the way through most of the first third.

As I started on the second third, I did note that the draw was still a little tighter than I would like, although no where near unsmokable. And, to be honest, some people would probably actually prefer the draw a little tighter. For me, this could have probably been remedied by dry boxing the cigar for a 3 or 4 hours prior to lighting up, but since this is my first one, I had no way of determining that. During the second third, I experienced flavors of sour citrus to go along with the sweet note and hay. Strangely for a cigar that has so much Nicaraguan tobacco, there was little in the way of earthiness at this point and whatever pepper spice there was at the beginning had long gone.

Aside from the snug draw, construction for the 7-20-4 Hustler was superb, with a solid ash and consistently even burn line that needed nothing but very minor touch ups a couple times. In the final third, I did pick up some additional chocolatey flavor and a bit of creamy coffee, but mostly it was more dried fruit, citrus sourness and hay. One thing for certain, this is unlike either of the two previous releases from 7-20-4 and for that I applaud them. Often cigar companies end up with a “family flavor” and every new line is just a variation on that; while that can be comforting to those who enjoy whatever specific flavor defines the brand, it also gets a little boring for those like me that enjoy variety. I found the Hustler to be intriguing and unique...but I just didn’t love it. Why? I think it might have been the specifics of the size more than anything else. While there was definitely something there I liked, it always seemed to just elude really grabbing me; more than anything it makes me wonder how this same blend would be in a Lonsdale or Corona. While the price of boutique cigars always tends to be a bit more because of the economics of scale, the double-wrapper on a barber pole drives it up even more, making the starting price for these cigars nearly $10, which I find just a little steep (although if you end up falling in love with the flavor, the price might make perfect sense to you). Body was medium and so was strength. I know other people have really enjoyed this blend, so as always I encourage you to try it out and make up your own mind.

Body: 6/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 6/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10