Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at the Smooth Draws Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review of ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 9AM to 11AM. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Smooth Draws Radio Show Pick of the Week

The Cigar

I’ve found my way into a back alley this week, and found a hooligan – in this case, the Black Market Filthy Hooligan by Alec Bradley. Let’s take a look at this cigar.

Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at Cigar Guys Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review called ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 9AM to 11AM. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Cigar Guys Radio Show Smooth Draws Pick of the Week

THE CIGAR

This week, Alan and Gary selected the ROMEO, which is a line extension from Romeo y Julieta, produced by Altadis U.S.A.

Cigar name: Miami Blend  

Visual 

It’s always fun when you get to smoke a cigar for the first time. Take this cigar, for example. I had never even seen it before having this particular one sent to me. Now, I get to do all my little rituals, and tell you about it.

Looking over the Connecticut Shade wrapper, I take note of the light, brown sugar color. Small veins are present, accompanied by some really tight seams that are almost invisible. There is a slightly coarse texture as I run my fingers down the torpedo-shaped cigar.

Cold aroma

After my visual inspection, I move on to my aroma testing of the wrapper and the foot. The wrapper has a faint aroma that consists of a slight leather smell. The foot is a lot more fragrant, with a barnyard base, sweet hay and slight licorice scent – very pleasing to the ole sniffer.

Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at Cigar Guys Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review called ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 9AM to 11AM. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Cigar Guys Radio Show Smooth Draws Pick of the Week

THE CIGAR

This week, Alan and Gary selected the Xen by Nish Patel – a Rocky Patel Premium Cigar.

BACK STORY

It would be difficult to find a cigar smoker (whether a novice or aficionado) who has not heard of Rocky Patel. After all, Rocky Patel Premium Cigars is one of the most successful cigar companies in the world. With lines like Decade, The Signature Collection, Royale, Nimmy-D and the Edge Series, Rocky Patel offers a cigar for everyone to enjoy.

Rocky Patel charged his brother, Nish Patel, to blend a cigar – with a Connecticut wrapper – that would not be a traditional mild creamy smoke, but rather one that would have more of a medium strength and body with great flavor. During the 2011 IPCPR, the Xen was released with the slogan ‘Rethink Connecticut’. The cigar featured an Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper.

Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at the Smooth Draws Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review of ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 9AM to 11AM. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Smooth Draws Radio Show Pick of the Week

THE CIGAR

For their review this week, Alan and Gary selected the Undercrown Shade by Drew Estate.

Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at Cigar Guys Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review called ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 9AM to 11AM. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Cigar Guys Radio Show Smooth Draws Pick of the Week

THE CIGAR

This week, Alan and Gary selected the Plasencia Reserva Organica for reviewing.

BACK STORY

The Plasencia family has been growing tobacco, and producing cigars, for five generations. The family’s roots go back to Cuba.

Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at the Smooth Draws Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review of ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 9AM to 11AM. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Smooth Draws Radio Show Pick of the Week

THE CIGAR

This week, Gary and Alan took a look at the Tierra Volcán Clasico by Mombacho Cigars.

Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at Cigar Guys Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review called ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 9AM to 11AM. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Cigar Guys Radio Show Smooth Draws Pick of the Week

Size: 6.2 inches x 54 ring gauge

I’ve often wondered where the names of cigars come from. I know the oldest ones have their own classic stories. Those cigars were usually named for either the owner or the factory. And I’m sure some of the newer names are strictly creations of the wonder-boys in marketing. But how about when a cigar is named? Is it before or after the cigar has been blended? 

While the Alec Bradley Black Market Vandal, introduced in 2013, sounds like it was named by an imaginative ad-man, it is indeed aptly named. The image presented by the name and labeling perfectly matches the nature of the cigar, suggesting to me that it was named after it was blended. Let me give you my review as a means of explanation.

Two-thirds of this cigar is covered by a huge yellow label that reads like a police report. Beneath that label is a smaller, more traditional label. Like it or not, this type of presentation seems to be the thing now. 

The Alec Bradley Black Market Vandal is a brawny cigar. It has an oily dark brown Nicaraguan Jalapa wrapper with a shadowy black patina. The leaves are uniform, with only a few small veins. It is a handsome cigar. The binder is Sumatran. 

The original Black Market cigars list the filler as a Honduran and Panamanian blend. However, the exact mix for the line extension called Vandal isn’t published.