Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado | Cigar Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Colorado Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan (Double binders)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Jalapa, Esteli and Condega)
Size: 6 x 52 “Toro”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $8.00 ($6.75 most online stores)

Today we take a look at the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado.
An anonymous reader sent me a few of these cigars.

I could not find a single cigar review. Not one. This is not a good sign but as I don’t have enough cigars to review every day until February 10, well..fingers crossed this is a good cigar.
This cigar seems to be price controlled. No matter what online store you pick, they all sell them for the sub-MSRP prices.
The cigar was rated 91 by Cigar Aficionado.
Made its debut at the 2015 IPCPR trade show.

DESCRIPTION:
Nice looking stick but not exceptional. Seams are tight. Lots of small veins.
The wrapper has that Colorado Rosado tint on a medium brown wrapper. Very smooth to the touch.
The stick is solid but has a little give when squeezed.
It only looks to have a double cap.
The double cigar bands are big and ornate.

SIZES AND PRICING:
Churchill: 7 x 50 $8.00 MSRP
Torpedo: 6.25 x 54 $7.50 MSRP
Gordo: 6.25 x 60 $8.50 MSRP
Toro: 6 x 52 $8.00 MSRP
Robusto: 5 x 50 $7.00 MSRP
Bajito: 4.25 x 52 $6.75 MSRP

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell lots of subtle notes such as spice, sweetness, chocolate, caramel, barnyard, dried fruit, cedar, and cream.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I smell dark cocoa, strong eye watering spiciness, sweetness, espresso, cedar, and barnyard.
The cold draw presents flavors of black pepper, chocolate, coffee, cream, Asian spices, sweetness, cedar, and citrus. With a touch of floral.

FIRST THIRD:
Toasting the foot makes a mess of it. No.9 rollers were definitely not used.
Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9.

I will have to keep a close eye on the burn line so it doesn’t get away from me.
First flavors: Malts, Big Daddy spiciness, creaminess, chocolate, coffee, honey, caramel, citrus, nuts, floral notes, cedar, dried fruit, and a lovely generic sweetness.
I’m impressed. That’s quite a bit from sort of a skanky looking cigar.

But then I smoked one after I’d had it for 3 weeks and it did nothing for me. Clearly, Old School kicked in and it took over 2 months for it to hit the blender’s intent.

Considering how well made some Alec Bradley cigars are, the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado seems like the red headed step child to the original Nica Puro. It is too light in the hands. It just doesn’t have that quality look to it. Almost like a cheap bundle cigar.
It’s redemption? The flavor profile.

I use that old Hopalong Cassidy folding knife a lot in my photos. The American flag cigar roach clip as well. I got that knife in 1970 at the once a month Rose Bowl Antique Fair in Pasadena, CA. I got so many cool things there. All gone now to pay for medical care. I’ve sold every single valuable thing we own including some very dear things to our heart. It’s all gone now. All I have left is my ESP Ltd fretless bass. I can’t play it so I don’t know why I keep it around. It sits about two feet away from leaning up against the little Fender practice amp in the dining room. Makes me feel good, I guess.

The malts are quite stimulating along with the chocolate, creaminess, nuttiness, and black pepper.
It is a lip smackin’ treat for the palate. But will it continue on this journey and become complex? No idea. Why is that we Jews always turn sentences into questions? How should I know? What? Am I the cigar expert? Is it my fault I have a tiny shlong?

A minor correction was needed early on and now the burn line seems to be on the right track.

Johnny Piette of Isabela Cigar Co. sent me some samples to review. Four different ones. I tried a couple and they won’t be ready for a month. Too green still. So I will come back late February to review them. Allah willing. (Oh no. That raised a red flag with every law enforcement organization in the country. They will be breaking down my door, one night at 3am, and hauling Charlotte and I off to Gitmo for 20 years.)

Despite how light the cigar feels, it smokes very slowly.

Ken Pope contacted me back on Jan. 23 and let me in on a deal Famous Smoke is having. At the time, I had no dough. But Charlotte got paid her meager minimum wage pay check on Friday and I snagged a 6 pack sampler of Paul Stulac cigars for $23.99. I just now looked carefully and the description says the cigars “Vary.” So maybe you don’t get what’s in the photo like the couple of White Blinding Light. Regardless, the sale is still on and if I were you, I’d get in on it. Most PS cigars run between $8-$12 per stick. There is shipping of course: $5.99, but still a good deal. The wife gave me permission to buy a sampler.

Strength is a touch above medium body.
Minor transitions are occurring.
It ain’t so complex anymore.
Flavors are nice but no oomph. There is no drive to succeed. No ambition. Like your father told you when you were 16. And you were hanging out and smoking weed with your pals. I actually didn’t try marijuana til I was 17. But I got the hang of it.

My pain management doctor is dead set against using pot to help with pain. Drat. Plus it isn’t legal in red neck Wisconsin. A state that bleeds Red.

If I were doing nothing more than something mindless and smoking the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado, I’d be enjoying it but not paying too much attention to it.
The climb towards bliss will be a long one if even accomplished at all.
The cap comes off. WTF? I wasn’t even chewing on the cigar and it’s been sitting in the ashtray. This is not quality.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 35 minutes.
Flavors perk up at this point. The thing is…all Nicaraguan puros have pretty much the same flavor profile: Creaminess, chocolate, coffee, caramel, citrus, dried fruit, sweetness, malts, and cedar. Now and again, one might discover something interesting but while those are more than acceptable flavors, you can find that grouping in a gazillion different brands and blends. Nothing stands out about the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado.

And to reinforce this list of flavors, the Rosado wrapper typically is spicy with notes of cedar, coffee, earth, and pepper. Falls right in line with Nic puro flavors.

Strength is medium/full.
A fruity element appears. Don’t know what it is yet. But it helps the flavor profile. Some kind of summer fruit. Almost a combo of peach, apricot and plum. I call it Papricom.

It is kind of strange. My cigars came from Atlantic Cigars. I just looked and the CI Conglomerate doesn’t carry the cigar. Just the original Nica Puro. Therefore, no sticks on Cbid.

The price of $6.75 is accurate. Nice cigar. Just don’t expect a Liga Privada No.9.
I add to this…this is a very, very nice cigar with scrumptious flavors.

The fruitiness has taken first place on the list. Spice is all but gone. The chocolate and coffee are on the wane. The cigar seems to be about fruit, creaminess, malts, and nuts.

That’s it.
Chocolate and coffee are such staples of Nic puro cigars. I can’t figure why they disappeared.
After over two months of humidor time, the cigar blend is what it is. It ain’t going to get any better with another 6 months of aging time. In fact, I expect it to lose most of what I taste now. You can just tell that this cigar was not built for longevity.

Halfway point.
Smoke time is 50 minutes.

Caramel returns. No longer a generic sweetness. Raisins show up. Still within the realm of typical Nic puros.
I haven’t smoked the original Nic puro in a long time. I got a couple a while back from a reader but they were over aged and had little flavor left in them.
Peach. Definitely peach. Finally. Some individuality.

I don’t like over ripe peaches as my wife does. I don’t like wearing the peach on my arm and face as I eat it. I like very firm and crisp…and sweet…peaches. The peachiness is very strong now.
But still no complexity. The balance is just OK. The finish is long thanks to the peach element.

Here are the malts: Caramel Wheat Malt, Flaked Wheat Malt, Honey Malt, and Special B Malt. (See Malt Chart).

Have you noticed that for the longest time, the daily specials from CI and Cigar.com are pure crap? I haven’t seen one tempting buy in months.

And how about all these new releases you see on the online boutique stores? Try and find a 5 pack for less than $50. And more average in the $75-$100 range. Are they nuts?

Thanks to Miguel Castro for sending me the 10 count box of Roma Craft El Catador de Las Petite Coronas. I tried one the same day as I got them and, natch, too soon. Can’t wait to smoke them. Thank you Miguel.

Photos courtesy of Skip Martin:

Bam!
The flavors come home to Papa.

Yes my dears, the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado hits a homer. It took a little more than half the cigar, but now it’s screaming laughter.
Big, bold flavors. Complex. Nice balance. Wonderful finish.
Strength is a smooth medium/full body.
Even the black pepper returns even stronger than the start. More like the start of many Pepin Garcia blends.

So now it’s the chicken v. egg theory. Is this the final blend intent? Or does the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado need another couple months of humidor time?

Wisconsin is finally getting its first big snow storm of the season on Tuesday. 5-10” of snow. Charlotte is already talking herself out of going to work. She is terrified of driving in the snow even though we now have a 4 wheel tank of a truck.

The new (old) flavors: Peaches, apricot, creaminess, spice, dark cocoa, espresso, malts, nutty, citrus, cedar, dark rich earthy notes, raisins, and caramel.
Nicotine settles in big time.
Strength is now full body.
I hate nicotine. Especially when I have over a third to go.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is one hour 10 minutes.
I would have rated the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado higher if the first half was as interesting as the second half. C’est la vie.

I wish Cigar Aficionado would divulge how much humidor time their cigars received before being tested. That would be more helpful than some of their taste descriptions.
I almost didn’t review this morning. Not feeling well. Big headache. But I just love to meander and ramble.

The strength has made some serious transitions. Starting out at medium body, it didn’t take long before it was very full bodied. I like strong cigars but the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado is proving a little too much for me with the last 1-1/2” to go. The heavy dose of nicotine doesn’t help.
You’re not going to find this Toro any cheaper than $6.75.

Is it worth it? Sure. The thing is that the cigar is a little Schizo. A blah first half. An incredible second half. Very strong. And a very slow smoke. The Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado will have taken over two hours to smoke. It’s just rough on me to review a cigar that takes that long. I started this review at 6:45am and will finish it at just past 11:00am.

Take a gander at my review of the original Nica Puro review done on April 24, 2013 and decide for yourselves. There are a lot of similarities. And prices are the same.

RATING: 88

And now for something completely different:
(I pulled something from an old review and re-printed it here so there is a little overlap between today’s story and yesterday’s story.)

I’ve published this before but it’s been awhile so for my loyal and longtime readers, my apologies.
I hated Butch Patrick from almost the beginning. He had some serious substance abuse problems and was unreliable. Mostly from alcohol. His dad was an alcoholic so it ran in the family.

For those that don’t know about my association with Butch it began while I owned my recording studio in Long Beach. A good friend that had grown up across the street from Butch brought him to my studio. Butch had a rough idea for a song called “Whatever Happened to Eddie?”

He had done a rough demo in some guy’s living room and they used the theme from the Munsters.
So I organized the whole thing, got Butch to sign a management deal; and off we went.
I brought in real musicians to record the song and the B side as well. It was to be a 45 single…yes, those were the days.

The single ended up selling 181,000 units in 4 months before the FBI shut down the record company…another story.
Because Butch was so unreliable, he was a handful.

The record was finished. Time to move on to the music video which I wrote, produced and directed. I got a top notch film crew to help me out. Marvin Rush was my camera man. Along with his crew. Marvin has a helluva resume. Check IMDb.

We shot at two locations. The first was Hollywood High School and the second was at the Princess Louise’ permanently docked at San Pedro Harbor. It had two restaurants and a chapel on top for weddings.

We signed with Rocshire Records who were tied to the mob. Didn’t know that at the time.
Remember, back in 1983, it was the birth of the MTV nation. We were ground breakers.
The record company, and PR firm, sent Butch and me on a PR tour across America.

Now Butch had no musical talent. So the band, Eddie and the Monsters, had a band member that did the singing. I played bass but in the video, it portrayed Butch as the bassist. So we couldn’t play live. Basically, we were Milli Vanilli.

We did the Today show in NYC. Rockefeller Center. The Rock.
I met Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley.

They literally couldn’t make up their minds as to who was going to interview Butch right into the commercial prior to the interview.
The director, from the booth above us said: “Bryant, you do it. No, Jane you do it.”

Gumbel slammed his hand on to the desk and said, “Goddam good thing we don’t make dynamite here!!”
Also being interviewed was Billy Mumy of “Lost in Space” fame. Now Billy had his shit together and I remember watching the interview wishing I could manage Billy instead of Butch.

The interview went well and we took off with Billy to some high falutin’ bar in Manhattan.
The record company put us up at the Waldorf Astoria.

Some girls approached Butch and invited us to a party out on Long Island. Butch pleaded that we go. But it was a very long ride. But as always, I relented.
I reminded him that we had an early radio interview with Don Imus in the morning and we couldn’t stay long. He agreed.

Well, the worst happened. Butch got sloshed and coked up and it wasn’t until 2am that we headed back to the hotel.
I got up at 6 am. Butch didn’t go to sleep til 5am. Drunk out of his mind.

When I got out of bed, I went into the adjoining room and there were a dozen people on the floor, out cold. Half were naked.

I rattled Butch awake but he was still very drunk. He begged me to call the radio station and postpone the interview until the next day. We fought but I eventually gave in and called the station.

Man, they were pissed off. I was put on hold for several minutes. The voice on the phone said to make sure Butch was there at 7am the next day and he hung up on me.
So I told Butch I made the arrangements he asked for.

And then from left field, he told me that he was OK and to call them back and tell them we could do that morning’s interview.
I exploded.

I dragged him to the floor. I mounted his chest and began to strangle him. Really. Pounding his head on the floor at the same time.
In a croaking voice, he pleaded with me to stop and I regained my senses. I was already packed and ready to go.

I threw his airplane ticket on his chest along with a $20 bill and told him he better be at the interview. And I left for the airport.

When I got home, the record company and PR firm were furious with me. I didn’t care.

Butch returned home, having done the Imus interview as scheduled, but we didn’t talk for a week.
He came over to apologize and I allowed him to do so.

Being Butch’s manager took up too much of my time. I had a recording studio to run. I had taken on more than I could chew. And in the end, it bit me on the ass.
More later..