Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Nicaraguan (Aganorsa)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Aganorsa)
Size: 5.25 x 50 Robusto ~ Box Pressed
Strength: Medium
Price: $6.70
Today we take a look at Aganorsa Leaf Connecticut 2018.
I got a pair at Havana Cigar and Lounge in West Allis, WI.
BACKGROUND:
From Cigar Dojo:
“In the past, Aganorsa Leaf (formerly Casa Fernandez) has been linked to one of the many associated companies that the Fernández family produces cigars for (e.g. Illusione, Foundation Cigar Co., Sindicato Cigars, etc.). But at IPCPR 2018, the company unveiled their new look/name in a booth solely focused on their own product.
“The new strategy is geared to draw attention towards the Fernández family’s prized Nicaraguan tobacco, which is also referred to as Aganorsa. The booth showcased large imagery of the family’s expertise in tobacco agriculture, highlighting the prominent members of the modernized company: Eduardo Fernández, Max Fernández, and Terence Reilly, as well as workers from the company’s Estelí-based TABSA factory.”
SIZES AND PRICING:
Churchill 7 x 48 $7.20
Robusto 5.25 x 50 $6.70
Toro 6.0 x 52 $6.80
APPEARANCE:
This is a smooth and silky cigar. A lovely light tan wrapper with tight seams, few veins and a perfect triple cap is impressive. Add to that a bevy of main cigar band, a secondary band, and a footer yellow ribbon is expressive and showy. Hard to believe this isn’t even a $7 cigar. The box press is crisp and the cigar feels jammed with tobacco; a heavy cigar.
NOSE AND MAW:
Aromas are subtle with a simple creaminess dominating along with ancillary fluffy notes of milk chocolate, malt, cedar, red pepper, oatmeal, mint, and caramel.
The cold draw presents flavors of saltiness, cedar, barnyard, creaminess, spiciness, oats, nutmeg, and milk chocolate.
FIRST THIRD:
Smoke pours from the foot. The draw has the perfect resistance. This makes it unnecessary to use my PerfecDraw cigar poker tool. This weekend, I found myself smoking some good cigars that were so plugged that if not for the PerfecDraw poker, I would have tossed them…like sucking through flattened straws.
I smoked a stick a few days ago to make sure the blend was ready. I was impressed. Right from the start, the cigar spews instances of complexity, nice transitions and a long chewy finish.
Connecticuts tend to follow the same pattern when it comes to flavor profile. I don’t remember ever being surprised; other than a cigar was stronger than a Quorum Second.
Strength is a mellow medium.
The tobacco is providing a nice lip-smacking finish that is oh so tasty. It’s buttery and creamy and with a hint of black pepper.
The milk chocolate morphs into white chocolate which actually isn’t chocolate at all. But still, that is the prevailing wind at this time and place.
Construction is dead nuts perfect. The char line is crisp. And the draw is better than cunnilingus with an amphibian.
The Aganorsa Leaf Connecticut 2018 is such a graceful blend that could inhabit any cigar time of day. It is especially nice with a cup of coffee and morphine.
This is not an extraordinary cigar but it is blended by journeymen blenders who knew exactly what their outcome would produce. An affordable, delicious Connie perfect for experienced smokers and newbies alike. The price is a winner. And on the money; so to speak.
The Pretenders are playing now as I write. Who didn’t have a crush on Chrissie Hynde back in the early 80’s?
Strength moves to a solid medium with a touch of nicotine knocking at the door. Flavors expand and contract with each puff. The balance is finding its center and nuances of creamy elements permeate the blend.
SECOND THIRD:
I hit the first sweet spot and the complexity shines like my irradiated third testicle. Smooth with an intense movement of flavors across my palate that puts a smile on this puss.
Here they are: Creamy, black pepper, cedar, buttery, sweet croissant, nutmeg, white chocolate, malt, nutty, and that elusive hint of mint.
There are times you’re just not in a mood for a full tilt Nicaraguan blend. You know what I mean…those times that you don’t have time in your life to walk off the nicotine for half an hour. The Aganorsa Leaf Connecticut 2018 provides an easygoing good time and maintains its status as a premium blend. Sometimes you just feel like something smooth and light…with lots of flavor. And the unexpected addition of a willing complexity.
The trajectory of the flavor profile continues to improve. And then SRV is playing “Empty Arms” and it is impossible to stop some part of your body from bopping.
The blend is very consistent. I’m experiencing the identical time I had with the first stick. The first third is a warm up. But the second third as it makes its way to the halfway point just explodes with flavor and balance.
New flavors: Vanilla, apple, bubble gum, and smoked almonds. Odd but true.
The first third was mostly devoid of any serious sweetness. Now it abounds like lemmings saying: “No. You go first, I’ll follow. I get airsick.”
Sweetness comes from a spectrum of fruit, chocolate covered cherries, spiced apple, and marzipan. This is a surprising cigar. I didn’t notice these flavors on the first stick because it wasn’t my first cigar of the day.
How come I never got the Grateful Dead?
The malted milk ball concern is setting up shop right next to the fried butter stand. I tried that once at Milwaukee’s “Summerfest.” I love when you’re wearing a nice tee shirt and hot butter explodes all over it as a result of your first bite…and then you walk around the place looking like a slob; not to mention you just ruined your nice tee. There should be an FDA warning on the side of each portion.
I’ve had this cigar for a couple months now and it seems to be magic time. I’m glad I didn’t wander into impatience territory with this blend.
I read on a FB cigar group that some fella really complained about a boutique blend. I asked how long he allowed it to simmer naked in his humidor. He said a week. I didn’t bother to respond. This is why I, generally, don’t belong to cigar groups or forums. That and the guys who show pictures of 10,000 $25 cigars in their humidors. Yeah, I get it…you’ve got money and I don’t. I always feel swell about my financial situation when I see one of those photos.
The halfway point is endearing and spontaneous. The Aganorsa Leaf Connecticut 2018 has bloomed into a sensational cigar.
The strength is a tad above medium now. Flavors are less distinct as the blend hunkers down into very complex territory. The “whole” has taken over. And the blender’s intent is clear as a bell.
Not a single touch up required. The draw maintains its perfect consistency. The construction is top notch. All for under $7.
I only use Xikar butane fuel for my lighters. I’ve gone through all the other brands and I just prefer Xikar. But now Xikar has come out with a new High Performance butane in a black can. It performs miracles on your fakakta lighters. It claims “This mixture of butane was designed for use in high-altitude regions where oxygen is less abundant. High Performance butane may also be used in low-altitude regions for those looking to increase current flame height. Over time, burner valves may become clogged, causing lower flame heights, this mixture of butane provides an additional boost to help clean out those built-up impurities in the gas line and burners to achieve taller and stronger flames.”
8 oz can for $20 at Amazon.
And sure as shit…it fixed my $140 S.T. Dupont Maxi lighter I had given up to the ghost of ever seeing it work again…plus a couple of my Xikar lighters that took a dump on me a long time ago.
The Aganorsa Leaf Connecticut 2018 is sailing in smooth waters.
I truly dig this blend. Just remember. Don’t be a cigar group douche and light it up a week after you get it and then write me and complain I’m full of shit.
LAST THIRD:
Strength is touching the hems of medium/full now. I wasn’t expecting that. Yet it remains smooth and nuanced without any jarring moments like say when you put your underwear on backwards and don’t realize it til you’re in a public bathroom and you can’t find the penis door to your shorts. Then you end up in the handicap stall trying to get your wiener out before you piss yourself all the while admiring the wanton shit left by those that came before you. A life lesson is then incurred by seeing how fast you can pee before the dry heaves begin.
This is a must try for all of you that really appreciate Aganorsa tobacco. Nice to see Casa Fernandez once again do a great job while keeping the price point affordable. No laying out $60-$75 for a 5 pack.
This easily could have been a $10 cigar. Thank goodness not all manufacturers are greed mongers with every blend they produce.
Here is a nice ancillary note…If I don’t pay attention, I chomp on cigars. This causes them, by the second half, to watch as the triple cap disengages and causes a bloody mess of wet tobacco and brown stains on your fingers. This baby is constructed so well that I’ve not had a single issue with the cap. Two snaps up.
This is a mass-produced blend. You will have no trouble finding it.
I’m happy as a drunk clam when I get to review a good cigar.
Seek it out.
RATING: 91
And now for something completely different:
Butch Patrick is a very personable and charismatic dude. When he is sober, that is.
I’ve read that he has been on the wagon for a few years. I am happy for him. Alcohol was killing him. His problems back when we did the “Whatever Happened to Eddie” project was more about alcohol than drugs. He started drinking as soon as he woke up. Starting with beer and moving on to straight liquor as the day progressed.
Unfortunately, back in the early 80’s during my project, his behavior nearly killed me. He was a handful.
The record company and PR agency demanded I babysit him at all times when we did promotional tours. Normally, they just send the artist out alone. But Butch couldn’t be trusted to keep appointments. Half the time, he didn’t even know where he was when he woke up in the morning.
We did a big Chicago morning show. Same time that ex-Monkees, Peter Tork, had a new band. It was made up of very young heavy metal guys. Very strange. All leather and spiked hairdos and lots of chrome.
We sat in the green room with Tork, and his band, and all he did was piss and moan about the Monkees. It got to be disgustingly obnoxious after a while.
That night, we did the same big club promotion. Peter’s band played. And guess what? 8 out of their 10 songs were all Monkees songs. Made me laugh. Especially since he really didn’t have much of a voice. And then there were his band mates all dressed in black leather and wearing spiked dog collars.
Tork and I traded T shirts. I had the Eddie Munster shirts and he had…guess what? T shirts that had the Monkees’ logo on it. Still have the shirt but I couldn’t fit into it without cutting myself in half.
Should have gotten him to sign it so I could sell it on eBay for $10.
That night, Butch and Peter spent a lot of time together. They both were knocking down shots of tequila like mad men. And Peter kept giving Butch coke to keep him from passing out.
They had a lot in common. Butch was only paid $400 per episode on The Munsters. Back then, a season was 25 shows. And The Munsters was only on for two seasons. Plus, this was before residuals were in play. So Butch doesn’t make a single nickel on all those replays of the series. He made a total of $20,000 for 50 shows.
On the other hand, Fred Gwynne was smart and demanded a cut of the show. He was the only one to get residuals. It was a couple years after The Munsters ended that residuals were mandatory. So Butch did a bunch of 70’s shows and got residuals of $65-$75. When the checks came in the mail, they went to his mother’s house and she would cash them. He changed the address so they came to me because he trusted me. I would open the letters and see these terribly low checks for doing Mannix or The Brady Bunch.
Where was I? The club with Peter Tork.
Al I could think was oh no. Not again. I would have to pry him loose from the club at a decent hour because we had more promotion to do in the morning.
As was usually the case, I left without him. He had a hotel key. I insisted we share a room. For emergencies, of course. I had literally become his parent.
More than once, I had to bring him out of a drunken stupor to get him up and out the door to do the promotion on radio or TV.
One day, as the project was falling apart, Butch came to my house in Long Beach around noon.
He was living with his mother in Gardena.
I was having leftover spaghetti for lunch. And the screen door knocked and in walked Butch. Drunk as a skunk with a beer bottle in his hand.
He started throwing stupid ideas my way on how we could get the project back on track.
I asked him politely to allow me to finish my lunch and then I would gladly talk about it.
But no. He wouldn’t let up. The whole project was tearing me apart. It was my financial investment along with a couple of investors.
I kept asking, and then yelling, for him to shut up.
Finally, I couldn’t take it. I threw my plate of spaghetti against the wall where it stuck like glue.
He stopped talking and just stared at me and then the spaghetti on the wall.
And then back to his ideas again.
I got up and pushed him out of my house.
The dumb fuck had driven himself to my house drunk. So I pulled him back inside and locked him in my bathroom. Then I barricaded the bathroom door with the coffee table.
I sat back and watched some TV while Butch screamed.
After 30 minutes, I let him out. I made him drink several cups of coffee and sent him on his way. By that point, I didn’t care if he got caught by the cops. Best thing for him I thought.
More later….