Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan Condega & Estelï, Pennsylvania, USA
Size: 6.5 x 50
Strength: Medium
Price: $10.50
Today we take a look at the Jas Sum Kral Tyrannical Buc Habano.
I bought a fiver from Cigar Federation for $41 using a temporary promo code.
They have been resting naked for 5 weeks.
I’m jumping the gun a bit on this review due to the limited release. I prefer to do this while the cigars are still available online from Cigar Federation.
BACKGROUND:
Limited production of 2500 cigars.
From Cigar Federation:
*CIGAR FEDERATION EXCLUSIVE!*
The JSK Tyrannical buc Broadleaf Maduro and Connecticut Shade were 2 of the most popular boutique cigars released this year!
Now it’s time to unleash the Tyrannical Buc HABANO!
The JSK Tyrannical Buc Habano is an exclusive release that will only be available online at Cigar Federation Store!
Total production for the JSK Tyrannical Buc Habano Exclusive is 2500 cigars packed in custom 5 packs. Each 5 pack comes with a detachable Tyrannical Buc embroidered patch!
JSK Tyrannical Buc Habano Exclusive is a 6×50 toro made at Tabacalera de Argon. Wrapper is Ecuadorian Habano. Binder is Nicaragua from Jalapa. Filler tobaccos are from Condega, Esteli, and Pennsylvania, USA.
“This is our greatest Tyrannical Buc release ever. The tobaccos are some of the most legendary stuff I’ve ever worked with.” noted Jas Sum Kral owner Riste Ristevski.
JSK Tyrannical Buc Habano Exclusive is a full-bodied, medium-strength cigar. Flavors are creamy with notes of coffee, pepper, brown sugar, and wood.”
APPEARANCE:
Respectable looking stick. Tight seams. A few bits of veinage. The stick is solid. No give. Appears to have a double cap. The wrapper is the hue of a brown paper bag and smooth as ice.
SMELL THE GLOVE:
Bright floral notes hit my schnoz immediately…followed by strong caramel, some red pepper, malt, dark chocolate, clove and assorted baking spices, creamy, cedar, barnyard, vanilla, and smoked oak.
The cold draw presents flavors of salted meat, espresso, malt, peanuts, caramel, creaminess, cedar, and barnyard.
FIRST THIRD:
No air was moving so I used my PerfecDraw adjustment tool to clear things up right around the cigar band area. Had to use it to get those cold draw flavors.
I smoked one a week in; big mistake. Tossed it. Smoked one a couple days ago and saw some real potential. While I’m reviewing this stick only 5 weeks in after receipt, it has enough character that I can review its potential with some accuracy…but knowing that if given a few months humi time, the blend will excel.
First up…barely medium strength. Then, a nice blend of baking spices, dark cocoa, potent black pepper, malt, caramel, espresso, and cedar. Nice start.
Complexity hits soon enough as I’ve only made it through half an inch of cigar. No transitions but a nice warm finish.
Flavors are muted. They will pick up in the second half. Something that will happen sooner given the cigar has some serious time to rest.
I just checked the price of the cigar. I railed against the constant pricing of $12 for new sticks. But I believe it has been replaced on a wider scale by the $10 stick. And of course, there are the ridiculous price points of new cigars that have the nerve to charge $14 and up. Such horseshit. I think if we boycotted these manufacturers til they came to their greedy senses, they would realize not all smokers are chumps and don’t have an endless supply of money trees out back. I’m going to ignore you Brits and Commonwealth readers who are flipping me off now because you pay, on average, $25 for a cigar. I remember living in London and taxes were ridiculous, hence The Beatles’ song, “Taxman.”
A smoky, creamy banana foster flavor bursts onto the profile. This is decadent.
A very easy-going blend. Strength is perfect for a morning cigar with coffee.
The Jas Sum Kral Tyrannical Buc Habano doesn’t come with a frontal attack. It slips and slides around my palate like a bunch of eels at the bottom of a marsh. I have no fucking idea what that means.
I’m getting that sweetness from cinnamon graham crackers, caramel, banana, chocolate, and sweet cedar.
On the savory side, there is smoky oak, smoky meat, pepper, cinnamon, and black coffee.
Construction is on the money with no burn issues.
This is going to be a really good blend in a few months; or even better, in the second half.
Ever notice that when you smoke a great cigar, and you know it’s too early…but that sense of blending mastery comes through loud and clear? This is one of those blends. It has all the vestiges of a premium cigar blend.
And they are still for sale on Cigar Federation. Tell them the Katman sent you. It won’t get you anything for free or a discount, but it will annoy them.
Strength has not changed. A very easy on the brain medium. Very smooth.
Balance has kicked in. Nice counterparts between savory v. sweet.
The fiver comes in a paper enclosure with a removable patch that declares the name of the cigar. What am I supposed to do with that? Would the cigar be $9 instead of $10 if it were left out of the presentation?
At this point, I can say the Jas Sum Kral Tyrannical Buc Habano is a pleasant cigar.
SECOND THIRD:
I’m hoping to see some zip show up soon.
Flavors are nuanced and balanced. Just not out front. So, do these flavors to be named at a later time bloom with more humi time? Probably.
Sweetness is enjoined by a taste of honey and maybe some molasses. Syrupy.
BTW- I used Honey for coupons when I bought this fiver. It saved me $10. Surprised the shit out of me.
I had hoped for more forward progress by this point. The cigar begins to sink into a linear formation. Gotta be the need for more humidor time. I hope.
Saying that, the blend does seem to be getting fatter. Maybe that is the first sign of the blend blooming a bit. My hypothesis it should be a lot better in the second half may be coming to fruition. I always feel like a snail on a razor blade when I review a blend after only a month or so. I don’t want to diss it because I’m in a hurry. But then I don’t know if I’m getting all the possibilities the cigar has to offer.
I’m smack dab in the middle of the cigar. No abrupt changes. No surge.
The blend should have been designated as mild/medium. If anything is true, a cigar smoked early will be its strongest and then mellow with age. This blend is a little light in the loafers for my taste. But for those that love mellow cigars, this is your baby.
I equate mild strength cigars with no oomph. No challenge to the senses. That’s just me. Everyone is different.
It is a well-made stick. No construction issues nor burn issues.
And then the blend picks up speed. The spiciness, which has been laid back, comes to the forefront. The flavor profile intensifies for the first time. It is now a solid medium strength blend. Much better. Call me Karnak…or Ishmael.
The Jas Sum Kral Tyrannical Buc Habano has kicked into gear. I could go back and edit out the portions I whine about the stick making me look stupid…but stupid is my thing.
I’m impressed that the savory and sweet factors rise at the same time in harmony. Still perfectly balanced and still very smooth.
I’m allowed to smoke inside in my little man cave. But I must open the windows and in this frigid Wisconsin weather, that cold affects the wrappers every time…little cracks appear. Not the cigar’s fault. My testicles are hiding in Charlotte’s lap.
I dab the cracks in the wrapper with my PerfecRepair cigar glue and situation normal now.
The cigar blend improves with each puff but this is not a blend that comes at you firing on all cylinders. It does not overwhelm. I will return here in a couple months and let you know what I think when this cigar has had more rest.
As I said earlier, the point is to allow you to purchase some before they are gone…should you choose to.
When I was in Curved Air, I would take the ferry from Dover to the Hook of Holland with the roadies because I always got violently seasick on the English Channel. Once, we were waiting outside the ferry killing time, when we discovered that the Led Zep roadies were taking the same ferry. These were wild and crazy guys. The last ones that arrived in a cab decided, in a drunken frenzy, to disassemble the cab. The cabbie could only stand there and have a panic attack. There must have been a hundred parts lying on the ground when we boarded the boat. The LZ roadies handed a bunch of cash to the cabbie and off we went. We had dinner with them that night and they were downright pushing the limits of civility. They mocked all the first-class passengers. Drank like there was no tomorrow. Bellowed obscenities. And a good time was had by all.
While the Jas Sum Kral Tyrannical Buc Habano has improved in the second half, it’s still not bowling me over.
LAST THIRD:
Complexity is in stasis. Transitions never really appear in any substantial way. The finish is dominated by spiciness and creaminess…with a touch of sweetness.
With the myriad of leaf usage in this blend, I expected a bigger footprint for the blend. Just my guess, but I don’t think the tobacco is all that aged…hence, a few months of humidor might very well solve that problem. So, if you purchase yourself a fiver, smoke one when you can’t stand it any longer and then leave them alone.
I’m convinced the blend will get better and I chose wrong to review it this early.
Very noticeably, the flavor profile finds moments that give me some crystal ball insight into what this cigar may become…they just aren’t consistent.
The biggest thing in its favor is its perfect balance. Nothing overwhelms.
Strength leaps to medium/full. Nicotine is in play.
The Jas Sum Kral Tyrannical Buc Habano is a nice cigar. But then you have choices. There are a gazillion sticks out there for this price. And I have smoked half a gazillion of them. Many will shine like a star with only 5 weeks humi time. Or at least, imprint some impressive notes to my palate.
This is just my palate, not yours. You may think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. But I’m just not really impressed that much with the blend.
My rating will reflect that I think it might just improve considerably with more time.
I will stick my neck out and say, if you have the discretionary dough at hand, snag a fiver and let me know what you think.
RATING: 88
And now for something completely different:
We were recording an album at Island Studios in London. 1975.
During the close of recording of the album, Jose Feliciano showed up. Our PR guy was a longtime friend of Jose’s and invited him to the studio. It was the first time Feliciano had toured England.
He seemed to have dug our music and was so enthusiastic that he asked if he could lay down some guitar on our tracks. Darryl Way did not like this idea. But here we were. The worst that could happen is we would be entertained by Feliciano and then throw away his parts later in final mixing.
For a couple nights, Jose added his own style to our English progressive recordings.
The only tune he sounded great on was my one tune allowed on the album: “I Broke My Leg in Yucca Valley, but My Heart Lies in Palm Springs.” Really, no bullshit. That was the name of the tune and of course, it was bass oriented. I got to show off. The band hated it. It was so intricate that they couldn’t figure it out. It was very American jazz fusion…the exact reason they hired me. So, they went to the booth and sulked. My tune became a bass solo with Feliciano playing guitar and famous Brazilian percussionist, Paulhino De Costa playing every percussion instrument he had in his kit bag. And Stew was right on point. I tried teaching Sonja the two sentence lyrics but she didn’t have the range or the ability to hit the strange time signature…or the ability to scat sing, so we had our only instrumental on the album.
RCA had a big “Listening Party” debuting the release of the album called “Midnight Wire.”
It was a scene right out of “Spinal Tap.” The record was played on a continual loop throughout the party and each time Yucca Valley played, I could hear mutterings of, “What the fuck is that?”
My heart sank. Feliciano liked it so much that he bought licensing rights…but I waited and it never showed up on any of his albums.
RCA’s reaction to our album was a disaster. And not just because of “Yucca Valley.”
Behind closed doors, Copeland and his henchmen figured out a new plan. They brought in two American hot shot producer brothers that had just finished engineering Clapton’s latest album, “461 Ocean Blvd.”
In Amsterdam, they came to watch us perform and we got word that we better go meet them at their hotel the next afternoon. I went by myself because no one was interested. I felt it was very important but the band had no interest. They sat in our hotel drinking and getting stoned.
So, I went to the boys’ hotel and sat in their room and listened to these two fuck heads tear our album apart…just ripped it. They told me that I didn’t move around enough on stage…WTF? I thought, “I’d like to see them play intricate parts while doing the Chuck Berry duck dance.”
And to my face, they told me my bass playing sucked. They said the vocals sucked. They said the arrangements sucked. They said the violin playing sucked. They said the guitar playing was out of place. Holy Bat Shit!
I raced back to our hotel and with my eyes as big as saucers, I told the band we are in big trouble. They just laughed at me while drinking and smoking dope.
The plan was to re-record the album, but something needed to be fixed. The two camps were called for a meeting. I was not invited. They blamed each other for the album failure. And guess what? Yep. I got the phone call. I was gone. The album problems were laid right at the foot of the bassist.
Bastardos!
They hired a session bassist to fill in the tracks. But when I listened to the finished album, I heard my bass playing on 75% of the tracks. So, I wasn’t the problem. And I’ve never been paid royalties as, to this day, the refuse to admit they used my tracks.
The new album had no soul and was listless and sterile. No excitement, no verve. It was considered by the critics as the end of the band. And this band had a long lifetime. I believe they put out 14 albums. I was on 4.
There I was, stranded in England without a gig. It was so humiliating when the musical mags and rags started reporting that I had left the band because of differences inside the band. But I called these rags and told them the truth and they printed it. The band came down hard on me for doing this. I didn’t care. They fired me without any severance, and I was dead broke 6000 miles from home with my girlfriend and her little girl.
The roadies took pity on me and delivered half of the equipment stored in the management’s warehouse so I could sell it and have money. Management made no stink over this. These were their best roadies and the roadies got in the face of Miles Copeland and shamed him for doing what he did to me. I sold everything and finally had some money in the bank.
I spent another 6 months playing with several well-known English bands, but it just didn’t click with me and I decided to go home with my tail between my legs.
Looking back, it was still a great experience for a musician in his mid-20’s to have. I learned a lot…the hard way.
