Its been a few months since I spoke with Justin Hansen from Alpha Cigars. In fact it was at the Save the Leaf event in Washington, DC back on August 8th. I would like to take just a moment to thank Justin for coming out to the event and showing his support. As a small and new brand owner, he is right in the cross hairs of the new FDA regulations.
Alpha Cigars made waves at this years IPCPR when they introduced their Absinthe infused cigar, aptly named the Infuser. I have yet to get me hands on that, but I did get the Defuser, which also debuted at the show. The difference is that the Defuser is not infused. It should be noted that Alpha Cigars also has a 3rd line, the Cordova Exclusivo Asia-Pacifico, which is only available in the Hong Kong market.
With all the craziness and build up to this years US Presidential election I felt I needed to be defused. Election day can’t come fast enough for me, and probably most of the country. Maybe the candidates should smoke one and get defused also.
Both the Defuser and the Infuser come in 3 different blends:
- Connecticut
- San Andres Claro
- San Andres Maduro
Each blend is available in 4 vitolas and packaged in 24 count boxes:
- Half Corona (3 1/2 x 46 ) – MSRP $7.24
- Robusto (5 x 50) – MSRP $8.70
- Gordo (5 1/2 x 60) – MSRP $9.40
- Box Press Belicoso (6 1/2 x 52) – MSRP $9.12
For today’s review I sampled the Defuser San Andres Claro – Half Corona. The blend is described as:
- Wrapper: San Andres Claro
- Binder: Dominican Republic
- Filler: Nicaragua
So let’s see how this half corona performs.
Cigar Review Notes
- Reminds me of a shot-gun shell
- Big band on this stubby little fella
- Gritty dark brown wrapper – yep that is San Andres!
- Very well capped
- Deep earthy aroma on the foot
- Cold draw is open with earth and black pepper
- Lighting this up you get smacked in the face with oodles of smoke rich in pepper
- A butter note is trying to poke through but the pepper controls the palate
- Solid snow-white ash
- Did I mention pepper? Almost half way in and it is still strong on this baby.
- Woody aroma
- Starting the second half, a cashew note breaks out on the palate
- The cashew starts to be wrapped in chocolate
- Wow, this is a pleasant shift!
- Smoke smoothed out finally
- Ash is still solid beyond the half
- Sweetness adds to the cocoa to end this with a candy delight
- Amazing what a quarter of a corona can offer!
- Smoke gets a bit hot at the nub
- Smoking time – 45 minutes
Overall the Alpha Cigars Defuser Half Corona was a well constructed cigar that held a fantastic ash and offered what I would describe as two cigars in one. The first half had flavors uniquely different from the second half. I really need to some one of the larger vitolas from this young company as I enjoyed the flavors in both halves.
Alpha Cigars The Defuser