The other day my friend and fellow Stogie Press Lounge member gifted me a cigar that mysteriously showed up in his mailbox. It was a rather nondescript stogie with a simple homemade white band applied with a small piece of scotch tape. The name of this stick was Casa Trompeta and the blend was named the “Mild Bunch” . He asked me if I ever heard of this cigar and I stated “Nope”. I did a little research and discovered that the Casa Trompeta home-made by a man named Michael Stewart based out of Illinois.
Casa Trompeta Mild Bunch
I found Michael’s Twitter account @lamb95stew and noticed he is a Musician, Sushi maker, and Cigar creator. Perhaps this is the new definition of a Renaissance Man. Besides the Mild Bunch, he produces a 6×50 Toro named Nicaraguan. Half Ashed did a video interview with Michael back in November of 2013 on his Nicaraguan Toro along with a demo of his rolling technique. . You can see that interview here.
So today I decided to light up the Mild Bunch. It was a 6 x 50 Connecticut Shade wrapped cigar. I don’t know the actual blend as I have not yet heard back from Michael but the filler and binder were a nice dark color I am assuming it is Nicaraguan leaf. The Band was crazy simple as I noted, produced simply and taped instead of glued on. There were some sweet tobacco notes on the foot. The Dry Draw was open with a touch of bitterness which I attribute to the wrapper. The wrapper is a light tan, with a gentle network of veins.
Firing up the Mild Bunch, I get a full mouthful of smoke that is mild and creamy. The ash is a snowy white with a touch of flake to it. As it gets into the first third there is a sweetness that develops along with a slight cocoa aroma. I have to put the smoke production of the Mild Bunch at the top o the scale. The ash held on for almost but fell when I touched up a wave in the burn.
Moving into the second third, there is a peanut butter flavor detected a lot like peanut butter on a Ritz cracker. It lasted for a short few puffs and then returned to sweetness. The ash picks up burning white as snow. Speaking of snow, I just saw some pictures from friends in New England and my heart goes out to them. That snow is no longer fun.
The final third brought a bit of surprise with a touch of pepper in the retro-hale. It woke up my nostrils as it was not expected for a wonderfully mild cigar. Don’t get me wrong, I like that twist. There was another small we that needed a touch up here also.
As the band states “Mild Bunch” this is a mild cigar great in the morning with a cup of coffee as I was enjoying today on this sunny cool Florida morning.
A little more research and a discussion with my friend Alton, and we noticed Michael Stewart has a tie in with Cigar Federation. Alton buys a lot of his sticks from them so we concluded that this one was a may well have come from CF.
Casa Trompeta Mild Bunch
Overall, the Mild Bunch is a nice cigar and I really like the fact that he rolls these himself. Maybe I can get my paws on his other blend someday.
– Boston Jimmie
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