Evil Genius Time Machine Toro Cigar Review

Some of you may not know that I am a certified geek. Yes, I have the papers to prove it from universities in NYC and Florida not to mention the over 35 years in the field of Engineering so when I meet some fellow geeks who have decided to market a new cigar line I am all ears. That was the case when I met the cool cats from the Evil Genius Cigar company. Somehow I missed meeting Alex Hirsch at the 2014 IPCPR in Las Vegas when the company released their debut cigars the White Chapel and the Black Chapel.  This year however I could not help but run into them. The company was promoting their latest creation the “Time Machine” and I was just drawn into their booth with open and curious eyes.

Evil Genius is not just your everyday cigar company. Not only do they have the passion and drive for the business but they are also bringing a little science to the party. The company spent time studying, testing, and analyzing cigar blends to better understand what works and what does not. The result of this study was what we in the science world call “replicable data”. In short, that means they had sufficient data to be able to predict the smoking experience, burn and flavor, so they could craft their cigars with consistent results.

So with the science behind them and a partnership with La Aurora Cigars they were on their way to testing their theory like all good scientists. With a touch of success from their debut White and Black Chapel cigars it was time to turn up the volume a bit and take the company to even higher levels with the Time Machine which boasts fillers from Cameroon and the Dominican Republic along with a Nicaraguan corojo binder all wrapped up in a Nicaraguan Habano leaf. When speaking to Alex at the show he was quick to point out that the fillers include  two ligeros and one seco leaf.

Evil Genius offers the Time Machine in 5 vitolas:

• Corona (5 1/4 x 42)
• Robusto (5 x 50)
• Lonsdale (6 1/2 x 42)
• Toro (6 x 50)
• Churchill (7 x 50).

The median cost of these is around $7.00 with the corona costing the least and the Churchill the most. Other than the Lonsdale which is a limited production cigar, the rest are in full production. Alex gave me a sample of the Toro at this IPCPR in New Orleans and it sat in my humidor since July of last year, I guess it is time to check out the Time Machine and see where it takes me but first let’s take a look at this vitola a little closer.

Even though the wrapper is Nicaraguan Habano leaf, it has kind of a rosado look to it in the light with a slight reddish hue that adds a certain beauty to the cigar itself. The leaf is smooth and lacking any noticeable veins and the seams are tight. It is tightly packed with no soft spots along the barrel and has a decent weight in the hand.

As I sit in the solitude of the Stogie Press lounge I take some time to examine it further. The band is simple; black and silver with the Evil Genius Cigar logo centered and surrounded by a master binary code. Yea, that is what those 1’s and 0’s are. Now I am a serious computer geek and have known about binary codes since I was a wee 14 year old adolescent school boy. While others were reading novels I was reading books on computers and electronics. So it is safe to say I wanted to break that code. So here it goes.

I may be right or wrong here. but there are three parts to the code, each separated by an ink drop. I quickly noticed that the 1’s and 0’s need to be split into groups of 8 (the binary value of the alphabet) on order to decipher it.

The first set was 4 letters each in lower case:

01100010 [b] 01110101 [u] 01110010 [r] 01101110 [n]

The next group was confusing at first until I took out one of the 0’s noted in red below. I am not sure why that was there. I wil have to reach out to Alex and maybe he can fill me in.

The second set was 11 lower case letters:

01101101 [m] 01101111 [o] 01110100 [s] 0 01101000 [h] 01100101 [e] 01110010 [r]

01100110 [f] 01110101 [u] 01100011 [c] 01101011 [k] 01100101 [e] 01110010 [r]

And finally the last set is the same as the first:

01100010 [b] 01110101 [u] 01110010 [r] 01101110 [n]

So there you have it, the secret Evil Genius message;

“burn mosherfucker burn”

Of course the next part is what is a mosherfucker? I will leave that for you the reader to research but I believe it has something to do with heavy metal mosh music.

Lastly there is a secondary band  that signifies this cigar as the Time Machine.

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Well enough of the geek lesson for the day and back the review.

The Time Machine has a bit of a baking spice aroma to it along barrel and foot and as I sliced the well applied cap and give it a few cold draw puffs I get a fruit note with just a hint of spice. Let’s fire up the Time Machine and see where it takes me. I am still thinking about the secret message and decide to cue up some early 21^st century  hard moshing rock you the kind – Avenged Sevenfold, Slayer, Linkin Park, Flogging Molly, etc.

Yea the Time Machine is taking me back to days with my son and his friends with their garage band. Heck the boy introduced me to Avenged Sevenfold music!

As the Time Machine burns like the rhythms of the music there is an eclectic spice that enlightens my palate. The medium grey ash is decent and the burn is straight. A slight medicinal flavor enters and then gives way to a touch of bitter coffee bean that morphs into deep earthy notes.

Into the second third the Time Machine finds itself and delivers a delightful cedar component on top of a fruity core as the coffee fades to the background and sweetens up a bit with the fruit.

Approaching the second half there is a dose of white pepper entering. I feel it on my throat as I retro-hale the full and creamy smoke.

As the Evil Genius Time Machine finishes it delivers a wonderful mix of cedar and earth with a hint of tangy fruit coupled with spicy nut aroma.

I have to say I was pleased with the quality and flavor of this Evil Genius Time Machine cigar. It had a slow start to the flavor generation but once it found itself the flavor moved along nicely and the burn was near perfect with no issues, touchups, or draw issues. The smoke production was slightly above average and the ash held on decently through the burn.