Providencia Trinitas Cigar Pre-Release Review

I am becoming a fan lately of Jim Faber, Reed Grafke and Raymond Zinar from Providencia  Cigars.  It is easy to do that when their introductory blends, the El Santo and El Padre, were enjoyable enough for me to say they are deserving of a place in your humidor. But there is more coming from this company, as they, like others in the business, keep working on new blends to tantalize your palate. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to the latest blend from Providencia Cigars.

Known as the Trinitas, it is being billed as a triple ligero blend of aged leaf all wrapped in a toothy San Andres  leaf. I recently received a sample of the new Trinitas for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press and I am here today to present that review. The production release of the Trinitas is planned for the October – November time-frame of this year.

Before we get into the review let’s talk some more about Providencia  Cigars and its founder Jim Faber.

Some background on the Providencia Cigars

The story of Providencia  Cigars began when Jim Faber took a trip to Honduras to serve in a mission in 1997. Fresh out of school, Jim was never out of the country so this was his first time and the 2 – 3 week mission turned into a 15 year experience in Honduras. While there, Jim was invited to try out for the local professional soccer team and surprisingly made the cut.  Although he had originally planned to stay only a year he ended up coming back to the states, selling everything he had and moved back to Honduras. This is where he met his wife and fathered two children and eventually adopted a 3rd that he found in a trash dump. Yes, that is the kind of man who Jim is. God only knows what would have happened to that little girl  if Jim did not find her.

His years in Honduras including much travel, soccer playing, and mission work. Eventually , Jim met Javier Mendoza through a mutual friend when he was in Danali, Honduras.  Javier was the general manager for Raices Cubanas cigars  and introduced Jim to the world of cigars. That was 17 years ago.

As time moved on, Jim’s palate got more refined and eventually he was invited to Javier’s farms in Trojes, Honduras where he learned about the planting, cultivating, and processing of the leaf. In Jim’s words, “Javier taught me everything from  A to Z,  how to grow it, how to process it, age it and blend it”.  After about 30 blends later, the Providencia Cigar line was started with the El Padre and El Santo blends, which we recently reviewed on Stogie Press.

When asked about the names of the cigars, Jim points out how he has been guided by the Lord in all he does and the names are a tribute to that. The El Padre is “The Father” and the El Santo is “The Saint”. The newest blend, the Trinitas is a nod to the Holy Trinity. Jim notes how these names are a way to thank God for saving his life, and that is not an understatement, as Jim explains how he was the victim of an attempted kidnapping by  a street gang in the country.

As the story goes; Jim was working with the youth, helping them get off the street through the game of soccer. Through the soccer work he got close to the mayor of the town and was eventually asked if he would consider helping to get the young members of a gang off the street through his soccer camps and school.  Jim took the challenge and over time he developed a friendship with them as he helped to turn their lives by way of soccer.  One day at the field, he was abducted by some men who and forced into a car. Some of the dads stepped in to help and as Jim describes, there was gun fire and he was eventually able to get free. He was later told by the US Military investigator that a Mexican gang had moved into the country and they believed it was these gang members that tried to kidnap him. As a result he left his beloved adopted country of Honduras and came back to the US. He thanks God every day that he is safe.

If you want to learn more about the Providencia story here is a video of the Stogie Press Cigar Chat we did with Jim and Raymond from Providencia Cigars:

The Trintas Cigar

As you have learned, the Trinitas is a very special cigar for Jim Faber and is a nod to the Holy Trinity and how God has saved his life. The Trinitas is also the third blend for this young company, and is a bold one at that. It is a dark brown San Andres wrapped, box pressed double torpedo. In fact the mold is the same as the Oliva Serie ‘V’ Melanio. The wrapper is a gritty, toothy leaf and the cigar measures 6.5 x 52.  Since this was a pre-release there is no band on it but I am assured that is being worked on as I write this.

The bold blend of the Trinitas is described to me as:

• Wrapper – Mexican San Andres
• Binder – Nicaragua
• Filler –
  • Nicaraguan Corojo 99
  • Nicaragua Ligero Jalapa
  • Honduran Ligero and Viso Habano Criollo

The Providencia Trinitas will  be available in 10-count boxes and will be available in a single double torpedo vitola. Retail price has not been set as of yet, but it should  be in the $10-$12 range I am told.

Pre-Light Examination

As I passed through the visual examination of this beautiful specimen, it was time to bring on the other senses. The Trinitas has a very inviting sweet hay and cocoa aroma off the foot and a sweet spice along the barrel. I sliced the cap with my new Xikar cutter and rolled it about, tasting notes of pepper and fruit with a hint of chocolate. This is exactly what I expected from the blend and it was a perfect introduction to the cigar.

With all the preliminaries complete it was time to ignite the Providencia Trinitas.

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Cigar Review Notes

 

• Fairly smooth start with a slight pepper wrapped in sweetness
• Smoke has a medium body of creamy thickness
• White ash develops on a thin char line
• A malty note enters after an inch of solid burn
• Coffee notes follow
• Ash fell after inch and half revealing a decently centered burn cone
• Pepper starting to emerge more
• Perfect burn!!!
• Cocoa enters midway though the second third
• Sweet Almond enters midway – I just love that flavor note
• Ash darkens moving into the second half
• Terrific blending of flavors
• Spice grows on the tongue
• Touch of earth rounding out the profile
• Spice is building through second third taking control of the profile
• Dry cocoa powder enters to finish the journey
• Medium to Full Strength
• Total Smoking time was 1 hour and 40 minutes

Overall, the Providencia Trintitas cigar was a bold smoking experience. It was by far, a step above the El Santo and El Padre, both of which I enjoyed. The Trinitas is an example of how well Jim Faber’s blending skills and palate have grown over the years. I am looking forward to smoking the final production version and comparing it to the pre-release, but until then I hope you enjoyed reading this review as much as I enjoyed writing it while smoking the Trinitas.

I am also informed that while the Trintitas finishes the company’s honor to God, for protecting Jim and leading him all those years in a foreign country, there will  be additional blends that are planned to tie into the time he spent in Honduras. The next cigar will be called The HOSTAGE, created from Jim’s  experience escaping a thwarted kidnapping.