There is a famous house on Bond Street in London known today as the Belstaff House. Constructed in 1876, the original structure was one of the most successful art galleries in London, housing private collections of Victorian art. As years went on the building was the home of the BBC recording studio and the Orchestrelle Company of New York. In the 1960’s it was a venue where some of the most famed rock and roll musicians of the time performed, including The Beatles, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix. In 2013, the building became the premier showcase store of the Belstaff Company, proprietors high end luxury clothing, accessories, and goods. It was aptly names the Belstaff House.
With unique style and products, Belstaff decided to work with Bugatti Cigars to produce a cigar that reflected the company’s unique character. The cigar known as the Bugatti Belstaff Bond was officially released in 2016.
I met up with the Bugatti Cigar Company at this years Premium Cigar Association (PCA) trade show and though they were heavily promoting their new and innovative Vulcan and Mirage lighters, they also had their collection of cigars on display. After getting a a demonstration of the very cool lighters (you really should buy one of these) I got a tour of the company’s cigars.
Bugatti was kind enough to set me up with samples of their line and today I present you the first of a number of reviews on Bugatti Cigars, specifically the Belstaff Bond.
The Belstaff Bond blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Sumatra
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Brazilian, Dominican, and Mexican
The Belstaff Bond is expressed in 2 vitolas and comes packaged in 20-count boxes:
- Robusto (5 x 50) MSRP $5.50
- Toro (6 x 52) MSRP $6.00
For this review, I sampled the Bugatti Belstaff Bond toro.
Pre-Light Examination
The Bugatti Belstaff Bond is an attractive cigar with an oily, dark brown and toothy wrapper. The are just a few minor veins and it is finished with a simple cap. Holding in my hand it felt well packed and had a decent weight to it. A few presses of my finger along the barrel revealed no soft spots.
A single band adorns the cigar, using a gold, black, and orange motif. The word Belstaff logo is boldly printed in orange in the center and the word “Bond” is printed on the bottom of the band.
Running the cigar across the nose I picked up a well fermented leaf aroma along the barrel along with some natural sweetness and bread notes off the foot.
I sliced it straight across the shoulder to open it up and gave it some cold draw puffs that were snug but not overly tight and offered notes of pepper and citrus.
So far, the Bugatti Belstaff Bond is shaping up to be a decent cigar, but looks and pre-light aroma is just the start of the journey. I reached for my double flame torch to warm the foot, rotating the cigar to get a nice even ignition as I drew in the first puffs that had a quite a bit of mineral notes. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- First light is a bit harsh and offered quite a bit of mineral notes
- Medium volume of smoke through a snug draw
- White ash develops on a medium thick char line
- Citrus and dry leather notes enter
- Oils are nicely developing just above the burn line
- Nut aroma fills the air in the lounge
- Sweetness and cedar notes enter near end of first third
- Touch of licorice hits the palate moving into the second third
- The burn line is jagged
- Long ash fell revealing a decently formed and centered burn cone
- Spice notes enter midway
- Oils continue to ooze above the burn line
- Smoke volume opens up as sweetness is filling in the core
- Cedar notes rejoin the profile
- Mouth watering finish on the palate with a lingering nut
- Smoke is getting a bit astringent deep in second third
- Spice ratchets up in final third with a pleasant cedar finish
- Mild to medium in strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 50 minutes
Overall, I have to say, the first half inch of burn almost had me put the Bugatti Belstaff Bond down due to its mineral harshness, but just as I was thinking of that, it shifted gears like finally tuned machine and delivered an array of pleasant and interesting flavors and aromas. Through the rest of the journey I was treated to notes of citrus, leather, sweetness, licorice, spice and nut. There was a wavy jagged burn and it did have a moment where it got a bit too astringent. I can easily recommend picking up a fiver of these to check out. I rate this a 91. You can find these for sale on Cigars International at an amazing discount.
Point Deductions: (-1) Jagged Burn; (-1) Medium Volume of Smoke; (-1) Harsh Start 1/2 inch; (-2) Mineral Notes; (-1) Slightly astringent; (-1) Snug Draw
Bonus Points: (+1) Long Ash; (+1) Heavy Oiling above the burn line
