I know it is not even St. Valentine’s day, and St Patrick’s day is a good month away, but I have been wanting to try a new cigar I picked up at the PCA trade show last year and I wanted to talk about it before everything turns green. Today I present the Jeremy Jack Blarney Stick. Yea, that’s right – big and green and finished in a most peculiar manner.
By all means, the Jeremy Jack “Blarney Stick” is made to smoke, as opposed to kiss, like the stone of the same name. And I am not sure if smoking it will bring you any luck, but I will say, after I smoked it today, my investments did very well at the closing bell. Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket but so be it. Lets get right down to it.
The Jeremy Jack “Blarney Stick” has blend described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian (Candela)
- Binder– Dominican
- Filler – Dominican
It also has a mildly sweetened cap I am told.
The Blarney Stick is expressed in a single, 7 x 48 vitola that I have seen described as a Churchill, but the head is tapered more like a torpedo. The cigar has a retail price of $8.40 and comes packaged in 20-count boxes.
Pre-Light Examination
The Jeremy Jack “Blarney Stick appears to be a well constructed candela wrapped cigar, with an even green hue with a oily sheen. There are a few veins that run along the barrel. When held in the hand, it has a decent weight but I would not say it was heavy for its size. The head tapers down to a small round tip, that is covered with a ball of candela leaf. Of course I removed that leaf to expose the dark brown tip of the Dominican binder. What does one do to open up the Blarney Stick? We will get there.
There is a single band that adorns the cigar, it uses a four leaf clover split between orange, white, and green, the colors of the Irish flag. It also states in emerald green, “Blarney Stick”. Jeremy Jacks signature is also located under the right side of the clover.
Running the Blarney Stick across the nose, I picked up little aroma along the barrel but the foot exuded a pleasant baking spice note.
So now it was time to cut and cold draw the Blarney Stick. I removed the ball of leaf and I was looking at a thin rounded tip. So I tried to cold draw from that, nár oibrigh (did not work). OK, I then used my double blade cutter to slice the tip off and try to cold draw, nár oibrigh. Oh well, I sliced deeper into the tapered head as I would cut a torpedo and d’oibrigh sé, it worked finally. That took a little time, the cold draw was nicely restricted at this point and my palate was presented notes of rich butter and sea salt. Very interesting indeed, ionadh!
Enough playing with the stick, it was time to light it up and turn it to ash (cas ar luaith). I used my dual flame torch and brought the foot to an even orange glow and took in the first mouth filling puffs of butter and salty smoke. Perhaps that is the character of the wrapper. Follow along as I go on a little Irish journey.
Cigar Review Notes
- Initial notes of butter and sea salt
- Shortly into the burn, a hint of cinnamon spices up the profile
- White ash forms on a medium char line
- Coffee notes join the mix and make for a smooth yet still salty smoke
- The smoke volume is full and thick
- The ash fell early, revealing a decent burn cone
- Grassy notes enter which I am going to describe as sea grass or kelp (I know this taste well, as when I lived in Japan I ate a lot of this, it has a salty vegetable note to it)
- Spice re-enters midway
- Citrus notes enter to brighten up the profile
- Ash get flaky
- Sweetness joins the citrus like a sugar coated grapefruit slice
- The burn goes off a bit deep in the second third
- Spice increases and become the predominate note along with the saltiness that move into the back of the profile
- The barrel gets squishy in the final third
- Mild to Medium in strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 Minutes
I have to say, the Jeremy Jack Blarney stick had one of the most unique flavor profiles I have experienced. The cigar has been resting for a good 8 months and maybe the age had some impact on it. It did seem to have two sides to the profile, the start was more salty and grassy while the second half kicked in sweetness, citrus, and spice. It did have a slight off burn on it and though the ash held for a decent inch plus it did have a flaky texture to it. Overall I rate this one a 90 and suggest maybe picking up a five pack and celebrate St. Patty’s day in style. The price is right and it is a unique cigar. Unfortunately, I don’t know where these are carried. I will have to contact the company and will update accordingly.
Point Deductions: (-1) Flaky Ash; (-1) Slight Off-Burn; (-1) Squishy Barrel in Final; (-1) Slightly Unbalanced Flavor
