Last year Ryan Gallimore opened a new cigar company – Swinger Cigars, LLC and his first two debut blends were the Front 9 and Back 9. Decent cigars especially for the golf course. This year he set the bar higher and has introduced the 1895. This cigar is a bolder more flavorful 4 country blend. that is sure to please some of the most discerning palates.
Stogie Press was impressed by the look and feel of the 1895 and decided to do a video review of it.
Although only two of the Stogie Press council members were present this evening we did have a third that smoked it after and we have included his notes in the recap below.
Like all Swinger Cigars, the 1895 is a golf themed name, this time from the year that the 1st US Open was played.
To start off, the Swinger 1895 comes in 2 vitolas each packaged in a ten count boxes. While the previous blends had sizes named after the difficulty (par) of a golf hole, the 1895 is named after a club number (5, 6)
- #5 5×58
- #6 6×58
The boxes are cabinet style, plain wood with a burnt in logo and name, and sliding top on it. The 1895 band is a break from the previous bands swinger used, this time going with red, white, and blue color scheme. There are two bands on the cigar – the primary has the Swinger logo and the secondary the name of the cigar itself, in this case “1895”.
Closer examination the 1895 displays a satiny dark brown Brazilian maduro wrapper that is smooth to the touch and just beautiful to look at. The 1895 is filled with tobaccos from three additional countries – Colombia, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The pre-light aroma of the 1895 can be described as a well fermented tobacco with a bit of sweetness and while the dry draw is tight due to the figuroda shape of the 1895 #6, there is a definite pepper on the lips prior to lighting it up.
Once clipped and fired up the 1895 offers a big dose of red peppery smoke that fills the palate from mouth to nasal. It certainly opened my nasals for what was about to come. After an inch or so the pepper faded nicely and there was a faint buttery back note and a hint of coffee. The coffee may be described as a cafe latte.
As it works it way through the 1st third, the Swinger Cigars 1895 opens up with a fuller production of smoke and the flavor shifts to a dried currant. The burn is decent at this point and the ash is tight and maintaining the figuroda shape.
As it nears the 2 inch mark there is a buttery popcorn flavor that enters and our other Stogie Press member noted that he got burnt caramel and salt flavor at that stage. I can see that, palates are different of course but popcorn and burnt salty caramel are close. The pepper reemerges shortly later while the dried currant remains in the background.
As it moves past the 2nd half the 1895 offers a cedar and earthy flavor and then shifts to a dark coffee bean note near the secondary band. The coffee is a brief transition as the flavor continues to morph into a chocolate flavor and aroma with a hint of cinnamon in the background. We did note however that the cinnamon danced with the chocolate through the remainder of the burn and the finish was clean and not lingering.
Overall the Swinger Cigar 1895 is a most pleasurable full flavor and medium strength cigar that I would highly recommend to any cigar smoker. I would buy more than one so that you can age the other as this cigar is definitely one that should age very nicely in about 6 months or so, as it already was like a 7 course meal in its flavor profile. I would probably smoke the other blends from Swinger Cigars while duffing the golf ball on the course and save the 1895 for a post victory cigar at the 19th hole with sweet aged rum or highland malt scotch. It might even pair well with a bottle of “Not Your Father Root Beer“.
