It has been a while since Artesano del Tobacco introduced their famed Viva La Vida cigar line and its numerous extensions. Earlier this year, brothers Gus and Billy Fakih, owners of Artesano del Tobacco, announced a brand new blend known as the El Pulpo (The Octopus).
The new blend is described as:
- Wrapper – San Andres
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
It should be noted that the wrapper is said to have been aged 10 years for this project.
The El Pulpo is expressed in 3 box pressed vitolas, each packaged in 10-count boxes:
- Robusto (5 x 56)
- Toro (6 x 56)
- Belicoso Grande (5 3/4 x 58)
The company notes that the MSRP is going to be $15.00 – $17.00. Like the Viva la Vida line, the El Pulpo will be hand crafted and distributed by the AJ Fernandez Cigar Company.
For this review, I sampled two pre-release samples of the El Pulpo, which I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
Right off out of the humidor, the Artesano del Tobacco El Pulpo is a beautifully constructed box press cigar. It is geometric square with crisp edges and sports a dark brown wrapper that has a light oily sheen. The cigar is smooth to the touch with just a fine grit of the San Andres leaf. The veins are pressed smooth into the wrapper. A well applied cap finishes the presentation.
This being a pre-release sample there was a generic white and black band on the cigars. But the company has shared the art work for the El Pulpo.
Running the El Pulpo across the nose, I detected bright chocolate notes off the foot while the barrel had that earthy pungent fermented note like when you smell a leaf straight from the pilon.
Using my Baller cutter from CigarMedics, I opened the cap perfectly and proceeded to give the Octopus a few cold draw puffs that I found to be decently restricted and offering notes of pepper along with a growing hint of anise and cocoa. As I puffed a little more, I would say the pepper is revealing itself in the pre-light as more of cinnamon note.
My double flame torch did the trick to warm the foot as I drew in the first blasts of peppery spiced smoke to start the journey. Follow along as I burn the El Pulpo to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Hefty pepper burn on the nose and cheek warming to start the journey
- Pepper lasted a good inch of burn before settling down
- Light grey ash forms on top of a medium thick wavy char line
- Strength hits early with this one easily medium and growing in the first third
- Dark chocolate and fruit notes begin to evolve
- Ash drops in a decent chunk revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Savory umami spice joins the mix as it moves into the second third
- Earthy notes build in the background
- Continued spice and dark chocolate with an added espresso note moving through the second third
- I found a hint of walnut moving into the final along with a natural sweetness that was slowly developing since the mid way point
- Solid medium to full in strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 25 minutes
Final Analysis
The El Pulpo from Artesano del Tobacco and A.J. Fernandez is a welcome addition to the growing line of cigars. Uniquely different than the Viva La Vida, the El Pulpo started with a major peppery blast to the nasals and palate that took a good inch of burn before receding. Once the pepper pulled back I really enjoyed the dark chocolate notes and fruit that pleased the palate. I also enjoyed the walnut in the final that just added additional dimension to the blend. The construction was decent. It did have a wavy burn and once the ash dropped it did have a flat burn cone. I also noted that the ash fell more often than I like. This stronger than average cigar and I would be looking for that box buy when this hits the shelves this month. It would be interesting to see how the other vitolas express the blend. I rate this a 92.
Point Deductions: (-1) Wavy Burn, (-1) Flat but Centered Burn Cone; (-1) Ash fell Often
Bonus Points: (+1) Buy a Box
