Many of you probably know Kevin Shahan, the fun bearded guy who created Cigar Prop. Long before he launched his cigar media site (I’d Tap That Ash), Kevin created a simple but cool cigar holder that he machined himself and sold to the cigar community. Now years later he not only has a successful media site but he has ventured into cigars by creating his inaugural cigar known as the Back in Black.
The story of how this came to be is best explained by Smoke Inn.
“For his first collaboration release, Kevin Shahan of Cigar prop has teamed up with Espinosa Cigars and Smoke Inn to bring you a dark on dark barberpole.
One day while in his car driving, Kevin happened to look into his rear view mirror and noticed the Smoke Inn Back in Black hat that he was wearing. That is when the idea of a dark on dark wrapped barber pole cigar came to fruition. Kevin knew right then and there that he wanted this to be his first Cigar Prop branded cigar. Who better to work on this small production project than Smoke Inn & Espinosa Cigars, two companies with some of the most sought after and successful small run limited releases.”
Smoke Inn, Espinosa Premium Cigars. and Shahan worked collaboratively together on the Back in Black.
Kevin Shahan stated in a press release:
“Where traditional barberpole cigars offer contrasting wrappers and flavors, I wanted a barberpole that offered contrasting flavors without focusing necessarily on the contrasting colors”
In crafting the Back in Black, Kevin selected a blend that is described as:
- Wrapper – Habano Café/San Andres
- Binder – Nicaraguan (Jalapa)
- Filler – Nicaraguan Viso & Ligero (Estelí and Condega)
The Back in Black is expressed in a single (6 x 52) toro vitola and comes packaged in 10 and 5 count packs with an MSRP set at $9.50/cigar.
For this review, I sampled 4 of these which I purchased from Smoke Inn.
Pre-Light Examination
The Cigar Prop Back in Black is a well constructed barber pole that sports two decently oily wrappers that contrast each other in shade. It is heavy in the hand and is solid to the touch and seems to be well packed. I did not notice any soft spots along the barrel. A simple cap finishes the presentation.
A single band adorns the cigar. that uses a black on black motif. Pretty cool actually. It boldly declares this as the “Black in Black”
Running the Back in Back along the nose, I picked up a light baking spice along the barrel while the foot had a mildly pungent note with a hint of earth.
Once I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder I moved on to giving it some cold draw puffs that offered a mild peppery note delivered through a slightly open draw.
Cigar Review Notes
- Peppery start
- Earthy notes quickly join the mix
- Popcorn aroma
- Sweetness and cream
- Light grey ash forms on a thick char line
- Jagged burn
- Fruit notes
- Ash dropped flat burn cone?
- Light spice enters in second third
- Cream and coffee nuances midway
- Strength starts to ratchet up
- Sweetness grows in the back ground with a foreground of spice
- Slight bitter note in the final
- Off burn in final third
- Moving into the final third the spice becomes the predominant note
- Medium – Full in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 minutes
Final Analysis
I found the Cigar Prop Back in Black to be a pleasurably nuanced cigar that started with mild pepper shot and slowly evolved in to a core of natural sweetness that maintained through the journey. This is one where the strength slowly moved up ending at medium to full in the final. Although the first 2 thirds were pleasantly flavorful, the final third started to develop a bitter sensation on top of the growing spice. From a construction point of view, it burned fairly well with just a mild jag here and then until the final where it started to develop a slight off burn. Between the bitter notes and off burn in the final that is where I laid it to rest. I felt it was worth buying a fiver of these, I have one more that I will let age more. I rate this a 90.
Point Deductions: (-1) Wavy Burn; (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-1) Bitter notes in the final; (-1) Off burn in final
