Founded in 2018, Echelon Cigar Company was started in Southern California by longtime friends and squadmates Nolan Meadnis and Allen Gonzalez, along with Nolan’s wife Kat, who all decided to combine their love for cigars with their desire to become business owners. You may remember seeing Kat on the Ladies of the Leaf episode on Taking It To The Nub last year.
According to the company website:
“Meeting up frequently at a local cigar lounge to discuss life and reminisce of the “old” army days and Iraq deployments, Meadnis and Gonzalez tossed around the idea of starting their own cigar line. Kat was immediately on board and took an active role in supporting and promoting the brand. After well over a year of research, planning, networking, and so on, 100% veteran-owned Echelon Cigar Company was born.“
The company currently has 4 line offerings:
- Enlisted Series
- Officer Series
- Veteran Series
- Warrant Series
The Officer Series features two Nicaraguan puro blends: Maduro and Habano C98. Each blend is expressed in three vitolas, hand crafted in Estelí, Nicaragua and come packaged in 5-count boxes:
- Robusto (5×50) – MSRP $7.95
- Churchill (7×50) – MSRP $8.95
- Gordo (6×60) – MSRP $9.95
For this review I sampled a couple of the Echelon Cigars Officer Series Maduro Robustos that have a blend described as:
- Wrapper – Sun Grown Nicaraguan
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
Pre-Light Examination
The Echelon Cigars Officer Series Maduro is a fine looking reddish brown cigar that has nicely marbled wrapper. The cigar is firm to the touch from head to foot and has just a few veins running along the barrel. The barrel has some bumps as you run your finger along it and the cap is expertly applied and could be described as a quad cap as I count the lines. Using my CigarMedics HumidiMeter I stabbed the foot and got a solid 68% reading which told me it was ready to enjoy.
A single band adorns the cigar using a red, black, and gold motif. The company’s logo is proudly centered in the band the phrase “OFFICER SERIES” is printed in gold on a red background.
As I ran the Officer Series under the nose, my nasal picked up a delicious floral aroma coming off the barrel along with pungent earth and a slight hint of chocolate off the foot.
Using my double blade Xikar cutter, I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that were spot on with restriction and offered notes of sweetness, cinnamon, and a touch of fruit. The more I puffed the unlit cigar the more my palate was enjoying it.
I reached for my double flame torch lighter to gently warm the foot and drew in a thick chewy smoke with notes of dry fruit and light cinnamon to start. Follow along as I burn the Officer Series from Echelon Cigars to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Dry fruit and light cinnamon notes off the first puffs
- Full and thick chewy smoke
- Mild sweetness enhances the pleasure
- Ash fell after a good inch plus of burn, revealing a well forms burn cone
- Chocolate notes enter deep in first third
- Cream adds to the enjoyment wrapping the chocolate well
- Ash gets a tad flaky
- Slight off burn just shy of the band
- Cinnamon sweetness and plum notes
- Chocolate and raisin notes enter in the final third
- Enticing roasted nut aroma
- Spice enters and builds down to the nub
- Medium Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1hour and 30 minutes
Overall, the Echelon Cigars Officer Series Maduro Robusto was a very pleasant smoking experience that offered a well balanced array of flavors and aromas from foot to nub. I especially enjoyed the mild background of cinnamon core and the rare plum note. Construction and burn was quite nice with just a slight off burn midway that did not require any touch-ups. This is worth grabbing a 5-pack box of and I rate this a 94.
Point Deductions: (-1) Slight Off Burn; (-1) Flaky Ash in second half
Bonus Points: (+1) Pleasant Experience across Multiple Samples; (+1) Buy A Box
