One of the newest cigars on the market is a company called Howard G. Cigars named after founder – Howard Gump based out of Orlando, FL. The company hit the scene back in 2020 and introduced a number of blends in 2021.
The Black Moses is one of the company’s lines and is available in two blends, a maduro and a natural. They are both expressed in a single box pressed (6 1/8 x 58) figurado and they both use the same fillers, with only the wrapper making the difference. It is fun to try cigars that change only the wrapper and you will see what a single leaf can do to a blend. For this review I sampled one of the Black Moses Natural which has a blend described as:
- Wrapper: Habano
- Binder: Habano
- Filler: Nicaraguan (Esteli, Jalapa)
The Black Moses line comes packaged in 10-count boxes that have two 5-count trays with indivual separators to store the cigars. MSRP is set at $15.00/cigar. Yo can purcahse these directly form the company through their website here.
The company notes:
“This box pressed stick has the same quality aged tobacco as our Maduro, but with a Habano wrapper which makes every pull as smooth as butter…and you’ll still be blessed with ash for days on this one!”
Pre-Light Examination
The Black Moses Natural is a darker than normal natural wrapper with a reddish brown hue. It has a few veins and a touch of marbling through the wrapper. The cigar is box pressed and feels smooth to the touch and has a gentle give when squeezed. It is completed with a decent cap.
The Black Moses Natural is well adorned, including a large outer cedar sleeve, an orange footer band that denotes it is the natural (the maduro uses a red band) and a primary band that uses a black, white and gold motif which proudly displays the company’s logo in the center and the name “Black Moses” on the bottom.
Once I removed the footer band and outer sleeve, I ran the barrel along the nose and detected what I would describe as a black licorice note. The foot did not exhibit much aroma but then again it is a narrow opening.
I sliced the pointed head about a 1/4 inch down from the tip and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that I found to be rather open in restriction. The cold draw offered notes of licorice and pepper.
With the pre-light examination out of the way, I used my single flame torch to ignite the tip of the foot and drew in the first puffs of peppery smoke. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Decent peppery blast off first puffs
- Draw is as open as the cold draw
- Natural sweetness and a hint of licorice spice develops as the pepper pulled back
- Full volume of smoke
- Light grey flaky ash forms on a jagged thick char line
- Barrel gets squishy
- Touch of creamy coffee enters the mix
- Ash fell, revealing an inward burn
- Caramel notes join the profile in the second third
- Off burn develops
- Toasty and cinnamon notes find their way in midway through the burn
- Maple Syrup aroma wafts off the foot
- Required a touch-up
- Mild floral notes deep in second third
- Burn went out and needed a re-light
- Started to burn hot
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 20 minutes
Final Analysis
I was initially intrigued with the pre-light aromas and flavors, along with the early lit puffs, of the Howard G. Cigars – Black Moses Natural. The flavors evolved well with pleasant notes and aromas but the burn was a major issue with the cigar. Starting with the early jagged burn and flaky ash it had an open draw and burned off requiring a touch up. The cigar revealed an inward burn when the ash dropped. It also went out requiring a re-light deep in the second third and then burned hot on the smoke. At the price point of this cigar I expected a much better burn than what I got. Maybe I would try another just for the flavors. I rate this an 83.
Point Deductions: (-1) Jagged Burn; (-2) Multiple Off Burns; (-1) Requires Touch Up; (-1) Required Re-Light; (-2) Burned hot in the smoke; (-1) Squishy Barrel; (-2) Slight inward burn/Sides Burning Less; (-1) May try another
