Founded 2021, JM Patriarch Cigars has a simple mission – “The philosophy is to put all the money into tobacco. If we focus on making great cigars, they will sell themselves.”
Company founder and CEO, Maurice Mears, describes his journey into premium cigars on the company’s website:
“The name JM Patriarch pays homage to Maurice’s great grandfather James Maurice Moss, a Bahamian/ Cuban descendant from the fisherman town of Cat Island, Bahamas. He and his wife Leerlene Moss migrated to Miami Fl, in the late 1940s. James spent the rest of his life providing for his family and working at Art Galley (Mueller) and personal car detailing service on Miami Beach. James would leave work every day and enjoy a cigar reflecting on his journey and his legacy to be.
JM Patriarch Inc. Company was born out of the love for great cigars. Come to think of it, that was the late Great Grandfather James Maurice Moss only business plan!”
The company launched with two blends – Maduro and Habano each expressed in two popular vitolas (Robusto and Toro). For this review I sampled a number of the company’s habano blends which I received from the company to review on Stogie Press.
The JM Patriarch Cigars Habano has a blend described as:
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
They are available in 2 vitolas each packaged in 10-count boxes and samplers.
- Toro (6 x 56) – MSRP 14.00
- Robusto (5 x 50) – MSRP $12.00
All JM Patriarch Cigars can be purchased directly on the company’s online shop.
Pre-Light Examination
The JM Patriarch Cigars Habano exhibits a medium brown wrapper with some noticeable veins and a light oily sheen. The cigar has a nice construction with a firm, but not hard packing. No soft spots were detected in the roll. A well applied triple cap finishes the presentation.
A single band adorns the cigar. It uses a red and white motif with two overlapping Art Deco “M’s” along with the script letter “J” scrolled over the M’s. This pays tribute to Maurice Mears’ Great Grandfather – James Maurice Moss, which is the meaning of JM Patriarch.
Running the cigar along the nose I detected a mild earthy note on the barrel while the foot offered notes of cedar and floral.
Using my CigarMedics Baller cutter I opened the cap perfectly and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that had just the right restriction and delivered an array of plate pleasing notes including butter, floral fruit, earth and pepper. There is lots going on int he pre-light draw. (floral and pepper on robusto).
Using my single flame torch, I warmed the foot to an even orange glow and drew int he first puffs of sweetness, vanilla and mild peppery smoke. Follow along as burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Initial light offers a sweet vanilla note with a touch of pepper
- Light grey ash forms on top of a thick jagged line
- A cream note adds to the profile but is tempered by an acrid dirt note for a few puffs
- Ash fell in decent chunk revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Hint of fruit enters
- Light habano spice develops midway
- Slight off burn developed but did not require a touch up
- Strength moves up
- Sweetness and spice to end
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 30 minutes
Final Analysis
The JM Patriarch Cigars Habano started off as an enticing cigar with pre-light aromas and cold draw notes pleasing to the senses. The initial start continued that enticement with a fine array of sweet vanilla notes with a background of pepper. Unfortunately, the profile on multiple cigars delivered an acrid dirt note early in the burn which threw the palate off for a while. The flavor started to reform in the second third but primarily with just a few nuanced notes of fruit, spice and natural sweetness but not enough to claim it had any deep complexity. The cigar also exhibited various burn issue through the journey. This is one you may want to try one. I rate this an 88.
Point Deductions: (-1) Jagged Burn; (-1) Off Burn but no touchup required; (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-1) Acrid Dirt Notes deep in First third; (-1) Not Overly Complex; (-1) Maybe Buy one
