Whenever I find my way down to Fort Worth, Texas, I make it my business to visit the Underground Cigar Shop. You have seen my reviews of this iconic shop in the past, but what is also cool about the shop are the many different brand owners in the area that frequent it on a regular basis. Brands like Ohana Cigars, Rojos Cigars, and even groups like the Leaf n Grain Society run by Dave Yancy,
Dave is a terrific and passionate Brother of the Leaf and Brother of the Grain. The society web site, Leaf n Grain states,
“We focus on inspiring awareness and education of cigars, beverages, and food through pairings in our communities“.
You can find some awesome cigar and beverage pairing discussed on the site.
Having followed Dave for a while on Facebook, I finally met him a month or so ago on a business trip, down to Fort Worth, and he shared with me some of his fine whiskey and then followed up by sending me some samples of the Leaf n Grain – LnG Cigar.
Dave explained to me:
“Part of our dream with Leaf n Grain Society was to introduce a cigar with a blend that would pair well with a variety of drinks and foods. So, when the opportunity came to test some blends from Rojas through our friends at Providencia and put our label on the blend of our choice, we jumped at this opportunity. We are very pleased with our first introduction of a Leaf n Grain Society cigar and thankful to be working with Rojas to continue bringing this blend so that everyone can enjoy it as much as we do.“
Dave described the blend as:
- Wrapper: San Andres
- Binder: Nicaragua – Jalapa
- Filler: Nicaragua (Estelí and Ometepe)
Now, I can say this about the blend, even before getting into smoking it; It has some of my favorite leaf components (San Andres, Jalapa, and Ometepe). My expectations, based on the components, set a high bar for this blend.
The LnG is expressed in a single robusto vitola and has a MSRP of $10.00/cigar. They are currently sold as singles and can be found in a number of shops acorss the country including the Underground Cigar Shop. Here is the link to locate the shops – https://leafngrainsociety.com/directory/shop-directory/
Pre-Light Examination
The LnG by Leaf n Grain Society is dark brown cigar that exhibits a light oily sheen. The wrapper is devoid of veins and the cigar is packed well with a decent weight in the hand. It is solid from head to foot with no discernable soft spots. A well applied double cap finishes the presentation. I should also not the foot was semi-finished with some wrapper leaf across the foot – but not a fully closed foot.
A single band adorns the cigar. It uses a white, gold, and black motif displaying the society’s logo in the center with stalks of leaf and grain.
Running the cigar along the nose I noted there was not much aroma along the barrel, but the foot offered a mild earth note.
I sued my CigarMedics Baller cutter to open the cap perfectly and gave it some cold draw puffs that delivered mild pepper and earth notes.
Using my single flame torch, I warmed the foot to an even orange glow and drew some introductory puffs of light peppery smoke to start the journey that was present on the palate and retro-hale. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Light pepper on 1st light both on the draw and retro-hale
- A touch of sweetness and malt fill in the early profile
- Light grey ash forms on a thin wavy char line
- Cream notes wrap it all together offering a fine balance to the profile
- Fruity floral aroma wafts off the foot
- Full volume of smoke
- Gentle spice evolves
- So far this is a smooth and balanced cigar experience
- Ash dropped in a decent chunk revealing a flat burn cone just after the first third
- Dark bittersweet chocolate
- Oak nuances lay in the background
- Burns a tad hot to the touch deep in the second third
- Burn went out and needed a relight
- Cedar notes deep in final third
- Sweet almond notes
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 Minutes
Final Analysis
Now surprise that this cigar was a rather pleasant journey of complex and nuanced flavors and aromas, since it comes from one the better small batch factories – Rojas Cigars. I was rather impressed with the oak and malt notes that make it a great cigar to pair with a fine whiskey or even craft beer. The late almond note was an extra bonus in the final. It was well constructed with just a fairly clan burn line. It did however burn a little hot to the touch deep in the journey and required one re-light as it went out down in the second third. Overall, the profile is spot on, and this is worth grabbing a handful. I rate this a 92.
Point Deductions: (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-1) Relight Required; (-1) Burned a Tad hot to the touch deep in second third
Bonus Points: (+1) Complex and Balanced
