I was recently contacted by gentleman by the name of Don Lewis IV. He is the co-founder of a small boutique cigar company known as Poker Face®️ cigars. The other co-founder is Dominican native, Magaly Veras De Lowe. The vision for their cigar company began back in 2015 and by 2017, the self described “Poker Face Cartel” released a small batch of 30,000 cigars to the public which were primarily distributed in California, Texas, Nevada, Florida and Arizona.
After some initial success in the market, Don Lewis IV applied his had to blending cigars with the assistance of a well known Dominican master blender of cigars; Don Gomez who is the owner of Tabacalera El Hoyito (Tamboril, DR). As the company has grown, Tabacalera Don Lewis IV now grows, purchases, and rolls it’s own cigars in a small family owned factory in Veragua, Espaillat, Republic Dominicana with a staff of 8 to 10 employees to ensure constant quality for their consumers.
Don Lewis IV sent me some samples of their latest blend known as the Poker Face®️ King of Spades. It comes in two different wrapper types; Habano and Maduro. Today I would like to offer my review of the Poker Face®️ King of Spades Habano Robusto.
The Poker Face®️ King of Spades Habano has a blend described by the company as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Habano
- Binder – Cubano
- Filler – Ligero Criollo 98, Ligero Corojo, Seco Cubano
The Poker Face®️ King of Spades is expressed in five different vitolas, each of which comes packaged in 20-count boxes (10 habano and 10 maduro).
- Robusto (5 x 50) – MSRP $7.75
- Toro (6 x 50) – MSRP $9.00
- Torpedo (6 x 50) – MSRP $10.25
- Gordo (6 x 60) – MSRP $12.75
- Churchill (7 x 50) – MSRP $11.50
For this review I sampled two Poker Face®️ King of Spades habano robustos which I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The Poker Face®️ King of Spades habano is a shiny, medium brown cigar that has a few veins running along the barrel. It is well packed and solid to the touch. The presentation is finished with simple cap.
The cigar is adorned with three bands. The primary band proudly displays the company’s logo using a red, gold, and black motif. The secondary band, which is placed just below the primary, uses the same motif, and has an image of a playing card “king” in gold bordered by on both sides by red spades. Finally, a gold footer band is applied.
Running the cigar along the nose I detected a lightly pungent note along the barrel and a mild earthy note off the foot.
I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder and preceded to give it a few cold draw puffs that were more on the tighter side while offering a light spice note to the palate.
I used my triple flame torch lighter to warm the foot to an even orange glow and drew in the first puffs of smoke that I would describe as a tad harsh to start. Follow along as I burn the King of Spades to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- First puffs delivered a smoke that was a tad harsh on the palate
- Light grey ash forms on a well formed medium char line
- Espresso notes start to show after half inch of burn
- Cocoa aroma wafts off the foot
- Citrus notes enter but there is a pasty feeling on the palate
- Leather notes enter midway with a touch of astringency
- Extremely long ash fell revealing a decent ash cone
- Salty notes enter
- Cream notes enter as I notice that the profile is much more refined in the second half
- Spice creeps in and builds through the final third
- Burned a tad hot in final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 30 minutes
Overall, the Poker Face®️ Cigars King of Spades Habano Robusto started a tad harsh on the palate and slowly started to develop in flavor through the first half the cigar. As the flavors settled in, the ash kept growing in a solid form until it finally fell around midway revealing a well formed burn cone. The cigar is priced right that this would be one you may want to try a five pack of and let some age. I would be interested in checking out some of the other vitolas in this blend and will be reviewing the maduro blend soon. I rate this an 88.
Point Deductions: (-1) Tight Cold Draw; (-1) Harsh Start; (-1) Astringent Notes Midway; (-2) Smoke is Hot in final; (-2) Pasty Notes early in the burn
Bonus Points: (+1) Extreme ash
