Here is another new cigar brand that we came across while at the IPCPR this past year. We met Jeff White the owner of Jenneff Cigars while walking about the show and he was kind enough to provide us some samples of his newest line of cigars.
Jenneff cigars is a small boutique brand that introduced three blends of cigars this past year.
- The Jenneff Connecticut
- The Jenneff Sun Grown
- The Jenneff Maduro
In the words of Jeff White:
If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life!
I can’s agree more with these words as that is what small businesses and the American dream is all about. Even as Albert Einstein said:
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
Jeff goes on to say:
My wife and I started in the summer of 2012. We literally started with 100 boxes of cigars and a list of cigar shops in our area.
It’s been both an exciting and rewarding experience since. With the overwhelming support from customers, friends and family, We are growing in leaps and bounds.
Our commitment to you is to provide great tasting cigars at a great value for both the novice and experienced aficionado. Period!
Obviously, they have put value first and it is paying off.
For this review I sampled the Jenneff Maduro Torpedo.
The Jenneff Maduro is a well dressed, dark, San Andres Maduro wrapped cigar that covers a Domincan Olor binder and Nicaraguan Ligero, Dominican Olor and Dominican criollo fillers.
Weighing in as a 6.5 x 52 torpedo with a slightly rough, and rugged dark brown wrapper the Jenneff Maduro has a slightly sweet aroma on the foot and fermented scent on barrel.
The band on the cigar is simple; yellow, white, and black with the Jenneff logo centered and the words “Dom Rep Made” on the sides. Not many cigars use yellow in the band design but it does catch your eye on the shelf. There is also a footer band on each blend identifying it, in this case “Maduro”.
Jenneff Maduro
After slicing the tip, the cold draw caught me a little by surprise, as there was a pepper flavor that ended up lingering in my lips. Once ignited though, the Jenneff Maduro shifted down a notch and delighted the palate with some coffee and less pepper. The burn was solid, offering a solid white ash on razor edge burn line. Pretty damn good for a new company. They certainly found themselves some excellent torcedores to roll this cigar.
As my palate was enjoying the coffee notes, the pepper opens back up and hits me right in the nostrils on the retro-hale and while not paying attention, the ash fell about an inch into the burn layering my shirt with white flakes. That is why I wear smoking shirts when sampling new cigars, as I never know where the ash will fall.
A little bitterness enters the profile as the flavor starts to transition to a creamy and cedar flavor. As I listen to the sounds of Tony Bennett and Billy Joel live at Shea Stadium singing “A NY State of Mind” the bitter fades at the end of the first third opening up a sweet almond note. The retro-hale has smoothed out well.
Jenneff Maduro
Dried fruit enters the mix in the second third and the early coffee note returns . I do enjoy the coffee and fruit mix in a cigar and the Jenneff is delivering a nice blend of it to delight my palate. The flavor is further joined by fragrant nutty aroma coming off the foot at this point.
As it moved into the final third, I get awakened from my relaxed moment with some shots of pepper that emerged. The Jenneff Maduro finished with notes of wood and earth.
Jenneff Maduro
Overall, the Jenneff Maduro was a tasty cigar blend that delivered good flavor transitions and had a solid burn. The draw was fine and the smoke production was medium to full throughout. Strength wise, this is a medium strength cigar that should be easily enjoyed by most. Once again we would like to thank Jeff and the Jenneff cigar Company for the sample.
Jenneff Maduro