Alec Bradley Family Blend Cigar Review
[A note from Travis: This is one of the cigars that will be featured in my cigar dinner on December 1st. If you are in the Los Angeles area and want to smoke some great cigars, eat excellent food and meet a great group of people go here for more info!]
I started seeing this cigar online during the spring or summer and finally pulled the trigger and purchased some a couple of months back. Lo and behold, I get my new issue of Cigar Aficionado and this cigar gets a rating of 94 points. And it was the same vitola that I bought a box of. Crazy, right?
The genesis of this cigar is interesting since it started out as the personal blend for the patriarchs of the AB dynasty.
Alec Bradley Family Blend cigars were created expressly for the fathers of the company’s three principal executives, Alan Rubin (President), Ralph Montero (Vice President), and George Sosa (National Sales Director).
Based off of my mediocre memory of cigar history, it is usually a good omen if a cigar starts out as the personal blend of the head of the company and then gets released to the public. (Some of the Fuente’s cigars and Drew’s Liga Privadas come to mind.) I’ve smoked a few of these Alec Bradley Family Blend cigars now and they continue that trend.
The Alec Bradley Family Blend T11 is a very well made torpedo. There can be some stretch marks on the wrapper and there are some minor veins; ho-hum. The Honduran wrapper has a nice chocolate brown hue to it and it is accompanied by a good allotment of oils.
Besides the good appearance the most striking thing about this cigar, besides the actual smoking of it, comes right after you pull it out of the cellophane. A potpourri of tobacco, sweet spice and leather greets you with a warm embrace.
Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Length: 6 1/8″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Indonesia
Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua
Price: $7.25/Single | $125.00/Box of 20
The flavor parade starts right after the cigar is lit. What I smelled after taking it out of its cellophane cocoon is pretty much what I am tasting. A restrained sweet spice, a background of leather and some tobacco flavors round out this little flavor parade. Add to that a pretty great draw and an even burn and it is shaping up to be a great cigar during the first third.
What is the most refreshing thing about this cigar, for me at least, is that it is a superb medium bodied cigar. This is a cigar that every cigar smoker will at the very least enjoy, probably much more than just “enjoy.”
During the second third and especially during the final third there is a distinct woody note that comes through. Also during this time the sweetness and the spice grows a little bit. The sweetness slowly morphs into a nuanced dark fruit and the spice deepens into a warm spice, something like cinnamon.
If you are looking for an excellent way to spend a couple hours of your time then you should definitely give these cigars a try. The Alec Bradley Family Blend T11 is a laid back cigar with a ton of flavor and well above average level of complexity. A must try.
95 points
Alec Bradley Maxx Traditional Toro Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
The most obvious difference between the original Maxx line and the Maxx Traditional line is that the Traditional line has smaller ring gauge cigars. Other than that, the traditional cigars are suppose to impart the same bold flavor as the oversized Maxx cigars.
I am smoking the Alec Bradley Maxx Traditional Toro (6″ x 50), which costs around $5.25, for this review. The wrapper has a good sheen of oils but it also has a number of veins. Furthermore, the wrapper color is not consistent but rather a mottled assortment of milk and dark chocolate colors with the occasional black spot.
Smoke
Coffee flavors without any of the bitterness. There is a lot of chocolate, it just coats my mouth and won’t leave – not necessarily a bad thing. As this cigar progresses I’m afraid that coffee and chocolate will be all you get from it (and the coffee is relegated to a minor role in less than half an inch).
On the bright side it is a mostly sound cigar. The draw is great but the burn is somewhat uneven and the flavors (um, flavor – so far) is strong. It is a medium bodied cigar. This is all up to the halfway point.
After that point a saltiness comes on. It’s definitely a negative flavor but it is in no way overpowering or even a large enough part of the flavor profile to significantly take away from my overall enjoyment of this cigar. In conjunction with the saltiness a meaty flavor starts coming on. The chocolate is still the major flavor though.
After-Smoke
Now that I have finished this cigar I feel let down. Chocolate is a fine flavor as long as it is, at most, a secondary flavor. Making it the leading flavor, for me at least, is a mistake. It is a decent cigar but could have been much better considering its lineage.
2.5 points
Alec Bradley Medalist Short Cigar Review
Earlier today I did a review on a Cu-Avana cigar that costs under $3.00. To say the least, I didn’t like it. The Alec Bradley Medalist is a cigar that, when bought in quantities of 10, will cost $3.00. So I figured that Sunday would be as good of a time as any to have a cheap cigar grudge match.
Pre-Smoke
It is a nearly perfect looking cigar; dark and alluring. There are a couple of raised veins, one being near the cap. Oily cigar that is packed very well. I am smoking the robusto (5″x52) vitola for this review.
Smoke
The wrapper is not the only thing that is alluring. The flavors are nice: chocolate, hot sauce (more on that next sentence), earthy and chalky (not a plus). By “hot sauce” what I mean is a grassy spice flavor that is analogous to the salsa from my favorite Mexican restaurant.
Even though I do really like these flavors I am not head over heals for them – still very enjoyable though. Medium-full bodied, good draw and a decent burn.
After-Smoke
It’s an impressive cigar once you consider the price. If you take away the price component then it is an average cigar. Technically great but the flavors just are not robust enough. It handily beats the Cu-Avana
3 points
Alec Bradley Maxx Short Cigar Review
Pre-Smoke
Oily and without any noticeable imperfections. It is tightly packed. I am smoking the Alec Bradley Maxx Fix (5×58) for this review. This cigar costs $5.00. The wrapper is Nicaraguan Habano, the binder is from Costa Rica and the filler is a combination of tobacco from Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras and Columbia.
Smoke
Chocolate and earthy flavors are what you are going to get from this cigar. Unfortunately, those flavors are not that strong but they are relatively pure, which is a good thing. Medium bodied cigar with a slightly tight draw and a (surprisingly) even burn. There is a mild sweetness that makes an appearance after the one inch mark.
After-Smoke
It is a nice, easygoing, albeit boring, cigar. The flavors are fine but there is absolutely no excitement with this cigar. It’s just… there. Soulless smoke rolling around like a wounded dog.
2 points
Alec Bradley Tempus Cigar Review
From the Alec Bradley website:
ALEC BRADLEY TEMPUS… Latin meaning Time. Time is one of the most important factors when creating a great cigar; Time for the tobaccos to mature in the fields; for perfect fermentation, aging time, and time for the rich tobacco flavors to meld into one. In our industry and in our lives, time is the one component that is always in demand. Alec Bradley Tempus is created to enjoy most of what we have least… TIME
Alec Bradley Tempus is made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras. Only 20% of the cigar rollers at the factory are chosen to make the Tempus brand. We use select tobacco from a farm in the Trojes region of Honduras, just north of the border of Nicaragua, and some of the finest tobacco from Jalapa, Nicaragua. All the cigars are rolled in the traditional Cuban style, tubing each filler tobacco and using a triple cap finished wrapper. The five popular Cuban sizes are packed in boxes of 20 cigars and now a new unique shape in Magistri.
There are parts of the wrapper that look gnarly, especially around the veins. A slight rip reveals a somewhat lighter binder beneath the wrapper. Not a very oily cigar and it does feel like it is too tightly packed. I am smoking the Terra Nova vitola for this review.
Cigar Stats
Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Trojes, Honduras Criollo 98
Binder: Trojes, Honduras Criollo 98 – Indonesia Embetunada
Filler: Trojes, Honduras and Nicaragua
Price: $7.25
City Light!
For those who are curious, Trojes is a municipality in the Honduran department of El Paraíso.
Spice is the major force with this cigar. But it is different from all the other spice flavors I have tasted. It is a cross between pepper, cumin and some other spices. Basically, it is the type of spice you would put on a nice steak.
The draw needs a slight tug at times but it is fine. The burn is a little off and the ash, well, I wore it once. So the strength of the ash could have been better.
Truthfully, I was expecting more robust flavors from this cigar. It’s still very flavorful but there is still room for improvement in this vitola. In addition to the kaleidoscope of spicy flavors there are meaty and sweet flavors as well. There is also a chocolate aftertaste. It’s a full bodied cigar.
This Alec Bradley Tempus is still a very enjoyable cigar. I like the fact that it is full bodied with the major flavors being spice. It is better than most cigars even though I think it could have been better.
91 points
