Alec Bradley Family Blend
Attachment 2984
Alec Bradley Family Blend VR1 - 5.5"x50 Rested 1 month at 62%
Burn Time - 1hr 15min with .5" left.
Wrapper : Honduran
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Mix Honduran and Nicaraguan long filler
Prelight - Construction looks good, with an interesting tied off cap. Tight but visible seams, slightly mottled wrapper. It has a really distinct barnyard aroma. (When I first heard of guys describing a cigars aroma as barnyard I didn't realize how EXACTLY like a barnyard a cigar could smell, lol). Prelight draw is loose, just how I like it. "Light" feel to the cigar.
1/3 - Right off the bat the draw is great, loose with a good amount of smoke output. Medium body smoke with great flavor. I'm picking up an almost sweet cream and I'm really loving it. It's got creamy flavor and creamy texture as well, right up my alley. After 10 minutes or so I start getting some pepper on the back of my tongue, this continues for a little while longer but peters out by the 2/3, and will come back in the last third again. There's a slightly wavy burn but I'm smoking outside with lots of wind, so I won't factor that into my own construction rating. It's burning relatively quickly with lots of foot smoke but it's staying really cool with absolutely no effort from me, which I love. Hate having to baby a cigar!
2/3 - Sweetness is long gone by now but the cream remains, in texture mostly. As we go along into the halfway point the creaminess slowly goes and is replaced with a tobacco/woodsy flavor which transitions into a very strong woody/cedary flavor. Not my favorite flavor profile but the draw is still great, producing lots of smoke and still burning very cool. The body is still medium but now the strength is noticable. I'd say the strength is a solid medium as well. This part of the cigar is marked by very woodsy and cedary flavors.
3/3 - THE CREAM IS BACK! I'm really happy with the final third, as the cream comes back now. The cedar is still dominating, but with the cream mixed into the mix I'm enjoying it much more. The texture of the smoke is again a little thicker, just how I like it. I get cream and chocolate on my retrohale. The finish is medium long, lasting 4-5 seconds, as was the case for the whole cigar. The pepper now comes back in more force than in the first third, and all together I'm really loving this flavor profile with the pepper, cream, cedar. Complex, but easy to pick out the flavors even for a noob like me. I'm really enjoying this cigar now and smoke it all the way down to the half inch mark.
Overall - Really good cigar. Easy to pick out flavors, and they happened to be right up my alley. Cream, pepper, cedar (usually not my favorite but great with the other two) with a great thick, creamy texture throughout most of the smoke. Burned amazingly well, producing lots of smoke while still burning very cool and requiring no thought on my part to slow down/speed up/etc. This may be 5-pack worthy if I can get a good deal on it for sure!
Thanks for reading! Anyone else try this cigar?
