Episode 93
Who Wins? Henry Clay War Hawk vs. Montecristo Classic | Big Brother, Little Brother | Box Press 93
Instead of chasing the next best boutique cigar, why not go back to the classics? Join Boveda's Rob Ganger and Nate Beck as they compare 2 sticks from Altadis U.S.A.—Henry Clay War Hawk is up against the Montecristo Classic. What’s the difference between these two cigars? Find out in this next round of "Big Brother Versus Little Brother," the cigar showdown of a budget-friendly cigar (War Hawk) and a celebratory cigar (Montecristo Classic).
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00:00 Cold open
00:29 Preview: Hidden travel gems for smokers who love cigar history
05:52 Let's get on with the cigar showdown, boys: Henry Clay War Hawk vs Montecristo Classic
07:16 A good cigar for SEC football fans! (War Hawk/Auburn War Eagle)
08:07 Shout-out to Stogies World Class Cigars exclusive Lonsdale cigar (The cigar vacation spot in Texas for Lancero lovers!)
11:38 Looking for a milder, easygoing cigar with a soft retrohale?
15:35 Which cigar has bigger flavor with spice on the retrohale?
16:11 What's a good cigar after a farm-to-table dinner?
17:22 "What sorcery did they do to these brussels sprouts?" (If you're in Minneapolis, try The Bungalow Club! https://www.thebungalowclubmpls.com/)
20:15 Time to retire to the smoking room for cigars?
21:10 What cigar is good to learn how to retrohale?
23:30 What's a good beginner cigar?
24:46 What cigar pairs with Scotch?
28:01 What cigars should you recommend to first-timers?
34:12 Which cigar should you smoke next, Montecristo Classic or Henry Clay War Hawk?
35:52 Keep forgetting to buy new humidor packs? Subscribe to get replacement Boveda packs delivered right to you every 3 months at https://www.bovedainc.com
Transcript
- There's a story inside every smoke shop,
Speaker:with every cigar and with every person.
Speaker:Come be a part of the cigar lifestyle at Boveda.
Speaker:This is "Box Press."
Speaker:(upbeat music)
Speaker:Welcome to another episode of "Box Press."
Speaker:I'm your host, Rob Gagner.
Speaker:- And I'm your other host, Nate Beck.
Speaker:- Oh man, this week, this past week,
Speaker:I was outta town, Nate was outta town.
Speaker:- Yep.
Speaker:- I was in Nashville and New York for kind of some,
Speaker:I'll give you guys a little bit of a teaser.
Speaker:There's a lot of history in cigars in America,
Speaker:and as I keep digging, it gets deeper and deeper and deeper,
Speaker:as to how much we actually have created
Speaker:in this beautiful nation right here.
Speaker:I was on halfwheel earlier and smoking bans
Speaker:and all these things coming to light,
Speaker:and bans on flavored cigars and all that stuff,
Speaker:but, man, we made a lot of cigars back in the early 1900s
Speaker:and there's a ton of history about it.
Speaker:So, just-
Speaker:- Yeah, especially with New York City is one,
Speaker:Montana is one.
Speaker:- It kinda just like follows the railroad all the way out.
Speaker:- Pennsylvania, yeah.
Speaker:- Just amazing.
Speaker:And then too, in Nashville,
Speaker:I was actually able to see some of the farms
Speaker:where they grow the tobacco and meet some of the farmers,
Speaker:and it's not easy for them and it's a laborious project.
Speaker:I mean, like, a lot.
Speaker:And then the way that they fire cure some of the tobacco,
Speaker:unbelievable.
Speaker:It's a dying trade.
Speaker:- Did you get to smell any of that fire-cured stuff
Speaker:while they were doing it?
Speaker:- They weren't doing it
Speaker:because the plants haven't even gotten into the ground yet.
Speaker:But we went into the barns
Speaker:and you could smell the wood.
Speaker:But I thought as soon as I got into the barn
Speaker:it'd be like way overpowering,
Speaker:not at all.
Speaker:- Real subtle?
Speaker:- Real subtle, and almost it goes away as you're in it.
Speaker:It was a very unique experience.
Speaker:- That's awesome.
Speaker:- Very cool.
Speaker:Even how they fire cure it,
Speaker:they do it like two or three times
Speaker:and it takes like 12 to 24 hours,
Speaker:so they have to check it every three hours.
Speaker:And I'm like, "Holy cow, do you get any sleep?"
Speaker:It was just really cool.
Speaker:- It's like making good barbecue, it's so laborious.
Speaker:- It's the exact same thing.
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:And you'd think that in both that there'd be this
Speaker:overwhelming blast of smoke but it's always more subtle
Speaker:in the best stuff like in barbecue,
Speaker:it's always kind of just enough to go,
Speaker:"Oh, that smoke is great."
Speaker:And then when it gets too much,
Speaker:"Oh, that doesn't taste very good."
Speaker:That's amazing.
Speaker:- It was very amazing.
Speaker:And like piles of sawdust.
Speaker:I didn't know they used sawdust and slabs,
Speaker:and they put the slabs underneath and the sawdust over it,
Speaker:and then they start these fires.
Speaker:It's amazing.
Speaker:- It's amazing the processes that we use
Speaker:to end up with a final ingredient
Speaker:that should be way more expensive than it is.
Speaker:When my wife and I were in...
Speaker:We have family in Nashville,
Speaker:and we decided to go tour a distillery.
Speaker:And the closest one if I'm not mistaken is Jack Daniel's.
Speaker:They literally will burn through,
Speaker:I think if we did the math correctly,
Speaker:like about, let's say for the sake of argument
Speaker:each stack of wood is somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000,
Speaker:just for the maple.
Speaker:And they stack it with all these
Speaker:kinda like a giant Jenga pile.
Speaker:Each piece of wood is like 2x2, something like that.
Speaker:And they put them under these giant open smokestacks,
Speaker:and they tip them together and then they light them on fire.
Speaker:And they have two or three guys
Speaker:that their only job is to manage that fire,
Speaker:so it burns down just perfectly with the right size chunks,
Speaker:so that Jack Daniel's whiskey can be filtered, each batch
Speaker:through 10 feet of that charcoal.
Speaker:That's their full-time job.
Speaker:- Wow.
Speaker:- Yet you go to a liquor store
Speaker:and what's a bottle of Jack Daniel's?
Speaker:I don't know, 25 bucks, 20 bucks, maybe?
Speaker:- Right.
Speaker:- Super cheap.
Speaker:And all that wood is only there
Speaker:to filter through as charcoal.
Speaker:And then some of it
Speaker:they filter through another like four or five feet.
Speaker:- Wow.
Speaker:- Isn't that crazy?
Speaker:- Unbelievable.
Speaker:- Like it mellows it out, it takes out the impurities.
Speaker:So it's like a charcoal filter you'd get in, I don't know,
Speaker:water bottles I'm sure have that,
Speaker:they'll have charcoal filters.
Speaker:It's just crazy.
Speaker:And then you'd think it would be so much more expensive
Speaker:and it's just not.
Speaker:It's unbelievable.
Speaker:- Very unique.
Speaker:And then you were in Texas this week.
Speaker:- I was in Texas.
Speaker:I was down in Dallas and Houston for eight days
Speaker:for the Casa de Montecristo Texas Cigar Festival.
Speaker:I believe in its original state
Speaker:it was an event put on by Serious Cigars,
Speaker:and that's now a Casa De Montecristo Lounge.
Speaker:So got to see a bunch of great vendors and cigar reps
Speaker:and interact with a bunch of cool people
Speaker:that were out there for the event.
Speaker:Of course, the entire week,
Speaker:the temperature was about mid-70s, no humidity.
Speaker:It was perfect.
Speaker:Saturday the event, 90 degrees and 90% humidity.
Speaker:- Weeeee.
Speaker:- Yippee.
Speaker:- Yeah, man, cooking.
Speaker:- The next day I walk outside of my hotel
Speaker:to get into my rental car,
Speaker:72 degrees, breezy and almost no humidity.
Speaker:- Oh, wow.
Speaker:- Like what in the world is going on?
Speaker:- They just knew you guys were having that event
Speaker:so like boom, let's turn it up a notch.
Speaker:- All of us we're in this giant tent
Speaker:and it had walls up because it was supposed to rain
Speaker:so it would have kept us all dry,
Speaker:but it never ended up raining.
Speaker:And so we're all like opening up the vents
Speaker:and trying to get airflow
Speaker:because we're just sweating like crazy.
Speaker:- Kept us wet.
Speaker:- That's right.
Speaker:- It kept us sweaty and wet.
Speaker:- It was a fermentation tent.
Speaker:- It's supposed to keep out water.
Speaker:Well, there's no water coming in.
Speaker:- Does this cigar have mold on it?
Speaker:No, that's just for me.
Speaker:- Just dripping sweat all over it.
Speaker:- Swampy.
Speaker:- Let's get into the cigars we have
Speaker:because this is another continuation of what we call
Speaker:Big Brother, Little Brother,
Speaker:or you could call it Little Sister, Big Sister,
Speaker:whatever you wanna call that.
Speaker:We're looking at cigars that are obviously
Speaker:of more budget friendly versus a higher end
Speaker:or in basically,
Speaker:how do I say this?
Speaker:It's a cheaper stick versus the more expensive one.
Speaker:I mean, I don't know how to say it any other way.
Speaker:- Less money, more money.
Speaker:- You're right.
Speaker:I mean, I'm not saying it's cheap
Speaker:because it doesn't taste good
Speaker:because clearly we've been on a couple of these that
Speaker:the less expensive cigars,
Speaker:absolutely just amazing, bonkers, like really good.
Speaker:- I think on our previous episode
Speaker:we found that the less expensive option
Speaker:was really almost just as good
Speaker:as the more expensive option.
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- So we're excited for you guys to see that one
Speaker:when it comes out on Friday.
Speaker:- It's been crazy.
Speaker:What a cool experience, I hope you guys are enjoying it.
Speaker:Leave some comments down below if there's any cigars
Speaker:that you wanna see.
Speaker:Particularly what we're looking for is we're trying
Speaker:to stick within the same manufacturer, right?
Speaker:What do they have that's a budget friendly stick
Speaker:and what do they have that's more celebratory?
Speaker:So here we have Altadis or other people know them as like
Speaker:Montecristo, H. Upmann, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker:But we are definitely doing the Montecristo,
Speaker:and the Henry Clay War Hawk.
Speaker:- I love that name, the War Hawk.
Speaker:- Yeah, it's very intense.
Speaker:Henry Clay, that cigar line.
Speaker:- You know what the cigar sounds like?
Speaker:It sounds like it should be a cigar
Speaker:made for like an SEC college football team.
Speaker:Like what is it, Auburn?
Speaker:Is it Auburn that has the "War Eagle?"
Speaker:- I don't know.
Speaker:- I think it's Auburn that has the "War Eagle."
Speaker:I always think of that when I smoked the cigar.
Speaker:Is it Auburn?
Speaker:Bingo, nailed it.
Speaker:- It says Tigers.
Speaker:- Yeah, but they have the like look up, college football.
Speaker:- "War Eagle," there it.
Speaker:Fly work.
Speaker:- I think isn't that their chant or something?
Speaker:Yeah, so the Auburn Tigers they have,
Speaker:I forget the reasoning behind it
Speaker:but one of their symbols is the "War Eagle."
Speaker:- Got it.
Speaker:- So I was thinking that when I smoked this cigar.
Speaker:And for anyone that is a fan of Lanceros or Lonsdales,
Speaker:this cigar comes in a Lonsdale size that is exclusive
Speaker:to a shop down in Houston that I just spent
Speaker:a considerable amount of time at,
Speaker:Stogies World Class Cigars.
Speaker:The owner, Jorge, is a huge fan of Lanceros.
Speaker:In fact, he's got an entire row of Lanceros.
Speaker:And it's one of his favorite cigars,
Speaker:he smokes several every day.
Speaker:It's fantastic.
Speaker:- Yeah, so the "War Eagle Battle Cry".
Speaker:You were right.
Speaker:It's not the mascot or anything like that.
Speaker:Most popular legend about the battle cry
Speaker:dates back to the first time Auburn met Georgia
Speaker:on the football field in 1892.
Speaker:- Holy cow.
Speaker:- And it centers on the spectator
Speaker:who was a Civil War veteran.
Speaker:All right, so-
Speaker:- There you go.
Speaker:- It's amazing.
Speaker:Even more history, 1892.
Speaker:- I call that my Cliff Clavin vault of useless information.
Speaker:- It's so true, so true.
Speaker:- I'm the ringer you want on a bar trivia team.
Speaker:- Oh my gosh, yes.
Speaker:- I usually do pretty okay.
Speaker:- Oh, I bet.
Speaker:Well, the War Hawk, the Henry Clay War Hawk
Speaker:and the Montecristo Classic,
Speaker:both come in with a Connecticut Shade.
Speaker:They're saying that the War Hawk
Speaker:is the Ecuadorian Connecticut.
Speaker:And the Montecristo just says, select Connecticut Shade.
Speaker:So I don't know what that means, as far as country
Speaker:of origin.
Speaker:- Maybe it's the bougier version of Connecticut Shade.
Speaker:- Must be.
Speaker:In the notes it says the highest grade
Speaker:Connecticut Shade wrapper combined
Speaker:with the finest Dominican binders.
Speaker:Here's what sets it off for me.
Speaker:The binder in the Henry Clay War Hawk is actually broadleaf,
Speaker:which gives you that punch.
Speaker:- Really?
Speaker:- Yes.
Speaker:And I was actually, I was like, oh wow, binder broadleaf?
Speaker:Didn't know that.
Speaker:But I see that's kinda where
Speaker:that strength of that flavor comes from.
Speaker:- I had this conversation just last week.
Speaker:A lot of the Altadis, General,
Speaker:a lot of the big producers that make a lot of these
Speaker:older core line cigars.
Speaker:Henry Clay, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta,
Speaker:what would be some General core line cigars?
Speaker:- Partagas, Cohiba.
Speaker:- Bolivar.
Speaker:Some of those, they are really fantastic cigars
Speaker:so don't sleep on these.
Speaker:They're making some really good stuff.
Speaker:Very consistent, high quality.
Speaker:- Consistency is key.
Speaker:As I've continued to see factories
Speaker:or see the way people make cigars it's like
Speaker:unbelievable how they can try to keep consistency,
Speaker:it's just unbelievable.
Speaker:- Well, like this War Hawk.
Speaker:We talk about like you can get
Speaker:a little squeeze right down by the cherry
Speaker:because that's where the tobacco is the warmest.
Speaker:But it's firm construction, easy draw.
Speaker:You know how much I love, Rob, that clean cut at the top
Speaker:where it's just like glass
Speaker:and both cigars are just well-filled.
Speaker:- Yeah, looking at both of these I mean,
Speaker:neither one sticks out to be more veiny than the other.
Speaker:Both of them the color is great.
Speaker:Hats off to the team over at Altadis
Speaker:for just making consistently great cigars.
Speaker:The Montecristo, though, with that being said,
Speaker:I think is the milder of the two.
Speaker:It's Dominican.
Speaker:- It's a little more fragrant.
Speaker:Like it has a little more of that subtle
Speaker:baking spice almost on the aroma coming off the foot.
Speaker:- Yeah, for me it's a very mild easygoing cigar.
Speaker:If you heat it up too quickly or over smoke it,
Speaker:in my opinion, it would get too bitter.
Speaker:- Creamy.
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- Lots of cedar which is real common in Connecticut,
Speaker:that woody kind of earthy sort of flavor
Speaker:as we were getting into these cigars
Speaker:before we started our filming today.
Speaker:This War Hawk has a little more of that
Speaker:kind of peppery retrohale that I would call this like
Speaker:a white pepper kind of a real subtle spiciness to it.
Speaker:- There's strength there.
Speaker:- Yep, and the Montecristo doesn't have that.
Speaker:It's much softer retrohale.
Speaker:I'm wondering if that's due in large part to the broad leaf
Speaker:because that can add a lot of some punch.
Speaker:- Yeah, unbelievable.
Speaker:The Henry Clay rose to
Speaker:Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Speaker:in the early 1800s.
Speaker:And was known above all as a staunch U.S. Nationalist.
Speaker:Clay believed strongly that the military force
Speaker:was the only opinion left to fight British imperiousness.
Speaker:- Basically that's like elitist.
Speaker:Imposing their will on.
Speaker:I think if that's right imposing their will on people.
Speaker:Let's look up imperious.
Speaker:- Imperiousness.
Speaker:- Let's consult the Google.
Speaker:- Okay. The term War Hawk was coined
Speaker:and now used in political circles to describe
Speaker:one who favors war as an ultimate resolution of conflict.
Speaker:The Henry Clay War Hawk is a dedication to Henry Clay's
Speaker:lasting influence.
Speaker:The War Hawk cigar is aptly named,
Speaker:because it's a bit rebellious and strong.
Speaker:- So here is imperious,
Speaker:assuming power or authority without justification,
Speaker:arrogant and domineering.
Speaker:- There you go.
Speaker:- There you go.
Speaker:Did you say he was the Speaker of the House
Speaker:or of the U.S. House of Representatives?
Speaker:- Yeah, it says Henry Clay rose to
Speaker:speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Speaker:- Anytime I think about like a political speaker
Speaker:all I can envision in my brain is
Speaker:the scene from "Kindergarten Cop"
Speaker:when they're all reciting the Gettysburg Address.
Speaker:- Fourscore and seven years ago.
Speaker:- Fourscore and seven years ago.
Speaker:- That's the extent of my political know how.
Speaker:- We could go down the rabbit hole of some
Speaker:"Kindergarten Cop" quotes but they may not be
Speaker:camera friendly for this format.
Speaker:But you all know what I'm talking about.
Speaker:- Arnold, good old Arnold.
Speaker:- Take a toy and sit on the carpet.
Speaker:- I'm a police man, not a princess.
Speaker:- Take a toy and sit on the carpet.
Speaker:- I'm a princess.
Speaker:- Sit on the carpet.
Speaker:- Okay.
Speaker:(both laughing)
Speaker:Oh boy, good movies.
Speaker:- I love that movie.
Speaker:And all of you know which lines from that movie
Speaker:I'm talking about if you've seen the movie.
Speaker:I will hold back even though it's killing me to not-
Speaker:- Not say them.
Speaker:Sensor on.
Speaker:- Keeping it inside.
Speaker:- So as we're kind of getting into these,
Speaker:which one are you kind of favoring right now?
Speaker:- Having smoked both of these before
Speaker:or on more than one occasion,
Speaker:I'm a big fan of this Henry Clay War Hawk.
Speaker:- Me too.
Speaker:There's something about it that just
Speaker:the flavor kind of hits more.
Speaker:- It's got complexity,
Speaker:it's got this nice spice on the retrohale,
Speaker:which I really dig.
Speaker:It's creamy.
Speaker:Has a nice kind of that woody cedary component
Speaker:that we were talking about earlier.
Speaker:- I'm trying to look up the MSRP on these.
Speaker:- I would actually really enjoy this
Speaker:as a first cigar of the day, the War Hawk.
Speaker:But this Montecristo Classic series,
Speaker:I would love this cigar after a really nice
Speaker:like farm-to-table dinner.
Speaker:Like I struggle sometimes Rob
Speaker:because you and I really enjoy restaurants
Speaker:that cater to or specialize in,
Speaker:I guess you could call it New American farm-to-table.
Speaker:Basically restaurants that do really elegant
Speaker:or chefed up treatments of not only proteins,
Speaker:but also vegetables.
Speaker:And I think some of the coolest things I've eaten
Speaker:in the last five years have been vegetable dishes.
Speaker:They're just really special.
Speaker:There's a local restaurant here in the Twin Cities
Speaker:called The Bungalow Club.
Speaker:And there's a group of us that used to meet
Speaker:on their patio every Wednesday and have cigars.
Speaker:And so I took my wife and kids there
Speaker:and my wife and I had been there before.
Speaker:And the kitchen sent out some extras
Speaker:and one of the things they sent out was
Speaker:a Brussels sprouts dish,
Speaker:and it was brussels sprouts with chili honey
Speaker:and blue cheese.
Speaker:And my kids took a bite before I did.
Speaker:And my 18-year-old daughter says,
Speaker:"What sorcery did they do to these brussels sprouts?"
Speaker:And I'm like, "Oh, all right."
Speaker:Well, I grabbed the brussels sprouts, take a bite.
Speaker:And I'm like, "Holy crap, this is amazing."
Speaker:I don't know how Andrew,
Speaker:the chef and owner of that restaurant,
Speaker:I don't know what he did to those,
Speaker:but good Lord, one of the most interesting bites of food
Speaker:I've had in a long time.
Speaker:Really exceptional.
Speaker:- That is so exciting, too.
Speaker:- So if you're ever in Minneapolis, Bungalow Club.
Speaker:- If you can take something that seems so just regular
Speaker:and then just kind of amp it up a little bit
Speaker:so that you're like I've never had it that way,
Speaker:it's so enjoyable.
Speaker:- Well, and I think that's what's cool is that
Speaker:everyone knows you can do really cool things with a steak.
Speaker:Very simple treatment to make a steak taste amazing.
Speaker:There's Wagyu and Kobe and prime beef
Speaker:and grass-fed and corn-fed.
Speaker:I mean, there's all these things.
Speaker:But vegetables often are sort of,
Speaker:less so nowadays, than in years past
Speaker:but vegetables were always an add-on.
Speaker:I remember as a kid there was always a bowl
Speaker:of some type of vegetables with an ice cube
Speaker:sitting on top.
Speaker:So it would kind of melt and make them a little bit chilled.
Speaker:Because like if you've ever purchased a bag of whole carrots
Speaker:from the grocery store,
Speaker:you know they're a little dry in the outside
Speaker:and then they sit in your refrigerator
Speaker:and they don't taste all that great.
Speaker:So evidently that was my mom's way of like
Speaker:adding some moisture to them
Speaker:or making them taste a little bit better.
Speaker:Nowadays you can go to a restaurant
Speaker:and the vegetables I think are oftentimes
Speaker:way more interesting than the proteins.
Speaker:Because you have to be more attentive
Speaker:to bring out all the nuance and flavor
Speaker:in something that's maybe a little more humble.
Speaker:- $293 box of 20.
Speaker:- So what is that?
Speaker:Just under 15 bucks of cigar at retail
Speaker:for the Montecristo, right?
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:$293 divided by 20.
Speaker:- $14?
Speaker:- Yeah, $14.65 is what the calculator is spiting out.
Speaker:- And then depending on where you buy it
Speaker:I'm sure you can get it on sale somewhere.
Speaker:- Oh, sure.
Speaker:And the War Hawk-
Speaker:- And taxes will factor into that
Speaker:depending on where you live.
Speaker:- Is sitting right around 8 bucks.
Speaker:So you're looking at again, a double almost,
Speaker:like you can buy two of the War Hawks
Speaker:for one of the Classic.
Speaker:- I think kind of like our episode previous to this one.
Speaker:So that will have been out for a couple of weeks
Speaker:when this one airs.
Speaker:Both our previous and this one I'm super happy with
Speaker:both the Little Brother and the Big Brother
Speaker:or the Little Sister, Big Sister.
Speaker:Both are excellent.
Speaker:You've got a $8, this Henry Clay War Hawk, $8 stick,
Speaker:maybe $9 stick, pardon me.
Speaker:And then you've got this $14 to $15 stick.
Speaker:Both are excellent.
Speaker:Like this one is a little more polished.
Speaker:I just really think this would be amazing.
Speaker:If you could in your home like they used to
Speaker:in the old Westerns and the old like
Speaker:kind of Victorian era movies,
Speaker:the men would retire.
Speaker:I say everyone should retire to the smoking room
Speaker:and we all light up.
Speaker:Men, women, all of it.
Speaker:Put the kids to bed.
Speaker:- Yeah, right.
Speaker:- With no stress just go upstairs, go to sleep.
Speaker:- Oh, I know.
Speaker:And I love being able to just do it right at the table,
Speaker:the dinner table as well.
Speaker:Nowadays it's nice,
Speaker:Very rare though that I do that.
Speaker:- It is pretty rare.
Speaker:There are a few places left in the United States
Speaker:where you can have a delicious meal
Speaker:and light up your cigar right afterwards.
Speaker:And I'm always jealous of Facebook videos,
Speaker:Instagram videos I see where they're Nicaragua, Honduras,
Speaker:the Dominican and they're just smoking at the table
Speaker:and you're like.
Speaker:- I know.
Speaker:Now that we're into this Montecristo that creaminess
Speaker:is really coming out.
Speaker:- I would say Rob, you and I talk about retrohale
Speaker:an awful lot.
Speaker:If you were looking to learn how to retrohale
Speaker:and you wanted to practice on a cigar
Speaker:that wasn't going to burn your nostrils,
Speaker:this would be right up there top of the list.
Speaker:- The Montecristo Classic series.
Speaker:- This is fantastic, right?
Speaker:- I just retrohaled it and for me when I retrohale,
Speaker:I end up pulling the smoke into my mouth,
Speaker:letting some of it out
Speaker:and then I try to push it through my nose.
Speaker:Because if I try to do all of it right away
Speaker:it just seems like it's overpowering and it's also hot.
Speaker:Gives it an opportunity to kind of cool down a little bit.
Speaker:- I noticed this at the cigar festival,
Speaker:the sales director for Plasencia Cigars.
Speaker:I watched him light up his cigar.
Speaker:And I think you and I do this a lot we...
Speaker:- Yeah, puff out your cheeks.
Speaker:- He did that and I went,
Speaker:see there, everybody that's been smoking for a while
Speaker:does that move where you puff your cheeks out
Speaker:and you let that smoke just roll around your palate.
Speaker:Hit every part of your tongue.
Speaker:Then you push a little bit out your nose,
Speaker:blow a little bit out, push a lot through your mouth
Speaker:and then some more retrohale.
Speaker:Yeah, that move right there.
Speaker:We all do that.
Speaker:- And that War Hawk, it must either be the filler
Speaker:or the binder?
Speaker:But man, does that have some intensity?
Speaker:Even already like my nose is kind of like tingly.
Speaker:Definitely not with the Classic,
Speaker:that Classic is much more smooth.
Speaker:But now I have to ask the question of
Speaker:is this a beginner cigar?
Speaker:- The Classic?
Speaker:- Any of these, beginner cigar.
Speaker:- I'd say the Classic series, the Montecristo Classic.
Speaker:Price point would maybe push it out
Speaker:of beginner category.
Speaker:But if you were someone that walked into a tobacco shop
Speaker:and wanted to learn let's say how to retrohale
Speaker:and wanted to smoke just a really well-balanced, creamy,
Speaker:smooth-smoking cigar that didn't have any burn
Speaker:on the retrohale and you were willing to spend
Speaker:a few extra dollars,
Speaker:that would be an awesome beginner cigar.
Speaker:- And how are you defining beginner cigar?
Speaker:Because I think that's the most interesting thing.
Speaker:- I think a flavor profile and a strength
Speaker:that's not gonna knock you out.
Speaker:I don't think there's anything overpowering here.
Speaker:I think it's gonna be nice and round on your palate.
Speaker:I think it'd be great to learn and practice
Speaker:how to retrohale because it's kind of a tricky move
Speaker:until you sort of get the routine of it.
Speaker:I think I would recommend this one as well,
Speaker:but if you were just starting out I would probably suggest
Speaker:just don't retrohale this until you get used to it
Speaker:a little bit because it's gonna give you some of that burn.
Speaker:- So I'm a little bit different.
Speaker:I kind of prescribe to the idea that beginner cigars
Speaker:are kind of just BS.
Speaker:Like that whole notion that you have to have
Speaker:a specific type of light cigar
Speaker:in order to enjoy it your first time.
Speaker:- I see what you're saying.
Speaker:- I think it's a miss.
Speaker:And I think I saw Rocky Patel or Nish
Speaker:or somebody over there say,
Speaker:beginner cigars like it's all you should be asking questions
Speaker:or the tobacconist should be asking questions
Speaker:or you should be asking questions yourself of like,
Speaker:what do I like to drink?
Speaker:And particularly they go towards spirits.
Speaker:If you're like a-
Speaker:- We say that a lot.
Speaker:- A bourbon guy or you really like strength and peat.
Speaker:If you're a Scotch guy
Speaker:and you're first time smoking a cigar,
Speaker:you should go straight with a War Hawk.
Speaker:Because that's gonna get you the same sensation
Speaker:on your palate of strength
Speaker:and just kind of intensity of flavor.
Speaker:I really have to say that I'm not a big fan
Speaker:of beginner cigars being Connecticut Shade
Speaker:and mild and medium.
Speaker:I think sometimes that might be
Speaker:a position where somebody might go,
Speaker:well, maybe I'm not into this cigar thing,
Speaker:if this is where I need to start.
Speaker:- Yeah, and I wouldn't call this a beginner cigar
Speaker:just because it's mellow.
Speaker:I would call it a beginner cigar just because
Speaker:it has a lot of the things I would look for
Speaker:in recommending a first-time smoke.
Speaker:Let's say you like dark chocolate,
Speaker:or you like rich cups of coffee,
Speaker:or maybe you want to go sort of yin and yang.
Speaker:You wanna do like light-flavored food
Speaker:but you want something a little bit more rich on your cigar.
Speaker:Well, you could go with a myriad of Maduro cigars
Speaker:like a Mexican San Andres that's just gonna have some of that
Speaker:Mexican hot chocolate flavors.
Speaker:- Absolutely.
Speaker:- Super balanced.
Speaker:But there are some cigars that I'll point out
Speaker:as like first-time sticks
Speaker:that I know are going to not disappoint
Speaker:and they're gonna have lots of layers of flavor
Speaker:without being less necessarily.
Speaker:Because like I think most often a beginner cigar
Speaker:you go mild, Connecticut, easy.
Speaker:But sometimes those types of flavors
Speaker:kind of like you and I found when we were infusing,
Speaker:when you were infusing cigars with whiskey
Speaker:for St. Patrick's Day.
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- A whiskey that worked really well to infuse the cigar
Speaker:didn't really taste all that great.
Speaker:It was way too light.
Speaker:It kind of had this thin, off-putting flavor.
Speaker:I think sometimes people smoke that first cigar
Speaker:and they do a light Connecticut, easy cigar
Speaker:and they're kind of unhappy with it.
Speaker:- Exactly.
Speaker:- There's nothing there.
Speaker:- Thin.
Speaker:- Yes.
Speaker:- But again, I'm smoking this Montecristo
Speaker:and I am thinking too to myself like,
Speaker:what is it about this that I like?
Speaker:And I do like that balance,
Speaker:I do like that creaminess that thinness from it.
Speaker:It's not super one-dimensional as far as like spicy
Speaker:or I always use the word astringent or strong or just sharp.
Speaker:- It's just creamy.
Speaker:- Classic is a really good name for it, it's Classic.
Speaker:It's a great cigar.
Speaker:But I could totally see somebody out there being like,
Speaker:this is not my preferred method of flavor.
Speaker:This Montecristo Classic doesn't do it enough for me.
Speaker:And then you jump to the War Hawk and it's like boom,
Speaker:it's right there.
Speaker:And then obviously Montecristo has a whole
Speaker:bunch of other lines that Altadis puts out.
Speaker:- Excuse me.
Speaker:- And I think that's the other fun thing about
Speaker:a bigger company, you got the Montecristo Platinum,
Speaker:you have the Nicaragua which is gonna be way more bold
Speaker:than this Classic.
Speaker:And then you have like the Epic,
Speaker:you have the Montecristo Espada,
Speaker:which I don't know if I'm saying that right
Speaker:but it's phenomenal cigar.
Speaker:That Espada is one of my favorites.
Speaker:- Another thing that I really tend to look for in a cigar
Speaker:if I'm recommending cigars to a newer cigar smoker,
Speaker:is I think it's helpful to recommend cigars
Speaker:that are readily available and always on the shelf
Speaker:at your local cigar shop.
Speaker:Because if they do like it,
Speaker:they can go back to that after smoking some other things
Speaker:that are maybe more limited-release or more boutique.
Speaker:Let's say they smoke a boutique cigar
Speaker:and it just knocks their socks off,
Speaker:and they go back to their shop six months later
Speaker:after smoking some other cigars and they're like,
Speaker:"Man, that one cigar was really great.
Speaker:"Do you have any more of that?"
Speaker:"Oh man, no, it was a limited-release it totally sold out."
Speaker:It's kind of nice to be able to recommend cigars
Speaker:regardless of palate or flavor profile
Speaker:that you can go back to and they're always made,
Speaker:they're always there.
Speaker:They're not going anywhere.
Speaker:- And let's talk about that stigma
Speaker:because you're always looking for the next best thing.
Speaker:Like what's new, what came out?
Speaker:I mean, that is a number one question in a tobacco shop.
Speaker:And sometimes you just kind of have to go like,
Speaker:what are the classics?
Speaker:Let me go back and revisit the classics
Speaker:because they are just bangers for sticks.
Speaker:They're just phenomenal.
Speaker:- Yeah, I had the other day, our CEO Sean Knutsen
Speaker:smokes boxes of these cigars.
Speaker:The Tatuaje Regios or any of that original,
Speaker:I think that's the Miami line,
Speaker:that classic brown Tatuaje label.
Speaker:Outstanding cigars.
Speaker:Generally always on the shelf, fantastic cigars.
Speaker:10 years ago when I was smoking more occasionally,
Speaker:I smoked pretty much exclusively the Tatuaje Noellas
Speaker:which is a little smaller than that Regios,
Speaker:little Corona cigar, was always the perfect amount of time.
Speaker:Had the right amount of pepper and spice
Speaker:and flavor profile, just very consistent.
Speaker:- Really good.
Speaker:And if you get a chance to smoke two cigars side-by-side
Speaker:that are different, it's really eyeopening.
Speaker:I encourage you to try it at least once
Speaker:and just see what you get.
Speaker:That's why we did this series is like
Speaker:the Big Brother, Little Brother series
Speaker:can be done for any cigar.
Speaker:Or you can even go outside a brand and say,
Speaker:I just want to try stuff like broadleaf,
Speaker:anything that has a broadleaf wrapper,
Speaker:I wanna try that.
Speaker:I wanna compare the two.
Speaker:I wanna see which one I like, what do I like about it?
Speaker:There's so much to this that you can play with.
Speaker:It is truly a fun, fun, fun experiment.
Speaker:- Absolutely.
Speaker:The other day when I was visiting
Speaker:some of my accounts down in Texas,
Speaker:walked into one of the shops and walked in the humidor
Speaker:to get a cigar and the gentleman running the shop said,
Speaker:"Well, what do you wanna smoke?"
Speaker:He's like, "What do you like?"
Speaker:I said, "Man, I smoke a lot of cigars
Speaker:"but I'm really feeling like Cameroon."
Speaker:So they were able to point me to a unique Cameroon
Speaker:that I hadn't had in a long time.
Speaker:And I think that's a tool that people
Speaker:need to always remember is when you walk into a cigar shop
Speaker:and that staff is willing to help,
Speaker:or there's someone in the humidor or say,
Speaker:hey, if you have any questions, come ask us.
Speaker:Ask them, tell them, hey, I really would like to try
Speaker:maybe a couple different broadleaf wrapped cigars,
Speaker:or a couple different San Andres.
Speaker:Or I'd like to try really good Connecticut
Speaker:but maybe something that's a little more unique.
Speaker:You name it, they're willing to help and they want to help
Speaker:because they have this wealth of knowledge
Speaker:that if they don't get chance to share it,
Speaker:is kind of just sits there going to waste.
Speaker:- Yeah, you're just now a transaction coordinator,
Speaker:you're bringing up sticks and that's it.
Speaker:- That's exactly right.
Speaker:- And if you know what you want then that's great.
Speaker:You don't need to ask for any help but it is fun
Speaker:to get recommendations, to push your boundaries.
Speaker:I mean, to me that's what it's all about.
Speaker:- I think so too.
Speaker:- Push your boundaries a little bit, see what you like,
Speaker:see what you don't like and see why you might like it.
Speaker:And now this is just like mental catalog for me of like,
Speaker:okay, I know the difference between these two now,
Speaker:so now I can like better educate myself on recommendations
Speaker:for other people.
Speaker:Like really what are you looking for out of that cigar?
Speaker:- Yeah, and I think finding out that this has a broadleaf
Speaker:as the binder makes this cigar super interesting to me.
Speaker:Because you and I think both really enjoy broadleaf,
Speaker:it's such a unique tobacco variety.
Speaker:- It's very, very, very enjoyable, both of these cigars.
Speaker:Hard to pick a winner because they both have unique
Speaker:positions in my wheelhouse of where I would use them easily.
Speaker:I mean, my go-to morning cigar
Speaker:would probably be this Classic, this Montecristo Classic.
Speaker:Creamy, smooth, the bitterness of my coffee
Speaker:is gonna bounce off of that.
Speaker:But then, I don't know.
Speaker:I was drinking coffee and both of them played really well
Speaker:with this because the War Hawk had that punch to it
Speaker:to try to kind of.
Speaker:- I went from the War Hawk back to this
Speaker:Montecristo Classic, and I got like this great,
Speaker:almost like fresh herbs note.
Speaker:It just tastes awesome.
Speaker:And if you've watched any of Rob and I's videos
Speaker:over the last year or so,
Speaker:you know that I love unique flavors, especially floral,
Speaker:smells of the garden, that sort of thing.
Speaker:And this just really popped with all of those.
Speaker:I love really unique flavors on a regular basis.
Speaker:And I know people that like the same thing all the time.
Speaker:They go to one restaurant to have this,
Speaker:they go to another restaurant to have that.
Speaker:There is nothing wrong with that.
Speaker:But even if you're that type of individual,
Speaker:branch out just a little bit.
Speaker:Try something that you may not normally try.
Speaker:- As I keep bouncing back I just keep picking up
Speaker:the creaminess of the Montecristo
Speaker:and I'm just like, wow, that's so good.
Speaker:The War Hawk, again, too I mean, I don't know.
Speaker:Do you have a winner?
Speaker:Would you pick one over the other?
Speaker:- I don't know if I can in this one.
Speaker:I think on this one I gotta say it's like a dead heat.
Speaker:- It just all depends upon what you're looking for.
Speaker:- Yeah, this one is really a challenge.
Speaker:- I'm gonna boil it down to the Classic,
Speaker:the Montecristo Classic, smooth, creamy,
Speaker:easy to retrohale, great stick.
Speaker:That's where it resides for me.
Speaker:If you like more flavor,
Speaker:if you drink certain types of alcohol
Speaker:that are more smokey, peaty, stronger, have a bit of a bite,
Speaker:go with the War Hawk.
Speaker:It has the body that it can put up with those
Speaker:types of alcohols and just be a great pairing.
Speaker:- This would be great with my favorite Scotch, Lophroaig 10.
Speaker:- Exactly.
Speaker:- It's gonna balance, it's gonna match that
Speaker:real blast of peaty, briny smokiness
Speaker:that that Lophroaig has.
Speaker:But it's also gonna balance really nicely
Speaker:as that Scotch becomes more sweetness
Speaker:after those first couple of sips.
Speaker:Because a lot of those bold flavors kind of become
Speaker:more subtle after subsequent tastings.
Speaker:- Palate tasting to it.
Speaker:- And this is gonna balance really well.
Speaker:- It's a great series, I enjoy doing it.
Speaker:We have a whole bag of even more of these.
Speaker:So if you're interested in this,
Speaker:leave comments down below, let us know what you think.
Speaker:What cigars would you wanna put up against
Speaker:Big Brother, Little Brother series.
Speaker:And as always, I mean, keep smoking cigars
Speaker:and expanding your palate.
Speaker:That's what it's all about.
Speaker:That's what we're here to do.
Speaker:And we're just trying to help everyone else go, wow,
Speaker:I've never done that before let's try that.
Speaker:And we're learning as we go.
Speaker:So it's a total blast.
Speaker:- In the words of Rob Schneider, "You can do it."
Speaker:- That's it.
Speaker:I don't know how to end it any other way
Speaker:but I will say this message from our sponsor, Boveda.
Speaker:If you're not subscribed to Boveda,
Speaker:and just continually getting Boveda shipped to your house,
Speaker:I just have my subscription set to every three months.
Speaker:Every three months I get my Boveda, they come,
Speaker:I know exactly what humidor to change them out in.
Speaker:And I can actually put on different subscriptions
Speaker:at different times, so I can have them mail out
Speaker:at different time, which I absolutely love.
Speaker:So that's what we do.
Speaker:That's the best way to keep your cigars perfect
Speaker:is just making sure you always have Boveda in stock.
Speaker:- That's the way to do it.
Speaker:- Thanks again, have a great weekend.
Speaker:- Thanks for joining us.
