Wrapper : San Andreas Maduro
Binder : Nicaraguan
Filler : Nicaraguan
Source : Jeff gifted to me
Today I have a first impressions of the 1844 cigar that is available from CI and it’s organizations and is made by AJ Fernandez.
I gave an update on the RabbitAir purifier also and told why the review will not be out for a bit yet in the video.
I will note that their website and the band has a EST at the 1844 but for the sake of this review I will be calling it the 1844 and not the EST 1844.
This cigar is available in six sizes and most notably, they are all figurado’s. For the price of $50 per box, I think that is surprising. I will note that the boxes are either 20, 18 or 16 count so as to keep the price to that $50.
I did a bit of research on the year 1844 and the only two things I could find were the independence of the Dominican Republic from Haiti and then the first constitution for the Dominican Republic. Other than those two events, I could not find anything. I was thinking it may have had something to do with a tobacco farm, blender, roller, etc starting in Cuba but I could not find any information. It just seems strange that if the 1844 is for the Dominican Republic events, why there would be no Dominican Republic tobacco in it.
Pre-Light
Giving this 1844 the once over and I notice it has a bit of a rustic appearance to it but looks very well made. I really like the contrasting colors of the band compared to the dark San Andreas Maduro wrapper.
Scent from the wrapper is a bit of barnyard and the cold draw produced a bitter taste that I associate with the bittersweet chocolate.
I had to clip the end a few times to get a nice open draw but it lit up nicely and away we went.
Cigar
Starting out this 1844 I got quite a bit of the bitter chocolate taste, almost too much for me. I also noticed a little bit of a musty taste that seemed to go away after a few puffs and I just could not associate it with a flavor. As I smoked into the cigar I was also a little surprised that I hit the medium range so fast. I was thinking this was going to be a mild cigar and hit medium at the end but I was wrong.
Around the halfway point the cigar seems to settle down a bit and really brought out the chocolate flavor along with a bit of leather. Still burning very nicely an the ash is holding on for a good inch or two till I knock it off in the ashtray.
Toward the end it started to bring on the bitter taste again while the leather turned to wood and more natural tobacco came out. Still not too terribly bad.
Wrap-Up
Would I buy it again? I would try other sizes of the 1844 to try and find one I liked the best as the bitter taste is not really a good thing for me.
For under $3 I think it is a good stick to get a little introduction to maduro wrappers but you would have to forewarn people about the bitter taste they may get.
AUDIO –> Right-Click: Save As
Hey Mike,
That was the 50-xtra size (6″X50RG). I agree that there’s no way your can compare these with the Nica Libre. I also think that these were probably released in a hurry, so they need some aging time. I think the smaller size might do better.
As far as what I could find out about the name, all I could come up was the date that the H. Upmann company was founded in Cuba. What that might have to do with this cigar is beyond me.
Thanks for the review.
Jeff
P.S. – You should keep telling the RabbitAir people that they’re sending the wrong filter. Stretch it out, man. 😉
Nice review! I’ve seen people posting about smoking these cigars but nothing about whether they were good or not.
I’ve got a box of 50Xtras too. They sort remind me of a milder verison of the Cain Maduro. Overall a pretty good smoke. @Cigar2 on twitter.
I actually just bid on a 5-pack of these. Looking forward to trying them.
On a side note, we’ve got some bad flooding here in Upstate New York, too. 🙁
Stay dry, and thanks for the review!
Sounds like a stinker to me. Bitter is something I stay away from except in beer.
I have smoked both the 50 and 50-xtra and enjoy the 50 vitola more. I got none of the bitterness mentioned in this review when smoking several of the 50’s, but did get some with 50-xtra. Overall bittersweet chocolate (as mentioned) and some spice in the medium range is my take on this cigar. I would recommend either vitola as they are both tasty cigars, at a great price and will only get better with some aging.
Where did you get these are made by AJ? I don’t see that anywhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Fernandez_Cigars#A.J._Fernandez-manufactured_products
inquiring minds wanted to know, so there you are 🙂
Damn, you beat us to it. 🙂 We will eventually review this on crap network but I have had a few and I have got to say, the first couple I smoked, sucked. There was a lot of hype for this cigar and I was disappointed. The third one I smoked (with a little more humidor time) improved greatly. I think this cigar could turn out to be a great stick if you let it rest longer. I’ll be buying more eventually. 🙂
Andy K. wrote, “They sort remind me of a milder version of the Cain Maduro.” I felt the Est.1844 was sweeter than the Cain Maduro with the latter having more strength (due all the ligero) and complexity . I have four more 1844s and I plan on letting them rest for a while since smoking one satisfied my general curiosity about this blend.
I agree with the comment from “long_ashes” regarding the longer humidor time. I ordered a handful of the 6×60 and let them sit in my humidor for probably 2 months. Burned one this weekend and it is now one of my new favorite cigars and just ordered a box to stash away in my humidor for the next couple months. I don’t know if the 6×60 would have that same bitter taste or not, I experienced none and the draw was beautiful! Got about halfway into the stick, and felt it deep in the pit of my stomach and I was SOLD.
I have been smoking the Anejado No. 50 and find them to be a superb cigar. However, I have put one year humi time on them and it makes a tremendous difference. Worth the wait.
I’m a newbe cigar smoker, I found the 1844 in a one of the sampler packs I bought online, and it was probably about the 20th cigar I have ever smoked in my 57 year old life. Additionally I had to smoke it outside in 25 degree weather per agreement with wife. I did notice the hard draw for the first minute so, after that no problem. The flavor was on the mild side, good ash ring, and nice buzz towards the end. I would/will smoke it again. I’m still searching for my “Perfect Stick”.
The 4 IN burned well. I bought them especially for a 30 minute smoke. I rested them for about 8wks I enjoy them. They are perfect for my commute. Let them rest you’ll be surprised.
wow, I bought a 6 cigar sampler box maybe 5-6 years ago and smoked one, it was harsh so I put them in the back of my humidor and fogot about them. Well I just found them and could not remember what kind of snokes they were. It took a while to find this site
and it’s the only reference I have I found at all, thank goodness. I’m gonna try one in tomorrow. I’ll try to post the results!