Smoke Inn has introduced their 12th microblend release with the Red Meat Lovers cigar blended by Steve Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. Named after the famed Red Meat Lover’s Club in South Florida, Steve blended the cigar to be a perfect accompaniment to a huge steak dinner. Steve tried several wrappers and eventually decided to go with a Connecticut Broadleaf No. 1 dark maduro wrapper over a Mexican San Andreas binder with filler from Nicaragua and US tobaccos.
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf No. 1 dark maduro
Binder: Mexican San Andreas
Filler: Nicaragua, US
Vitola: Gran Toro
Size: 6 x 56
MSRP: $11.95
Thanks to Cigar Coop for cigars used in this review
Pre-Light
The cigar looks pretty amazing with a dark brown, almost black, oily wrapper. I do love how Steve Sake added a pig tail cap to the Red Meat Lovers, as I’m not sure if it was just for aesthetics or a nod to the group, but either way, I like it. I’m not too fond of the size as its just over what I feel comfortable smoking, but the cigar has a perfect draw. I get notes of rich earth, cedar and leather.
First Half
The Red Meat Lovers cigar is quite a potent cigar with a very full body. I get notes of cedar, rich earth, red pepper flakes and cocoa notes. The red pepper spice lingers ever so slightly on the back of the palate. The cigar has quite the savory blend which I can see going really well with a steak dinner. The burn is slightly crooked that never really corrects itself. Still, it wasn’t too bad and didn’t affect the burning of the cigar.
Last Half
As the Red Meat Lovers cigar enters the final half, the cigar turns a little more earthy and the cocoa note turned to a more creamy milk chocolate note. I’m getting a black pepper note as well, which works well with the creamy milk chocolate note as a counter balance of flavors. It’s still full bodied and full flavor. The burn is still wavy, but, like I said on the first half, it hasn’t affected smoking the cigar.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed this cigar. It has a lot of flavors that range from spicy, sweet and savory which always makes for a tasty cigar. If you could ever describe a cigars flavor profile as umami, this one is it. This really does pair really well with a steak dinner, which is what it was intended. It’s a stout cigar so keep that in mind when you plan on smoking it. It’s another home run for Steve Saka and Smoke Inn and the price is right.
