Cordoba & Morales Empire Pipe Cigar
Wrapper: San Andreas Maduro with Ecuadorian Candella
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
This week I am going to be reviewing The Empire Pipe Cigar by Cordoba & Morales.
This cigar is arguably one of the most unique cigars that we carry, and I have had to wait to smoke it until we got more in stock! Well now is the time and I am looking forward to smoking this bad boy! I know it is an odd looking cigar but just as you cut and light any cigar you do the same with this pipe cigar! Now let’s light it up and see how it smokes!
Upon lighting the cigar I was unsure how to light it so I turned it sideways so I didn’t torch the cigar to death and I lit it as I would light any other cigar. Immediately I got a strong sweet flavor note which extends from the candela wrapper being present at the foot when I lit it. Now the question you are probably asking yourself is, “Do I hold it like a pipe or do I hold it like a cigar?” My answer would be to hold it like a pipe in the beginning of your smoking experience. As I kept smoking through the pipe portion of the cigar the sweetness subsided and I started to taste the smooth notes from the San Andreas tobacco. In the background I tasted some nice herbal and floral notes that eventually morphed into a light citrus that reminded me of a lemon. However with those notes present I also tasted some spicy notes in the background along with a hint of graham cracker. There were also a few more hearty notes in there in the mix. This cigar has been smooth the whole time and the floral and citrus notes start to fade away at about the halfway mark of the pipe portion of the cigar. This is where this cigar will get interesting as I continue to smoke it!
The cigar still smoked the same as I let it get past the pipe portion of the cigar. I started to get some pepper and spice in the mix. I had to only ash about twice at this point. It was suggested to me that as the cigar smokes past the pipe that I should turn it upside down so that it will burn evenly and then morph into a traditional cigar. After I did that the cigar was back to looking like a traditional cigar. I started to taste notes of red pepper and there was still graham cracker and sweet notes in the background. Hints of Cumin and other baking spices also took center stage after those notes subsided. Smoking the rest of this cigar was a pure treat! Alot of the same flavor notes remained present even until the end. The cigar burned well like a regular cigar, I got no bitterness and overall it was a pleasant experience! If you haven’t smoked a cigar pipe yet, what are you waiting for? Thursday August 29th from 5-8pm we will be hosting a cut and light featuring The Pipe cigar as well as The Daily Paper both made by Cordoba & Morales!
In the meantime Look for them right in front of you as soon as you enter the humidor, you can’t miss it!
Check out next week’s Shirtless Mike’s cigar of the week!