Shooter
Living life on the heavies.
Old Henry is a brand of premium cigar owned by Holt's Cigar Company. It was created by José "Pepin" Garcia and is manufactured at Tabacalera Cubana in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Old Henry, an English bulldog, was the mascot at Holt's for many years until his death in 2006. The cigar was developed as a tribute to a "beautiful pooch with champion features."
It is described as "full-bodied and robust, yet balanced and complex." The filler is aged Nicaraguan leaves. There are two Nicaraguan binder types, and the wrapper is a Nicaraguan Corojo.
The above taken from wikipedia
Jose 'Pepin' Garcia is as hot as a pistol! Not only is he the toast of the town, but he has also become one of the most respected manufacturers in the cigar business. Pepin already makes such popular brands as Tatuaje and Padilla Miami; however, we think this is his finest work to date! Handcrafted in his newly opened Tabacalera Cubana factory in Nicaragua, Old Henry is a marvelous cigar of rare taste and quality. The lovely Corojo wrapper is the color of rich earthy soil with a reddish tint. It burns in outstanding fashion and combines a wonderful aroma with a hefty punch. Beneath this toothy wrapper two Nicaraguan binders cradle a luscious blend of aged Nicaraguan filler leaves. Flavor wise Old Henry is full-bodied and robust, yet balanced and complex. Its rich meaty character is accompanied by savory notes of leather and spice. The construction is flawless and each cigar is finished with a traditional Cuban Triple-Cap. Pepin is currently making a slew of fine cigars, but our Old Henry is the pick of the litter. Discover this great new cigar for yourself!
The above taken from Holt's
The story behind these smokes is as follows:
I was perusing the website when I came across the weekly specials. The offer was a free stinky ash tray, and a fiver of the Old Henry robustos with a box purchase so I sprung on em.
My experience with Garcia blends has been awful. The first two Old Henry's were no different. An awful throat burning ensued and I chucked em without making it half way. The corojo wrapper is very particular when it comes to humidity so I thought I had smoked em too wet. I packed up the Old Henry's and sent to the bottom of the cooler. About a month later I opened the box to an ammonia smell that sent me reeling, indicative of a sick period. Once again back to the depths of the cooler.
Fast forward to the past couple of days. I got a new humi (still debating on whether to keep it) it is not the one I posted a pic of but another one. I was putting my smokes in there and came across the box of Old Henry's. I was making a Starbucks run and needed a smoke. I opened up the box and it had a faint ammonia smell, I said what the hell and grabbed one.
The wrapper on these beauties is phenomenal; it appears to be made of pure dark red satin with a high sheen to it. What was impressive was when held in the sunlight for further inspection revealed a rainbow type reflection off the wrapper. Very intriguing.
The construction was impeccable complete with a triple cap. Hardly any veins with an overall smashing appearance.
I fired it up and the typical throat burning ensued. It lasted through the first half inch and mellowed out. The first prevalent taste was raw fresh cut oak, very bitter and overpowering. What followed was a bittersweet chocolate, a mix a dark chocolate and cooking chocolate. A very earthy presence on the tongue. It soon morphed to a burnt sugar taste reminding me of crust atop crème burlee. Through the nose was raw plum.
The second part of the smoke revealed pecans, the kind you have at Christmas, covered in buttery sugar. Not a sweet taste but very nutty, overshadowed with cinnamon. Through the nose was a raw hickory, reminded me of my smoker going full blast.
The last part of the cigar mellowed out to a hazelnut and stayed that way for about 20 minutes. Finishing up with a very prominent fresh roast coffee flavor. Through the nose transformed to black cherry and ended up back into that hickory as previously stated.
Throughout the smoke the foot was very salty on the lips and tongue, very fresh tasting in my opinion.
The ash was white with a dark mottled interior and very crispy you could here it when breaking off the ash. Very sturdy ash not the soft mellow ash that most cigars seem to have.
The burn was impeccable considering I didn't get a good light as I ran out of fluid and always corrected its self if one side got ahead of the other. No touch ups were needed.
The amount of smoke was above average, which is important to me.
Over all this smoke needs more down time as the ammonia was prevalent throughout and presented a very harsh raw cigar smoking experience. It presented itself overall as having loads of potential in the future. A salty young taste with those dank dark overtones indicative of a very very young smoke. Similar to a fresh puro. Not my cup of tea. I will say again this cigar will improve it kept trying to show that throughout, just not ready to smoke as of yet. I look forward to revisiting this smoke in about six months. Looks can be deceiving I just cont get over how nice this smokes looks and how raw it turns out to be. A very meaty steak and potatoes smoke.
Conclusion:
Still in the throws of its sick period with vast potential after some down time.
Old Henry, an English bulldog, was the mascot at Holt's for many years until his death in 2006. The cigar was developed as a tribute to a "beautiful pooch with champion features."
It is described as "full-bodied and robust, yet balanced and complex." The filler is aged Nicaraguan leaves. There are two Nicaraguan binder types, and the wrapper is a Nicaraguan Corojo.
The above taken from wikipedia
Jose 'Pepin' Garcia is as hot as a pistol! Not only is he the toast of the town, but he has also become one of the most respected manufacturers in the cigar business. Pepin already makes such popular brands as Tatuaje and Padilla Miami; however, we think this is his finest work to date! Handcrafted in his newly opened Tabacalera Cubana factory in Nicaragua, Old Henry is a marvelous cigar of rare taste and quality. The lovely Corojo wrapper is the color of rich earthy soil with a reddish tint. It burns in outstanding fashion and combines a wonderful aroma with a hefty punch. Beneath this toothy wrapper two Nicaraguan binders cradle a luscious blend of aged Nicaraguan filler leaves. Flavor wise Old Henry is full-bodied and robust, yet balanced and complex. Its rich meaty character is accompanied by savory notes of leather and spice. The construction is flawless and each cigar is finished with a traditional Cuban Triple-Cap. Pepin is currently making a slew of fine cigars, but our Old Henry is the pick of the litter. Discover this great new cigar for yourself!
The above taken from Holt's
The story behind these smokes is as follows:
I was perusing the website when I came across the weekly specials. The offer was a free stinky ash tray, and a fiver of the Old Henry robustos with a box purchase so I sprung on em.
My experience with Garcia blends has been awful. The first two Old Henry's were no different. An awful throat burning ensued and I chucked em without making it half way. The corojo wrapper is very particular when it comes to humidity so I thought I had smoked em too wet. I packed up the Old Henry's and sent to the bottom of the cooler. About a month later I opened the box to an ammonia smell that sent me reeling, indicative of a sick period. Once again back to the depths of the cooler.
Fast forward to the past couple of days. I got a new humi (still debating on whether to keep it) it is not the one I posted a pic of but another one. I was putting my smokes in there and came across the box of Old Henry's. I was making a Starbucks run and needed a smoke. I opened up the box and it had a faint ammonia smell, I said what the hell and grabbed one.
The wrapper on these beauties is phenomenal; it appears to be made of pure dark red satin with a high sheen to it. What was impressive was when held in the sunlight for further inspection revealed a rainbow type reflection off the wrapper. Very intriguing.
The construction was impeccable complete with a triple cap. Hardly any veins with an overall smashing appearance.
I fired it up and the typical throat burning ensued. It lasted through the first half inch and mellowed out. The first prevalent taste was raw fresh cut oak, very bitter and overpowering. What followed was a bittersweet chocolate, a mix a dark chocolate and cooking chocolate. A very earthy presence on the tongue. It soon morphed to a burnt sugar taste reminding me of crust atop crème burlee. Through the nose was raw plum.
The second part of the smoke revealed pecans, the kind you have at Christmas, covered in buttery sugar. Not a sweet taste but very nutty, overshadowed with cinnamon. Through the nose was a raw hickory, reminded me of my smoker going full blast.
The last part of the cigar mellowed out to a hazelnut and stayed that way for about 20 minutes. Finishing up with a very prominent fresh roast coffee flavor. Through the nose transformed to black cherry and ended up back into that hickory as previously stated.
Throughout the smoke the foot was very salty on the lips and tongue, very fresh tasting in my opinion.
The ash was white with a dark mottled interior and very crispy you could here it when breaking off the ash. Very sturdy ash not the soft mellow ash that most cigars seem to have.
The burn was impeccable considering I didn't get a good light as I ran out of fluid and always corrected its self if one side got ahead of the other. No touch ups were needed.
The amount of smoke was above average, which is important to me.
Over all this smoke needs more down time as the ammonia was prevalent throughout and presented a very harsh raw cigar smoking experience. It presented itself overall as having loads of potential in the future. A salty young taste with those dank dark overtones indicative of a very very young smoke. Similar to a fresh puro. Not my cup of tea. I will say again this cigar will improve it kept trying to show that throughout, just not ready to smoke as of yet. I look forward to revisiting this smoke in about six months. Looks can be deceiving I just cont get over how nice this smokes looks and how raw it turns out to be. A very meaty steak and potatoes smoke.
Conclusion:
Still in the throws of its sick period with vast potential after some down time.
