The Velvet Cigar

Posted By ironmeden on June 26, 2008

So with Elvis’ advice I treked on over to Tobacco Grove to check out their new shelves. Like Elvis said they have pretty much done away with the boxes and created a tray like shelf. They do have a few boxes left on some traditional shelves, but they are still working on the humidor to give it a more polished appearance. I have to say it does make the humidor look more organized and uniform. They can pretty much double their inventory with this setup. With the way they had it setup before and now, its amazing how many more cigars they can fit in there. The one critique I would have is the middle island, the very top row is angled in a way you can’t get a good look at the cigars and the light from the ceiling reflects off the bands, washing them out from view. You have to then pull the cigar out of the tray to gather a good look at the stick. Otherwise, its a great idea for solving the ever increasing box sizes that are out there on the market.

Since it’s been a few months since i’ve last been there, I was eyeballing any new cigar I could smoke for a review. They had a new Dunhill, but it was a little out of my price range, but it did look delicious. Looking around further I looked over by the shelves that still had boxes and on the top row there was a cigar I had not heard of. It was the La Riqueza No. 1. La Riqueza stands for The Riches or Wealth in Spanish.

At checkout Joel said the cigar is from the cigar maker Pete Johnson who brings you the Tatuaje line of cigars. I’ve enjoyed the Tatuaje cigars i’ve smoked, but they are not on my most wanted list when it comes to repeat purchases.

The La Riqueza No. 1 is a slender fellow, measuring 6 1/2 x 42. Its ever so slightly boxed pressed with a triple cap giving it that authentic Cuban look. The band is quite simple and it almost reminds me of a Partagas Red label bands they have.

The cigar consists of a naturally dark USA Connecticut Broadleaf and Nicaraguan Binder and Filler. The Tatuaje lines are all Nicaraguan tobacco’s, so it seems the difference here would be the Connecticut wrapper. I’m not much of an expert on that line to say if it tastes exactly like those line of cigars. I would do a poor job on comparing the lines.

I made a v-cut to the head and lit it up with a wooden match. I got a slight harshness from the cigar, but it went away quite quickly. The flavors opened up and I was getting a dirt taste followed by toffee.

At the 1/4 point the complexity changed and the dirt taste went away but the toffee was still there. There was a nice floral taste that reminded me of a Gurkha.

The cigar didn’t change at all as it went towards the end, there was a hint of spice at the 3/4 mark, but it would come and go.

The ash is gray throughout and it is quite flaky and soft. It seemed to fall off at the slightest movement of the cigar.

This is a good cigar, I was a little nervous about since Joel at Tobacco Grove compared it to a Padron Maduro, which I’m not a fan of. So I was quite surprised by the flavors. Price point on this cigar was about $12 here in Minnesota. Taking price into account for my rating I would have to give it a 3 out of 5. If it was a little less expensive, it would certainly reach a 4 rating.

For another review of this cigar check out Cigar Command and Her Humidor

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Categories: Conneticut, Nicaragua
Tags: connecticut broadleaf, La Riqueza, nicaraguan, No. 1, tatuaje