Size: 6 x 54
Country: Nicaragua
"Welcome. This is the good life for certain. A few months back I got a call from J.C. Newman in Tampa, FL. I was very excited. After all, they make classics like Diamond Crown and Julius Caesar. They wanted to congratulate the club on all of the success we are having and pick our brains about how to create community within the cigar world and social media. I explained that the success of our club has more to do with our members more than some magical thing I created. I then told them that to share the love and community we have all created by allowing us the honor of having an event at their soon-to-open cigar museum in Tampa and possibly making a cigar for the club(I’m always looking out for us!) They are a big company and while they do not move as quickly as some of the boutiques, their materials and production quality are top tier. This is also a company that is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting the FDA on the infamous regulations we all dread. Support them! After a few revisions to the blends, we arrived at The Good Life. Hand rolled, using the finest and thickest Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers, this cigar epitomizes the good life. I truly believe this to be the bench mark of today’s desert style cigars. This is a cigar I will reserve for celebrating life as often as possible. Possibly the most decadent cigar you will ever smoke. Some times I just want to eat it. Like chocolate cake? We could sell this as diet food: all the chocolate cake flavor and none of the calories. I designed the cigar band and oversaw the blend process." -Brian Desind
Notes from Brian Desind -
Tasting Notes: Barnyard and cocoa on the body. Fabric softener on the foot. The cold draw is bakers spices, soy sauce, and pepper. The first third begins with bakers spices like nutmeg, heavy fresh-baked bread, pine, and a richness that is unparalleled. If you have never had chocolate babka it’s sort of like a cinnamon roll but with chocolate instead of cinnamon and no icing. It’s like chocolate swirled bread. It’s heavy, rich, and decadent. This is what I get when I smoke this cigar. Chocolate cake, red wine, mild pepper, sweet sugar, dried floral notes. This really is the closes thing to smoking a chocolate cake. The second third is slightly less sweet. It has herb notes like Italian seasoning and the wood picks up to a nice cedar. Bread is still prominent. At times I am reminded of smacks cereal, sugar smacks. Grainy, slightly sweet, sandalwood, slightly smoky. I am thoroughly enjoying this. In the final third I get a chili seasoning spice, floral notes pick up, there is a cedar wood uptick as well. Now it becomes a gourmet chocolate cake that uses herbs and unique spices. I also get roasted nuts. In the end, I get left with all of these flavors mending together and making a cool menthol like smoke. WOW. The Good Life. What more can I say?
Pairing notes: Chocolate cake. Champagne. Amber Lager. Cognac. Chocolate covered almonds. After a steak. After an Ice cream sundae. With an egg cream soda. Anytime you want to celebrate.
