With your holiday feast now complete, and an antacid slowly setting in, attention turns toward after-dinner activities. But while everyone else plays Jenga and argues about politics or sports, we cigar smokers see this as a chance to seize the moment and steal away for a stogie.
Regardless as to how delicious your holiday meal may be, or how much of it you consumed, the following five premium cigar blends are ideal for following a feast.
Hand-picked from the ever-expanding Klaro portfolio, each of these blends has been tested and reviewed, and then revisited for quality control's sake. For when it comes to after-dinner cigars, it's typically best to have a few options on hand in case a friend or family member decides to join you before the food coma settles in.
Punch Rare Corojo
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When is a corojo, not a corojo? When it is an Ecuadorian Sumatran-wrapped cigar, moonlighting as a corojo. Strong enough for fans of full-force flavor, but polished to the point where those who favor the lower side of medium can stomach the blend in its entirety, this deceptive stick from Punch Cigars is one lovable oddity.
Oily and loaded with fermented combustibles, this blend makes for a prime post-Thanksgiving feast digestif, as it offers a full spin of the cigar flavor wheel. Some of these include toasted vanilla bean and cinnamon spice, toasted hickory smoke and cedar, dried ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, Indonesian black mountain tea leaves, fennel, star anise, saffron... it's all there for you to enjoy as your food coma settles in.
Diesel Whiskey Row
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Taking old booze-laden barrels and giving them fresh purpose as tobacco aging vessels may be nothing new. But none of them have received the level of recognition as "Whiskey Row" from Diesel Cigars and master blender AJ Fernandez. A bold, sweet cedar and oaky vanilla example of what barrel-aged cigar making is all about.
The toasted hazelnut notes that the Ecuadorian habano wrapper imparts upon the palate are a particularly tasty touch, and the way in which cedar mixes with oak tannins and touches of sour mash whiskey and vanilla is wonderful. Primed with oaky tannins stemming from that San Andrés bourbon barrel-aged cigar binder, this blend is borderline ideal for those looking for something flavorful but not dark, with tastes of cinnamon and sugar-caked graham cracker exemplifying this fact.
For those of you who are in search of something darker and stickier, there is the Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask spin-off, which favors sweeter barrels and uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper instead of a habano.
Curivari Reserva Limitada Café Noir
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According to Curivari, this is a premium cigar blend that has been built from the seed up to be enjoyed by coffee drinkers. Personally, we feel that this makes for an ideal dessert substitute for when you are feeling a bit too full, and can only handle a cup of caffeine after overeating.
Starting off on a surprisingly mellow note, the Cafe Noir 56 forges ahead on a path strewn with coffee, vanilla, baking spice, and earthy Habano tastes.
From there flavors of chocolate fudge and salted cashews come out. Chewy ribbons of caramelized brown sugar sweetness and a loaded mixture of malted milk and vanilla come forward to help balance out the earth and bitterness. Somewhere around the central portion of the barrel of the cigar, a shift toward dark fruit occurs, with red currants, cordial, and cassis all rolling into one.
Esteban Carreras Cashmere Connecticut
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Deeper than most cigars in the segment, and quite a bit more flavorful and full in body, Cashmere Connecticut from Esteban Carreras crushes its competitors with a single clean stroke. Rich but not overpowering, cedary, sweet, and cashmere-grade smooth, this is a cigar for those in search of a different shade of Connecticut Shade.
A second serving of salted buttered bread and honey, a saucer of cream, little bits of cedar shavings, and a lovely finish of oak turn this toasty smoke's start into a marvelous endeavor. A light leather aftertaste begins to build, and after a retrohale or two, you will likely find notes of hay, cedar sap, caramelized sugar, and a hefty shake of black pepper.
As the second third hits the middle of the cigar, an eggy, caramel flan flavor forms. Some sandalwood flavors form as well, and add depth to the cigar, without adding too much intensity. Along with that milkiness to the smoke, this forms a perfect pairing and a texture that might make some of you imagine such a dessert.
As the leathery tones increase, out comes a toasted coconut aromatic that tricks your palate into tasting this tropical flavor. An intriguing addition to a point when earthy tastes and black pepper are beginning to exert their dominance.
Sticky, sweet, and impressively long in its finish and flavor formation, the smoke that you pull from this premium cigar blend takes all of the above and amplifies them. For me, this created a medium-smoking experience and a very impressive one for sure.
La Aurora 120th Aniversario
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Cedar is still the most prominent flavor profile, followed by spiced candied fruits, Szechuan pepper, and a dark molasses note that isn't so much sweet as it is tasty. Retrohales are peppery from the corojo and Piloto Cabano tobacco, with the Olor binder adding a cocoa note.
The introduction of a mild brown sugar and vanilla sweetness within the long finish of the cigar serves as a countercheck and secondary tasting note. La Aurora's use of stronger internal ingredients (Piloto Cubano in particular) makes the tail-end of the smoking experience a bit brazen. Strong notes of charry chocolate bitterness, candied fruits, and a smoky cedar taste dominate.
For those looking for something truly exceptional, there is the La Aurora 120th Aniversario - Limited Edition, which takes only the very best tobacco leaves used for this commemorative blend and puts it in a hinged, coffin-style cigar box. Inspired by the distinctive coffin used to house the original La Aurora Preferidos that debuted back in 1903, this ultra-premium cigar is one of the best (and rarest) Dominican premium cigar blends money can buy.