One of my new favorite celebrity smokes comes from an unassuming company down in the Dominican Republic. A boutique cigar brand that goes by the name of Artista Cigars. Coincidentally, this particular stick also happens to be my current favorite blend from the manufacturer, despite having never paid much attention to the man who helped formulate this blend. 

The cigar is called HOF by David Ortiz, and as one might expect, this commemorative stogie's name is the acronym for the slugger's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame back in 2022.

Wrapped in a San Andrés leaf that is not all the way Mexican maduro, a binder pulled from the Sumatran soils of Indonesia, and a one-off filler mixture from the Caribbean islands and South America, this blend is both bold and balanced. It also smokes pretty damn well, and in my opinion, is a befitting tribute to the baseball legend who inspired its inception. 

Unlit Impressions 

Baseball glove stitching, gold accents, faded blue touches, a couple of baseballs on each side, and the slugger's name all turn this band into a slick piece of marketing and representation. There is no mistaking this stick for another stogie in your humidor, and I found myself taking entirely too many snaps of the band based purely upon the fact that it looks so snazzy.

The Mexican wrapper underneath the band is far less flashy, and somewhat mottled looking. It does sit snuggly over its binder and filler innards but isn't super oily or eye-catching. It also smells pretty unassuming, with light stewed prune notes, cedar, and some earthen funk being all that is notable. Foot aromatics are much more intriguing, with sweet molasses, orange zest, and the spice tea notes from that Indonesian binder being the star players. 

Dry and clay-like, cold draws tone down the molasses touch and Sumatran spice, and them in with the cedar and leather wrapper aromatics. Nothing too special here, but tasty nonetheless.  

Initial Smoke

Swinging first comes the faint flavor of Sumatran tobacco and black pepper. This is followed by mild soil-infused funkiness, along with some oiled baseball glove leather, and thick cardstock paper. Retrohales are peppery at first but soon shift toward a more Sumatran chai tea smell that slowly grows milky and sweet on you.

1st Half

With the sweetness increasing, out comes tastes of candied dates and a generic dark fruit aftertaste that makes me recall the stewed spice fruit dish my grandmother used to make at Christmas. It's almost mulled wine, but not nearly as intense tasting, nor as sweet, and is well-balanced by the staves of cedar that seem to have been magically mixed into this premium cigar blend.

The finish gradually grows long as you go, as body, strength, and flavor prefer to keep things somewhere between first and second base. Every now and then there's a hit of flavor that's more intense than the last, but this quickly grounds out or is just a random pop-fly behind home plate.

2nd Half

Right when it's time to steal over to second base, a bag of roasted nuts gets handed to you, salted, and slightly sweetened in a paper bag. As this gradual taste dries out the palate a bit, Indonesian farmhouse funk finds its way, and the cedar notes from earlier take on a richer hickory approach to appeasing your taste buds. 

But just when you aren't quite sure which direction this blend will go, it scores an RBI with the flavors of malted milk and creamy cocoa. Aromatics somehow have stayed in the medium range, and are leaning heavily upon those chai tea and dry, clay-like soil smells from pre-light. It's also a touch floral and perfume-heavy at times, which seems out of place and confuses the olfactory senses when it randomly arrives.

Parting Puffs

Peppery, powerful, muddled, and burning a good bit hotter than any other section of the cigar, parting puffs are borderline unpleasant to me. Everything experienced up until this moment seems to have suddenly been amplified, and it feels rather overwhelming amidst all of the confusion. 

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Dropped ash and a touch-up at each third caused some point deductions, as did the heat of the smoke itself toward the last third and beyond. The draw, however, was perfect on all three cigars, and when the ash did burn straight, was quite appealing to the eye. 

Final Thoughts

The first six innings of David Ortiz's HOF are easily its best moments. One homer after another connects and leaves you clamoring from the bandstands, as this blend provides an impressive amount of blending skill with precisely controlled displays of power and precision. 

Home stretch slumps were an issue in each cigar smoked though, and were not helped by the unrefined characteristics that emerged further into the ninth inning. Construction and burn issues were most notable in the review cigar seen here, with the first two cigars requiring less adjustment with my torch each time.

These strikes were not numerous enough to warrant a low batting average though, with my overall assessment of 4.3/5 stars landing this smoke a solid place on my list of recommendation-worthy celebrity cigars. Additionally, I feel that the rugged characteristics of that Indonesian binder both helped and hurt the overall score.

On one hand, they make for a much more funky and fun spiced chai tea-tasting experience. On the other, they do seem a touch unrefined, and give me reason to believe that benching this blend for a few games and letting it simmer in your Klaro humidor for a period might make the next game that much more of an all-star show.

Flavor, Aroma & Transitions

Depth & Complexity

Construction, Burn & Physical Appeal

Backstory & Branding

Overall Balance & Repeatability

Stogie Specs