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Plasencia "Alma del Fuego"

Plasencia "Cosecha 149"

Jake Wyatt "Icarus"

Initial Smoke

Sweet and syrupy, with a Black Cavendish pipe tobacco aromatic hitting retrohales, light-up oily and impressive. Herbal and medicinal, with a strong blend of cedar and oak starting to form, flavors are smooth and sultry. Retrohales eventually grow peppery and leathery, with medium-bodied texture to the smoke keeping the cigar centered. 

1st Half 

As leather notes increase, roasted walnut flavors and sticky molasses grow in presence, making for a potent brew when combined with the existing medicinal flavors. Complexity levels are already top-tier, with tastes of star anise and coriander adding further magnitude to the already intricate cigar flavor profile. 

Maintaining a medium amount of body, but even bigger on flavor, the second third opens with toasted hardwood, malty brown ale, and a peppery pop toward the back of the throat. That syrupy molasses note sticks to the tongue and nose, and makes the medicinal sides of the smoke taste even stronger due to their prolonged length on the finish. 

2nd Half

Mineral and cedar grow stronger as the center of the cigar is approached and passed, and before long the clove and molasses take over, leaving a lasting taste that is stronger yet. Balance is shored up by those roasted walnut flavors and the smooth texture of the smoke, which is medium-full by this point, and a pleasure to play with.

These stronger, nuttier notes are met by more powerful cedar flavors, which are equal parts spicy and sappy. Malty and mature, the final third is big but also well-built and extremely slow burning, with tastes of prune and port wine making for a marvelous secondary note. Savory and smooth, with succulent notes of star anise and clove circling behind milder baking spices and servings of mineral. 

Parting Puffs

Spicier all around, and packed with black licorice, parting puffs pop with warm cinnamon, both wet and dry oak, with a heavier, chewier, sweeter finish closing the blend out. Those medicinal notes are still omnipresent, and as that larger ring-gauge nub burns, heat quickly becomes an issue, and you may find yourself putting the blend down regularly to give your fingers a break.

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Although burn line issues occurred at the start to the second third, the cigar self-corrected quickly and remained on track for the remainder of the time, despite wavering in its burn from time to time. Smoke production tends to be a strong suit for this vitola, with the draw being so open-ended that a punch is pretty much mandatory to keep things in check. The ash that formed was solid but a bit flaky in areas, and held on tightly for the majority of the near two-hour burn time.

Final Thoughts

Despite its impressive appearance, I strongly believe that the 1865 Alma Fuerte Black is going to be a love it or hate it blend for those experiencing it for the first time. All of those medicinal, mineral-heavy notes and black licorice flavors may be a bit much for some smokers, especially if they are not too familiar with these tastes. 

But for those of us who dig some molasses funk and a hint of herbal Jägermeister mixology, this Nicaraguan puro will be right on point. Thanks to the smoothness of the blend, the overall profile of the cigar manages to remain medium-full even at its strongest point, and never tastes off-center in any direction.

That said, I strongly encourage you to punch this larger vitola to limit smoke flow and lower burn temps, as that does seem to be an issue with this wild six-sided vitola. Do that, and you will be rewarded with one of the more memorable full-flavored cigars that we stock. It may seem a pinch repetitive in places, but there isn't anything off either, and the photos you will take are surely going to be social media worthy. If not just for the amount of smoke that is produced, but for the creative structure of the cigar itself and those gorgeous Plasencia bands.

Overall Balance & Repeatability