If someone were to tell you that a German-based company was responsible for one of the best cigars they have smoked all year, would you believe them? Perhaps even more importantly, would you try it?
Last we checked Germany was not known for its tobacco crops, nor for its fermentation and rolling facilities. Yet, here we are discussing a German-owned boutique cigar brand that does indeed produce one of the better blends we have sampled all year.
The company is called German Engineered Cigars, or GEC for short, and as the title of today's topic clearly states, it took home the "Klaro Surprise Stogie of the Show" award at PCA 2024 this year for its Raumzeit blend.
But instead of just stocking this sensational, and surprisingly complex shade-grown cigar, we opted to toss in a secondary, darker smoke from GEC into the Klaro portfolio. Not just because we wanted some diversity, but because it too kicked more ass than Til Schweiger in an action flick, and we wanted to see what ya'll thought as well.
And for those of you who are wondering, no, these cigars are not rolled in Germany, and are primarily a Nicaraguan production, with Tabacalera Tambor tackling the majority of GEC's needs. The only thing about this brand that is 100% German is its founder, Oliver Nickels. A self-confessed tech junkie with an affinity for AI and 3D printed cigar accessories (check out the GEC website and you'll see what we mean), along with a strong sense of taste for unique blends that go beyond the norm and bend boundaries, without being too obtuse.
So to give you some additional info on this brilliant little boutique cigar brand, as well as the insanely aromatic cigars that we stock, keep on scrolling for some product details.
Oh, and for kreislauf's sake, don't miss out on the footage above that we shot at PCA 2024. Nickels is one hell of a presenter, and his approach to describing the blends he comes up with are equal parts creative, delicious, and hilarious. Prosit!
Raumzeit
[Buy 5-Pack]
Literally translating to "space-time," Raumzeit is one of those sticks that tastes like it came from a distant galaxy, and easily took the top place as the most surprising (and impressive) cigar at PCA 2024. While the silken wrapper on the outside smells citrusy and is overflowing with exotic spiced herb tea aromatics, it is the flavors of tree nuts, honey, raw milk, cloves, nutmeg, and stardust that make this increasingly creamy stick so memorable.
According to GEC's website, Raumzeit is a mild to medium-bodied cigar with loads of character, and they are 100% right on the Deutsche Mark with that claim. The blend is both clean and creamy, spiced yet not spicy, and singing with subtle tea-like flavors. It also burns with a beauty rarely seen in such unheard-of cigars and relies upon a Nicaraguan-grown Connecticut Shade wrapper, an Indonesia-sourced Sumatran binder, and fillers including Jalapa, Nicaragua, and from the Dominican Republic.
Weltschmerz
[Buy 5-Pack]
Standing in stark contrast, comes Weltschmerz. A deep, dark blend that is very much grounded, and 100% born of this planet. Utilizing the German word for "a feeling of melancholy and world-weariness," Weltschmerz is a smoke that is crafted for those moments in life when you just need to get away and brood for a moment.
With fillers from Nicaragua's Estelí and Jalapa regions, along with a binder from Jalapa, and an oily Ecuadorian habano oscuro wrapper, this blend mixes medium strength with full flavor in maduro form. Created in collaboration with master blender Claudio Sgroi, and rolled down in Nicaragua at the Tabacalera Tambor plant, this is the ideal dark smoke for those who don't want anything too heavy.
Aromatics and cigar flavor profiles are a concoction of chocolate, raisins, candied orange, green grass, sandy soil, hazelnuts, vanilla, blueberry, cracked coconut, mineral raw oak, and toasted walnuts.
