Alec Bradley Family Blend

[AK47]

Attachment 2984

Alec Bradley Family Blend VR1 - 5.5"x50 Rested 1 month at 62%

Burn Time - 1hr 15min with .5" left.

Wrapper : Honduran
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Mix Honduran and Nicaraguan long filler

Prelight - Construction looks good, with an interesting tied off cap. Tight but visible seams, slightly mottled wrapper. It has a really distinct barnyard aroma. (When I first heard of guys describing a cigars aroma as barnyard I didn't realize how EXACTLY like a barnyard a cigar could smell, lol). Prelight draw is loose, just how I like it. "Light" feel to the cigar.

1/3 - Right off the bat the draw is great, loose with a good amount of smoke output. Medium body smoke with great flavor. I'm picking up an almost sweet cream and I'm really loving it. It's got creamy flavor and creamy texture as well, right up my alley. After 10 minutes or so I start getting some pepper on the back of my tongue, this continues for a little while longer but peters out by the 2/3, and will come back in the last third again. There's a slightly wavy burn but I'm smoking outside with lots of wind, so I won't factor that into my own construction rating. It's burning relatively quickly with lots of foot smoke but it's staying really cool with absolutely no effort from me, which I love. Hate having to baby a cigar!

2/3 - Sweetness is long gone by now but the cream remains, in texture mostly. As we go along into the halfway point the creaminess slowly goes and is replaced with a tobacco/woodsy flavor which transitions into a very strong woody/cedary flavor. Not my favorite flavor profile but the draw is still great, producing lots of smoke and still burning very cool. The body is still medium but now the strength is noticable. I'd say the strength is a solid medium as well. This part of the cigar is marked by very woodsy and cedary flavors.

3/3 - THE CREAM IS BACK! I'm really happy with the final third, as the cream comes back now. The cedar is still dominating, but with the cream mixed into the mix I'm enjoying it much more. The texture of the smoke is again a little thicker, just how I like it. I get cream and chocolate on my retrohale. The finish is medium long, lasting 4-5 seconds, as was the case for the whole cigar. The pepper now comes back in more force than in the first third, and all together I'm really loving this flavor profile with the pepper, cream, cedar. Complex, but easy to pick out the flavors even for a noob like me. I'm really enjoying this cigar now and smoke it all the way down to the half inch mark.

Overall - Really good cigar. Easy to pick out flavors, and they happened to be right up my alley. Cream, pepper, cedar (usually not my favorite but great with the other two) with a great thick, creamy texture throughout most of the smoke. Burned amazingly well, producing lots of smoke while still burning very cool and requiring no thought on my part to slow down/speed up/etc. This may be 5-pack worthy if I can get a good deal on it for sure!

Thanks for reading! Anyone else try this cigar?

[c.ortiz108]

Thanks for the review. Just picked up a couple of singles of these on the devil site, and am looking forward to trying them.

[AK47]

Let us know how you like it when you get around to it. I was pleasantly surprised by it.

[jhedrick83]

I like the M23 (Churchill) it's a tasty cigar and I've gotten boxes from c-bid for about $65-70. Great value smoke IMO.

[Dijit]

If you like these fresh from the box I think you will really like them if you can age them between 6 months and a year. The pepper and the cedar both calm down and balance each other with the chocolate in the last half of the stick. One of my favorite AB's

[AK47]

If you like these fresh from the box I think you will really like them if you can age them between 6 months and a year. The pepper and the cedar both calm down and balance each other with the chocolate in the last half of the stick. One of my favorite AB's

I'm still in the sampler stage at this point but I foresee 5 pack's, boxes and a tupperdor in my immediate future. Thanks for the tip, will look out for a good deal on some of these and will sit on them.

[Zeede]

How strong was the nicotine with this one?

[jhedrick83]

I'm still in the sampler stage at this point but I foresee 5 pack's, boxes and a tupperdor in my immediate future. Thanks for the tip, will look out for a good deal on some of these and will sit on them.

I sat on mine for a year and they were insanely smooth. Nice review by the way!