Ortega Wild bunch Iron Mike I Beam (4 7/8x54)

Video Review HERE.


A couple weeks ago I reviewed Big Bad John Jackhammer, the first in the 12 cigar series by Eddie Ortega from his Wild Bunch collection. Each month a new cigar will be debuted. February's cigar is called Iron Mike I Beam.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan


There are only 5000 boxes of 20 cigar made in the Iron Mike edition.

This is a very dark cigar that is somewhat rough looking which seems appropriate for someone named Iron Mike. The cigar features a triple cap and nice density.

After cutting the cap the test draw was effortless. The initial flavors were subtle sweetness, lots of white pepper, and a light cedar. The pepper is very strong and I rate it at an 8.

About 1/2 inch in the flavors settled down into light cedar with a touch of sweetness, earth, and a large amount of white pepper. The finish is an earthy cedar, very light, and some lingering pepper. The cigar is very heavy on earth and pepper and the cedar notes are very light. The cigar is medium to full bodied right out of the gate.




About 1 inch in there is another flavor. I determined it to be an orange citrus. The cedar may have increased just a bit and now there is an addition of orange citrus. The flavors are a little hard to pin down due to the fact that the earth notes and pepper is so heavy. The finish is more of a toasted cream now. There are a lot of toasty notes; possibly wood-like notes on the finish to go along with the lingering pepper. The wrapper is burning a little unevenly which may be due to the fact that the wrapper is so coarse and dense.

At the band the burn is way off. There are now light cream notes to go along with the cedar and subtle orange citrus. There is still a minute amount of richness. Either the earth notes have toned down or the cedar/citrus/cream notes have increased but the cigar is close to balanced. The cigar is now right on the line of being full bodied. The finish is unchanged.

With just an inch or so to go the burn is still way off but I want to give the cigar a chance to right itself. The cigar has a lot more wood notes now. The faint orange citrus has gone away. There is still cream with the cedar with a touch of  sweetness and richness. There are still a lot of earth and wood notes. The pepper and finish are unchanged.

As the cigar wound down the cigar did even out. I knocked the ash off to allow oxygen to get to the lower side and it evened itself out nicely. The flavors are very much like there were previously; lots of wood and earth notes along with subtle cedar and subtle sweetness and richness. The pepper remained very good throughout the cigar never going below a 7. The finish is just as it's been the past several segments; toasted cream with earthy notes and lingering pepper. The cigar remained right at the line of being full bodied.

I love Eddie and his cigars but this one just didn't hit the mark for me. Heavy earth, leather, and wood cigars must also have lots of rich and sweet notes to go along with them and this cigar didn't. Many of you like this type of cigar and I urge you to try them as they are a very limited production. Again, each month a new blend will be introduced in limited amounts. Look for them and try them all!

Score: 87