Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
After 24 years working with General Cigar Co., including 13 years as the blender and brand ambassador for the CAO brand, Rick Rodriguez has accumulated his share of stories and adventures in the cigar business. Now, he’s telling some of those stories by way of the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Attic Series, which has just begun shipping to stores.
The first cigar in the series, which is referred to as the Attic, is a 6 x 54 toro gordo that uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper with a binder grown in Nicaragua’s Condega region, while the filler comes from Condega and Estelí. It is billed as a medium-to-full bodied cigar, and is produced by the Garmendia Cigar Co. factory in Nicaragua, which also makes the company’s White and Black lines.
The company is producing 2,000 boxes of 14 cigars, and they will only be sold to retailers five boxes at a time. Pricing is set at $12.99 per cigar.
The packaging features an image of an old chaveta against a lone chair in an attic, which is a nod to Rodriguez’s grandfather, who made cigars both in Cuba and Tampa, Fla. The packaging for the Attic Series is said to feature a number of Easter eggs as well, while the foot band contains a QR code for the consumer to scan and learn more about the cigar and its story.
West Tampa Tobacco Co. has indicated that the second cigar in the Attic Series will be coming out in March or April of 2023.
The cigar is dark and has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were citrus peel, light pear, brown sugar, light raisin, and a somewhat earthy black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7 1/2 to 8. Nice start.
At the first third (25 minutes) the flavors were just like they started. There might be a little more black coffee at this point but that's it. There's nice citrus peel, pear, and brown sugar as the front notes. The raisin is just a little dab right after those flavors and before the earthy black coffee. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is citrus peel, pear, and black coffee with good lingering black pepper. The cigar is dark with nice sweetness. I rated the first third 94.
Moving through the second third (1 hour 1 minute) I got a little more brown sugar. The other notes were light pear, light citrus peel, a whisp of toffee, a little earthiness, and quite a bit of black coffee. The cigar is full bodied. The finish is citrus peel, a touch of brown sugar, and black coffee with good lingering black pepper. The cigar is making subtle changes here and there. I held the score of 94 for the second third.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 24 minutes. This is one of those rare cigars that improves in the final third. In this third I got more of a citrus note instead of pear. The cigar also had brown sugar, very light citrus peel, toffee, a minor amount of earthiness, and a lot of black coffee. The cigar is full bodied. The finish is toffee and black coffee with very good lingering black pepper. I raised the score to 95 for the final third. This is a very good cigar from Rick. I look forward to the others in the series.
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