Tabacalera Falto "El Josco"

When I first tried this cigar it wasn't, how can I say it, very good. It had some really weird notes to it (it tasted like a bitter, musty attic). I was generally concerned. While not all of the Falto stuff has been right up my alley I've gotten to the point where I kinda get the general gist of most of Luis' blends and such. And let me tell you, this was wayyyyyy off. It was like smoking water-damaged 70s shag carpet. I knew it couldn't be the cigar. It had to be me. So I chalked it up to a bad day: maybe allergies, maybe what I had for lunch. I decided to give the El Josco it's due the other day and I'm glad that I did. It's pretty...pretty goooood. Here are the notes:

First quarter: Starts out with a rush of spice. Not spicy, but spice. It's like liking an Arab caravan in Lawrence of Arabia. A touch of cardamom, a dash of mace. But the biggest contender was cinnamon. And it had a nuttiness to it as well. The best allegory I can come up with is this: have you ever been to a county fair (or ANYWHERE in NYC's Chinatown) and seen those saintly vendors that sell sugar-coated roasted nuts? Y'know, the ones that are shellacked in a cinnamon-y sweet goodness? The smell of which pervades a 100 foot radius, drawing people in like mesmerized flies to a bug zapper? It kinda tasted like that. It had a peanut nuttiness, cinnamon, and a particular sweetness from the tobacco that I found rather alluring.

Half-way: Unfortunately, much like that tiny package of nuts you buy, the flavor is fleeting. The cinnamon and sugar taste faded to leave just hints of cinnamon with plenty of nuts and an emergence of leather. For the record, those nut guys should sell the "Fat Boy Special", which should be a pound of those nuts. Those tiny little tubes are just not gonna cut it with those things. Anyway, at this point it's hovering around a medium which is cool because the main line is a little light. Nice, but lighter than I typically reach for.

Note: it's not exactly at 3/4ths in this picture but I had to snap it early due to the sun setting. Sorry.

 Third-quarter: Heavily leather, still peanut-y, and some cedar now. It's shaping up to be a solid medium bodied cigar. The burn on it was a bit roughshod at this point but it was a little windy out so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. It tunneled a touch even though I'd kept it at about 70% humidity for awhile. But still, not a bad cigar.

Would I reach for it? Maybe. Depends on the price. It's got more body to it, which is nice, and some nice flavor to it but I couldn't see myself paying more than $6.50 - $7 for this (NY prices).

EDIT: Just checked the MSRP on these El Joscos. They're $3.68 each but it looks like they're no longer in production. As a matter of fact, his MSRPs are insanely low. I'll see if he'll let me put them up online because frankly, they're so cheap I'd be all over buying boxes of most of his stuff.

At this point I'm winding down with the Falto cigar line. Unfortunately, mold claimed a few vitolas so I won't be able to review them (the Robustos and another size that I can't remember off the top of my head didn't make it). No fault of Luis' though. It's all me. I kept 'em too close to the humidity beads.

Tabacalera Falto Invicto

Sorry for my absence of late. I, indeed, did get my degree in Chemical Engineering on Sunday. Since then I've been in a mode of stunned disbelief. Oh, and unpacking. That too. As soon as I got home the days got pretty crappy (rainy and chilly) so I spent most of my day drinking cranberry lime seltzer and playing video games. But today was gorgeous. Sunny, low 80s with a slight breeze, and a touch humid. I like it slightly humid now, after having the joyous experience of rolling, unending nosebleeds during the Rochester winters. So at about 3pm I went outside to smoke and then I realized.

Aw horseshit. My mom still has my camera.

At the zero hour before graduation the battery on my mom's camera crapped out so she had to borrow my Kodak. For the past few days it's been bopping around in my mom's purse. Since she was out getting coffee with a friend...it was back to seltzer and video games for a few more hours. Got the little green bastard back, piled some chicken fried steak into my tummy, and then settled out on the porch for a smoke.

Tonight's smoke was another of the Tabacalera Falto cigars. I still have a few vitolas to go through because, well, I smoked all the short ones already so I had to wait until better weather and a more hospitable atmosphere before I could lay into the big mamma-jammas. As I've said so many times before, go big or go home; so I saddled up the Invicto. A belicoso size (about 6.25 by 52). My preferential sizes are coronas and robustos so this was a treat for me. Clipped it with my new Palio (more on this later) and lit her up.

First quarter: If there's one thing I can say it's this: CHOCOLATE. It was almost startling how chocolatey this cigar was. Hints of brown sugar, dark chocolate, and fresh pulled espresso. Burn was sharp and even. Slightly creamy and medium-full.

 Half-way: At this point the chocolate was still present but it turned into more along the lines of inhaling Ovaltine. Which was -awesome-. However, the aftertaste started to get weird. I can't quite place it but it was an intensely sooty taste with a bit of bitterness. I kept going on because it was still pretty tasty.

Three-quarters: Still tasted of chocolate and coffee, with hazelnut. It was like a Nutella-gar. But the aftertaste intensified and it was getting to me. I smoked it to a bit before the band and then put it down.

This cigar would be pretty damn good if it wasn't for that odd aftertaste. It was a real unpleasant woody, bitter leather, and soot taste. The bitterness/soot may be due to the rather conservative cut I made on the tapered end but the intense wood and unpleasant leather traits kinda ruined it for me. I'll try another just to make sure but for now this is a pass for me.

A Very Falto Day - Reserva Seleccionada Perla / Reserva Especial Tres Luises

Wheew, that title is a mouthfull of a title. Stopped at Uptown Cigar today to drop off a few Falto cigars to Isy, a man far more versed in cigars than I. Smokes like a chimney, that one. Got excellent taste too. I figured I'd pass them along to see his thoughts on them. While there, I couldn't resist lighting up one. Or...well...a few.

First is the Falto Reserva Seleccionada Perla, a petit corona with a Dominican / Nicaraguan filler, Dominican binder, and a Brazilian wrapper. Sorry, no pics because I'm terrible at remembering to bring my camera to the cigar store. Besides, I don't want to look that dorky there. It's the last nice place I can go to. The cigar is a short little bastard and, honestly, the perfect size for me. I don't like the huge cigars as they take too long to smoke and the only thing that's good for in Rochester is 100% authentic frostbite. Lighting 'er up gave sweet notes of delicious tobacco and a very nutty profile. As the cigar progressed it developed notes of cedar and chocolate and a slight creaminess. To me it was a medium-ish cigar that was smooth and easy on the palette. Pretty good smoke and the size is just right. I'm honestly curious what the price point of some of these cigars is. I could see myself smoking this regularly. It wasn't as evolved as the Reserva Especial perfecto but it was quite nice. Nice profile and it just seemed, well, right. It seemed like it fit me really well. Even at this point, after smoking for about 5 years, I'm still buying singles because I've found so few things that I'd enjoy in box form. This would be one of them. It wasn't an overpowering, knock-you-down smoke but it wasn't wimpy either. It was smooth and refined with a nice profile. I think I liked this one the best.

Second is the Falto Reserva Especial Tres Luises in the Ballibo size. As I mentioned before the Tres Luises is so named after the tradition of naming children "Luis" in the Falto family. The size in this instance is actually the name of the grandfather on his father's side. It is a lancero / panetela size. Pre-light draw was clean tobacco and slight cinnamon spice. Cigar started heavy, heavy leather in the beginning that settled down to a leather and cinnamon flavor. Notes of hazelnut flitted in and out as it burned down but it was primarily leather, like an old reliable leather bag. The best way to describe this cigar, for me, was comfortable. I dunno, it seems like his cigars just click with me. I preferred the Perla more (yeah, I know they're different smokes) but it was still a very solid smoke. I would put it as a straight medium cigar, almost medium-full. It didn't have any wimpy, waning points but kept on with the leathery sweetness and slight nuts. It was smooth but weighty on the mouth as well.

Ok, bottom line that I'm seeing: Luis makes some fine smokes. He obviously knows what he's doing and he's dedicated. I will try to find out the prices of these cigars. If they're affordable, they'd be stellar cigars. However, so far, only the Perla would warrant a "premium price" for me, or $8ish with NYS tax and that's a touch high considering it is a petit corona. I'd like to see it be $6ish with NYS tax but often what I want is not what I get. Like that song.

Cigar Review - Tabacalera Falto Reserva Especial Tres Luises

Decided to go to hang out with my main cigar man Isy at Uptown Cigar today. I was originally going to have something super-duper special to share with you today but it got pushed off until Friday. So, a self-pity cigar was in order. I perused the massive selection Luis from Tabacalera Falto sent me and decided on the R.E. Tres Luises. The cigar is dubbed after the long tradition of Mr. Falto's family of naming their sons Luis. That's pretty cool, I can dig on that. Also, since it was the cigar store I completely forgot to bring my camera (sorry, I'll get better at it) so no pics.

The cigar is a petite belicoso size and I nipped a bit of the torpedo off with my cutter. I checked the cigar for sponginess by ever so gently squeezing it and the foot of the wrapper cracked. Ruh roh, Raggy. I decided to let it slide and light her up. I toasted the foot and then gave her some flame and immediately the burn went to crap. I dunno if it was the humidity but the wrapper burned lightning fast and soon left the cigar canoed. I fixed it and went on with the cigar.

I'd break it up into segments but there'd be no point. The cigar was pretty static throughout. It had leather and nuts for the 3/4ths I smoked, along with the intriguing taste of clean malt, like in a good scotch. The draw was nice, not plugged and drew smooth, it was just kinda one dimensional. It wasn't a bad cigar, per se, just didn't evolve much like the first cigar of Luis' I tried. Would I recommend it? Yeah, I guess. I found it just on the cusp of medium so it'd be nice cigar in the morning when I can't handle a lot of change or too heavy of a smoke, but I feel it lacks complexity. Pat (my friend) pretty much echoed the same sentiment. I dropped one off to Isy so I'll see what he thinks and post it on here.

Cigar Review - Tabacalera Falto Prominente Gran Reserve Especial

Today's cigar market has many, many big names in it. Fuente, Rocky Patel, Drew Estates, etc. There are so many big names that the smaller, more boutique names never really make it to the limelight. And, something I've found, is that they've got as good (or better) product than the big guys. And they're consistently good. Rocky Patel puts out about two new cigar brands a day. Pepin, once really small, now seems to be doing that too. Some of them are hit, some are miss. I've found that if a boutique company has an on cigar...they're usually all on. I've been really getting into the more boutique cigars lately and Twitter has been a blessing for finding the smaller tabacaleras. So...about a week and a half ago I contacted Mr. Luis Falto concerning his line of Falto cigars. Since most places are so small, their distribution isn't well known so I asked Luis where I could find his cigars in NY. Much to my chagrin, they AREN'T in NY (edit: except Davidoff in NYC). But what does Luis offer to do? Send a "few samples" out to me.

I oblige.

Yeah...a "few" was a gross understatement. The man is generous to no end. A big box, fresh from Puerto Rico, showed up at my house today and his plethora of samples were within. I was giddy like a schoolgirl. Normally I don't like to smoke cigars "straight off the truck" but this little bastard of a perfecto called to me with a siren's song I couldn't resist. It was deliciously alluring. Despite the bitter cold outside...I ventured. And I'm glad I did.

Here she is, a little zeppelin of tastiness. The wrapper itself is slightly vein-y with a rather large vein running horizontal down the cigar.

The pre-light draw as all cocoa and hazelnuts. It was kinda like a tobacco version of Nutella. Ommy nommy nom nom. How does that NOT sound awesome. Sorry about the picture quality, I spent the entire time fighting my camera. Just don't venture into full-view on these pictures. They look like ass.


Lighting it and the first few puffs were chocolate, hazelnut, and clean tobacco. This continued on through the first quarter.

See that ash? Yeah, it wouldn't give up. I sneezed twice and it still had a death grip on the cigar. Reaching the middle the flavor evolved. The chocolate went away and was replaced by worn leather and a slight sage-like spice. Very nice stuff. Unfortunately, even though two sneezes didn't shake it me moving a foot to the left did and that beautiful ash fell two feet into those bushes below. It made me a pretty sad panda.

The third quarter saw the tobacco evolving again. The sage-spice came alive and evolved into a spiciness. It turned bitter but I'm going to attribute this to me puffing like a freight train pulling into the station. Choo choo! The ash itself showed some remarkable things. If you'll note, the ash in the center of the cigar was a beautiful snow white, which was ringed by a denser mottled gray ash. Not sure why the center was snow white but it was kinda pretty, even though it probably lacked minerals in the tobacco. Edit: this is probably due to the variety of Dominican tobaccos used. I've never seen a white ash before but Luis said that it's probably due to the broad range of growing areas and their mineral nuances.

Yeah, I legit can't lie to you. This cigar was pretty bad-ass, especially for being right off the truck. The flavor was complex and deep, the construction was flawless with a razor sharp burn (even in the relatively stiff wind I didn't need to touch it up at all). Best of all, the size is pretty much exactly what I love. I highly recommend trying one, if not multiples.

Stay tuned for more from Tabacalera Falto, Ltd. He sent a LOT of samples.