Matthias Clock

About Matthias Clock

Brand evangelist, digital marketer, cigar and spirits expert specializing in consumer tasting and educational events. Matthias made the long trek from his hometown of Portland, Oregon to New York City in 2007, and in nine years has hosted more than 120 events and helped promote and launch dozens of cigar and whiskey brands in the U.S. In 2016, he joined the Cigar Journal Tasting Panel, blind-reviewing pre and new release cigars.

Posts by Matthias Clock:

Limited Edition La Instructora Review

3 1 3.1k

In early May, we hosted an event featuring two limited edition cigars from La Instructora and Sans Pariel cigars alongside a flight tasting of rare rums from Diplomatico. The event and pairings were fantastic, and I was excited to take a few of these unreleased cigars and smoke and review them on my own time.

In particular, this limited edition La Instructora cigar is one that I have to review because, to be frank, I have been blown away each time I’ve smoked it. Unfortunately, I don’t have details on the tobaccos that comprise this cigar, but that isn’t stopping me from writing this review today.

So let’s get to it.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: La Instructora Limited Edition (2018)
  • Wrapper: undisclosed
  • Binder: undisclosed
  • Filler: undisclosed
  • Size: undisclosed (best guess, 6 x 54 toro)

Appearance and Construction

To say this cigar looks unusual would be a massive understatement. Let’s tally it up.

  • Weird, modern art inspired band: check
  • Barber pole outter wrapper: check
  • Closed foot: check
  • Double wrapped foot and cap: check

The outer wrapper has a noticeable outer oiliness, and innumerable seams where all of the different wrapper leaves come together. It seems constructed well enough, with just a slight amount of give when squeezed.  The cold draw is moderately restrictive and full of finely ground pepper and spice, along with a bit of sweet earthiness.

Let’s light up.

Flavor and Smoke Characteristics

The La Instructora kicks off with a blast (and I mean blast) of extremely strong flavor, likely the result of the closed foot. The flavors are hard to pin down, but the ones I recognize are black pepper, molasses, dry cedar, burnt coffee, and a creamy finish. Hard as the flavors are to identify, it’s immediately clear that they harmonize well because damnit they’re delicious. Smoke production is slightly above average, but improves as the cigar burns.

About half an inch in, the ember is just clearing the double wrapped foot, and the profile takes a distinct turn. The flavor recedes from full to medium-full, and the profile shifts, with a dominant nuttiness, creamy cocoa, leather, with roasted nuts and pepper on the retrohale. Just absolutely delicious.

Off note, but what’s also interesting about this cigar as I smoke it is how it is so flavorful that each puff activates my salivary glands.

Heading into the second third, the smoke settles at just above medium in body and medium-full strength. That burnt coffee note has morphed into a smooth espresso, with other dark chocolate, black pepper, and minor leather notes.

The cigar stays roughly the same until halfway through the final third, where a new flavor emerges, a kind charred meat that pairs nicely with the sweeter, creamier notes. The retrohale meanwhile loses most of its spice and is replaced by a very fine charcoal flavor.

At around the last inch and a half, the strength picks up quite a bit to full, and the heat ramps up as well, providing a good (but not welcome) excuse to put the cigar down.

Conclusion

If I didn’t know anything about where this cigar came from, my first thought looking at would be “gimmick” because most barber-pole wrapped cigars I’ve smoked are muddled on the flavor side and largely unenjoyable.  But this cigar is simply spectacular, and one I wish was in regular production. I’d easily pay north of $25 for the amount of flavor, complexity, and balance that this cigar consistently provides (I smoked three for this review).

Aaron Saide and La Instructora has proven twice now that they can produce cigars with a far above average amount of complexity and flavor.

You won’t find this cigar on shelves, but if you do, buy it.

Final Score: 94

Mbombay Corojo Oscuro Review

2 0 2.7k

Mbombay Corojo Oscuro Review

Today I’m finally getting the chance to sit down and review a cigar by Bombay Tobak, a brand that I’ve seen posted about innumerable times on social media but have never had access to in New York City. Well, I finally found a few down at Barclay Rex Pearl St., including this Mbombay Corojo Oscuro. To be honest, I don’t know much about the brand itself. But I do know the branding – these guys make some of the most beautifully branded (and unique looking) cigars on the market.

That said, let’s get down to business.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Mbombay Corojo Oscuro
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo Oscuro
  • Binder: Ecuadorian
  • Filler: Ecuadorian, Peruvian, & Dominican
  • Size: Robusto (4 1/2 x 50)

Mbombay Corojo Oscuro Review Closeup

Appearance and Construction

It goes without saying that this cigar is just immaculately presented. The main band has a stunning mosaic like quality that differentiates this brand from any other. Once removed, it reveals an additional band that demarcates the brand name and blend. The Corojo Oscuro leaf itself is a deep dark brown with minimal veins.

The smell off of the foot is incredibly distinct, maybe more than any other cigar I’ve yet reviewed. Aromas of raisins, stone fruit, and spices. The cold draw is moderately restrictive (just the right amount), and carries with it that raisin note as well as a malty note that is quite nice.

Flavor and Smoke Characteristics

The Mbombay Corojo Oscuro opens with smooth, mild to medium bodied smoke that has characteristics of leather, Oak, beef jerky, coffee, and an interesting floral note. The texture is interesting, with an oily, almost waxy feel. I’m not sure I like it, but the flavors are great.

As the cigar burns, the ash reveals itself to be moderately wavy and fairly unstable with highly contrasting light and dark colors. Smoke production is excellent, though the cigar at times struggles to stay fully lit.

Moving into the second third, there’s been little movement in terms of strength. The smoke is remarkably rich, with strong Oak influences and some white pepper on the retrohale. The richness paired with a new dark cocoa note that reminds me of other Oscuro blends, though I can’t name any off of the top of my head. Every now and again, I also pick up a dark cherry note that I wish would hang around a bit longer.

Unfortunately, by this point the ash has proven itself to be very flaky, partially falling in what seems to be half inch increments. There is also a pesky chalk like flavor in the mix at times that distracts from the overall flavor profile, which is well put together.

In the final third, the Mbombay Corojo Oscuro hits its stride and all flavors come together in a single, complementary profile. Flavors include but aren’t limited to: Oak, black pepper, cherry, leather, and cocoa. It’s a solid combination, and without any of the distracting wax / chalk influences that were evident in previous thirds.

Conclusion

The Mbombay Corojo Oscuro is an enjoyable blend with a lot of promise. I can’t help but feeling though like there were just a few too many minutes where the balance and texture were just… off. The oiliness of the smoke bordered at times on waxy. Not necessarily a bad thing if you like oily, rich cigars, but it felt overdone to me, almost like an overly oaked whiskey. Construction wise, the Mbombay Corojo Oscuro performed about average, with an irregular burn and an exceptionally flaky ash.

I think this cigar is absolutely worth a try, but it won’t be one that I return to, at least not in this vitola.

Final Score: 86

Romeo San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta Toro Review

1 0 4.2k

Romeo San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta Toro review

Up for review today is the Romeo San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta, in the toro size. As of this writing, it is the newest addition to the Romeo y Julieta line of cigars. The cigar is unique for two main reasons. First, it comes wrapped in a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, all but guaranteeing that the cigar will be anything but a typical RyJ. Second, the cigar is the product of a partnership between AJ Fernandez and Rafael Nodal of Altadis USA. If you aren’t familiar with the happenings of the cigar world in the last few years, I can catch you up to speed just by saying that Fernandez and Nodal are two of the most sought after, experienced, and dynamic blenders in the game today.

That being said, I’ve never been a huge fan of Romeo y Julieta cigars, so I’m excited in this review to find out if Nodal and Fernandez create something that transcends my experiences with the brand in the past.

Let’s get to it.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Romeo San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta Toro
  • Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua and Dominican Republic
  • Size: Toro (6 x 54)

Romeo San Andrés by Romeo y Julieta Toro review 2

Appearance & Construction

The Romeo San Andrés sports a dark-chocolate brown wrapper that is nearly flawless. The wrapper has a light layer of oil, making the wrapper a touch reflective when held up to the light. I’m struck most of all though by just how beautiful the leaf itself is. It’s very smooth with just a touch of texture, and takes real inspection to discover the small veins covering the leaf.

The label itself is nothing to write home about. White, gold and black, with ROMEO taking up the majority of the cigar. Not the most attractive band, but the black and white certainly complement the darkness of the wrapper.

The cold draw has just the right amount of restrictiveness, and delivers some initial notes of earth, generic spice, and cedar.

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

Lighting the cigar, the Romeo San Andrés opens with an enjoyable, albeit straightforward, array of flavors. The smoke is quite strong, with flavors of earth, barnyard, cherry, and some pepper and dark chocolate. I can’t say why but it feels like a flavor profile I’ve had many times over. Flavor strength and body are both in the medium plus territory, and on the retrohale I get an almost overwhelming amount of white pepper.

At an inch in, the burn is razor sharp and perfectly straight. The ash is almost completely white, and complements the white of the band nicely. I’ve also noticed that the flavor profile is changing quickly, with the strength drawing down toward medium and the pepper notes subsiding. In addition to the core notes, a nice buttered popcorn note emerges which complements the darker notes nicely.

Heading in to the second third, the cigar has leveled out at medium bodied / medium strength. The texture of the smoke has lost most of its pepper and is now more akin to molasses. Dominant notes include milk chocolate, wood, touches of spice, and a creamy finish. At this point there’s lots of flavor and a decent amount of complexity, making for an enjoyable smoke. The next half an hour or so is more of the same. Still enjoyable, but would love to have seen more movement in this period.

As the cigar burns well into the final third, the strength and body shoot back up, with pepper in the foreground interacting mainly on the tip of the tongue. Flavor wise, not much has changed.

Nearing the final inch, the heat of the smoke picks up a lot and I put the cigar down.

Conclusion

Overall, the Romeo San Andrés does a solid job of capturing the San Andrés flavor profile, but with some additional creaminess I enjoyed. And I think that Nodal and Fernandez have made a good contribution to the RyJ portfolio.

Still, a stellar rating is a bit out of reach for this blend because for much of the cigar, the complexity stalls and flatlines. Additionally, I don’t think this cigar offers anything fundamentally new to the greater cigar world. There are certainly other cigars out there with very similar profiles.

That said, if you’re a fan of San Andrés wrappers, this is a worthwhile cigar to try, and it may just make its way into your regular lineup.

Final Score: 85

AVO 30 Years Maduro Robusto Review

1 0 3.7k

Avo 30 Years Maduro Robusto Review

Up for review today is the AVO Maduro Robusto, a cigar that was discontinued by Davidoff in 2015. But you may have seen this cigar in stores lately: Davidoff decided to bring back the AVO Maduro as part of its celebration of 30 years of AVO cigars (reported by Halfwheel here).

The blend itself is identical to the original, so there really isn’t anything new here per se. But, I for one am glad that the cigar has made a return to the market as I’m a big fan of many of AVO’s cigars.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to the review.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: AVO 30 Years Maduro Robusto
  • Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
  • Binder: Dominican
  • Filler: Dominican
  • Size: Robusto (5 x 50)

Appearance and Construction

The AVO Maduro wrapper comes dark, rustic, and with some noticeable veins and seams. It’s also quite rough to the touch as you can probably see in the photos. You’ll also notice that the branding on this cigar is quite beautiful. It sports the classic black, gold, and white band on top of a secondary band indicating the celebratory backdrop for this cigar. I’ve always been a huge fan of the primary AVO band, regardless of line. The texture, interlocking of the letters (the band spells “AVO” if you look front to back), it’s all spot on.

Smelling the foot of the cigar, I pick up whiffs of old oak, earth, leather. The pre light draw is just the right amount of restrictiveness, with few notes, mainly a bit of sweet earthiness.

Avo 30 Years Maduro Robusto Review Closeup

Flavor and Smoke Characteristics

The AVO Maduro kicks off with loads of mild/medium bodied, medium strength smoke. The profile is a combo of two quite traditional sets of flavors. The AVO stamp is clear on this profile: there’s an overall lightness to the smoke (it’s also amazingly smooth), with mustiness, some cedar, and light floral notes. On top of that is the typical Maduro profile: earthy spice, savory, almost meat-like chewiness, and in this case a bit of creaminess. Layered on top of each other, the two sets of flavors complement each other quite nicely. It offers a complexity that many other Maduro smokes can’t match.

At an inch in, the flavor picks up just a touch, adding a peppery spice right on the tip of the tongue and a bit more sweetness to the palate. It’s nice to see the flavors moving a bit. An hour with the same exact flavor profile all the way through is not an indicator of quality. Unfortunately, it’s at around the same point that the burn canoes considerably, needing a major touch up to fix.

As the cigar burns into the second third, the body picks up to just above medium, but nowhere near full. The flavor palette has morphed substantially, with a bit more of the Maduro notes dominating the lighter AVO foundation. Two notes have hopped into the mix which I really like: raisin and dark chocolate. There’s also a spicy white pepper that’s eased it’s way in to the retrohale as well, giving the smoking experience even more character.

The final third surprises me a bit because the flavor palette continues to change and develop. Not in terms of strength, but with respect to the flavors present. There’s still a good amount of Maduro sweetness on the palate, but leather takes on a much more significant role as the cigar burns down to the end.

Conclusion

I have to say, in the first ten minutes of smoking the AVO 30 Years Maduro, I was preparing myself for a relatively mild and tame experience. Alas, I was so disappointed by the AVO Improvization 30 Years that it may have initially biased my expectations. Smoking the AVO 30th Maduro all the way through proved me dead wrong. While it doesn’t deliver a ton of strength, it actually presents a complex and well thought out progression of flavors.

Unlike some Maduros, this isn’t an after dinner cigar—it doesn’t have the body or strength to follow up a hearty dinner, especially if alcohol is involved (which can diminish the sensitivity of the palate). But this is a very solid afternoon smoke and would pair very well with espresso or coffee.

Highly recommended.

Final Score: 90

Drew Estate Liga Privada T52 Belicoso Review

2 0 3.7k

Drew Estate T52 Belicoso Review

Up for review today is the Liga Privada T52 Belicoso by Drew Estate cigars. It’s a cigar that, like the Liga Privada No. 9, has become something of a legend in the cigar world.

Product Specifics

  • Cigar Reviewed: Drew Estate Liga Privada T52 Belicoso Review
  • Wrapper: Stalk-Cut American Habano
  • Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
  • Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
  • Size: Belicoso (6 x 52)

One of the most unique elements of this cigar is the Stalk-Cut American Habano wrapper leaf. Here’s what Jonathan Drew had to say about this particular leaf:

“On a regular trip up to Connecticut for the purposes of purchasing a barn of Connecticut Broadleaf, we stumbled upon a farm that was growing a very unique looking “Stalk Cut Tobacco” in addition to the Broadleaf. The farmer called the wrapper leaf “American Habano.” After a few hours of inspection, we were impressed, but we tried to keep our composure, as this beautiful leaf had the exact color and thickness qualities that we had been flying all over the damn world looking for. Lucky for us, (and for you too!) the farmer was complaining that this experimental tobacco would be the last year of crop unless he found a buyer who was willing to look past this one crop and make a real committment. He said that others had loved the tobacco, but they didn’t want to pay the high price which is required to grow it the right way. Needless to say, we spent a pretty penny, but damn it is worth it. All this, just for the wrapper leaf!”

drew estate t52 belicoso review closeup

Appearance & Construction

The T52 sports a rich, marbled dark brown wrapper that is nearly flawless, with minimal veins and seams. It is very smooth to the touch and appears to have a very light layer of oil covering the wrapper. The cigar has good weight in the hand, and there are no soft spots running the length of the cigar.

After using a straight cut, I test the draw, which is loose, probably a 5/10 in terms of restrictiveness.  There’s a good deal of spice on the pre-light draw, and the foot releases strong aromas of dry wood, raisins, and light pepper.

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

As I toast the foot of the cigar, it is already releasing large plumes of thick white smoke. The first few puffs are overpowered by fresh ground pepper and semi-sweet chocolate, but after a quarter inch the cigar settles into a more balanced, nuanced profile. And what a profile it is: full body/medium strength smoke full of semi-sweet chocolate, raisins, charcoal, cinnamon, and sweet cream on the finish. The retrohale is, relative to what’s going on on the palate, mild, with some nice white pepper notes. It’s a great first act.

As the cigar hits the second third, the flavor and strength rise and settle at full. Though the core flavor profile remains the same, a big spice note elbows its way in and makes itself felt mainly on the tip of the tongue. Throughout the next 15 to 20 minutes, the balance of flavors seems to be in a kind of tug of war, with a dry wood flavor fighting a richer, creamier chocolate note for dominance. Overall its still a very enjoyable profile, but I’d prefer the balance of the flavors be more consistent.

Construction has also suffered a bit in the second half, with the cigar struggling to stay lit at times and the burn veering well out of straight territory.

In the final third, the cigar regains its balance and puts forth a full flavored profile full of molasses, finely ground pepper, dark chocolate, and cedar.

Conclusion

Construction issues aside, the Drew Estate Liga Privada T52 is a cigar I can wholeheartedly recommend. There isn’t another cigar I’ve had that creates such a lush, complex and unique smoking experience.

Final Score: 91

«‹ 60 61 62 63›»