The Mark Littler Shop is currently offering the Glenfarclas 1953 58 Year Old Wealth Solutions #1674 for purchase, a rare find in the whisky market. Glenfarclas distillery, renowned for its long-aged whiskies, has no remaining stock distilled before 1953, making this vintage particularly sought after among collectors.
The Glenfarclas 1953, distilled on 20th November 1953 and bottled on 13th February 2012, is 70 years old as of this week. This single malt whisky comes from a single sherry butt, cask number #1674.
A panel of whisky experts and connoisseurs, including Serge Valentin of WhiskyFun, Ben Ellefsen of Master of Malt, Michał Kowalski of Wealth Solutions, and George Grant of the Grant family which owns Glenfarclas, handpicked this specific cask from four tasted for bottling and sale through Wealth Solutions in Poland.
Only 400 bottles of the Glenfarclas 1953 58 Year Old were released, making them extremely rare, especially in the UK market. The bottle is priced at £5,151 and is available on the Mark Littler Shop for those interested in acquiring some of the oldest remaining stock from Glenfarclas.
General Cigar Co. and Napa Valley’s Flint Knoll Winery are back with the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll No. 2, a unique cigar blend aged in wine barrels. Retaining the blend of its debut release, this cigar features a Connecticut-seed wrapper from Ecuador and a Connecticut broadleaf binder, aged in the barrels used for Flint Knoll’s 2019 Royal Appointment Cabernet Sauvignon. The additional fill comprises Brazilian mata fina, Dominican olor, an undisclosed varietal from Nicaragua’s Jalapa region, and Dominican piloto cubano.
The 2019 growing season in Napa Valley marked exceptional conditions, fostering a wine noted for its complexity and spice. These characteristics have been infused into the tobacco through the barrel aging process, delivering a spicier smoking experience compared to the original release. The binder leaf’s aging in French Oak barrels has imparted flavors of creamy vanilla, toasted almonds, dark currants, and cedar to the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll No. 2.
Available in Toro (6 x 54) and Churchill (7 x 52) sizes, priced at $19.99 and $21.99 respectively, these cigars have been meticulously crafted to present an unmatched smoking experience. The Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll No. 2 is set to ship to stores on October 2. The total number of cigars available for this release, however, remains undisclosed.
Eric Hanson, who released his first Hammer + Sickle brand in 2010, has adopted the symbol of Russia as the cigars logo. HanSon points out that the hammer and sickle does not represent the Soviet Union (which incorporated a star), but symbolizes Russia’s industrial north and agrarian south. For him, its a heritage symbol and not political. – Cigar Aficionado
The Hammer + Sickle Tradicion Serie has a beautiful caramel brown distressed wrapper like the outside of soft brown leather. The wrapper is soft and velvety to the touch. The cigar isn’t rolled particularly dense and feels spongy when squeezed. If you run the cigar under your nose, it gives off an incredible aroma; it has an intoxicating scene of a fresh-baked sweet pastry. The foot smells of black pepper or a Mexican spice.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
The Hammer + Sickle has a beautiful caramel brown distressed wrapper like the outside of soft brown leather. The wrapper is soft and velvety to the touch. The JH1 isn’t rolled particularly dense, and the cigar feels spongy when squeezed. Running the cigar under your nose gives off an incredible aroma; it has an intoxicating scene of a fresh-baked sweet pastry. The foot smells of black pepper or a Mexican spice. I used generic guillotine cutters to remove the Hammer + Sickle Tradicion Serie. I taste a mixture of Middle Eastern fruit and subtle spice on the dry draw. I’m a soft flame kind of guy, so I remove two matches from my case and slowly toast the foot of the cigar, watching the smoke dance as the leaves begin to burn. I’m catching the tasting notes of leather light and slight sweetness on my first draw.
There is something special about the Hammer + Sickle Tradicion Serie’s smoke. It is soft on your jaw. There is nothing harsh or intense about the cigar. The draw has a nice little resistance, and the ghostly white ash is held firm into the first third. I get leather tasting notes on the retrohale. The leather notes combined with a strong spice flavor as we transition out of the first third. It delivers excellent heat without the punchiness of black pepper. I enjoy how the flavors tend to settle on the roof of the mouth. At the halfway mark, the ash finally gives way to the force of gravity. As it’s falling, I’m tasting outstanding notes of almonds and nuts. The spice has faded into the background, and with every draw rises the creaminess.
A punch of leather spice notes the movement into the final third – the sweetness and creaminess are still prominent in the cigar. It has slight cinnamon notes that weave themselves between the leather. As the cigar ends, it picks up in the spice category. It’s still producing a nice amount of spoke on the exhale, which is always a bonus for me. On the final retrohale, I find the cigar returning to those initial sweet pastry notes (bread/almond/spice). The flavor and burn last all the way down to the nub. I’ve set the cigar down multiple times through the review, picked it back, taken a drawn, and it’s stayed light. Fantastic and intense peppery smoke at the end.
Conclusion
The Hammer + Sickle is a beautiful medium to full-bodied – mild in strength cigar. It’s my first time trying a Hammer + Sickle, and I wish I could purchase more cigars from this brand. However, Klin Group LLC has discontinued the cigar brand due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February of 2022. The flavors of gentle sweetness, spice, leather, and almond provide a complex tasting experience for the palate. It’s a cigar that burns well and has good construction. It honestly reminded me of a pastry from a bakery and would pair perfectly with a cup of black coffee. I recommend picking up a Hammer + Sickle Tradicion Serie if you can find any at your local brick-and-mortar store or online.
On Wednesday at 2pm Eastern Time, Matthias will join Reinhard Pohorec as a guest on Light ’em Up Lounge, the global virtual cigar lounge that has played host to the world’s leading voices on all things cigars.
Here’s the description from Light ’em Up World:
Our dear friends and fellows, please be invited to this week’s Light ’em Up Lounge feat. Matthias Clock, Fine Tobacco NYC
🗓 Wed 2pm EST / 8pm CET ⏰
Matthias Clock is not only the founder of Fine Tobacco NYC, a widely acknowledged event community and communications platform, but his striking cigar photography is amongst the most sophisticated out there. He’s a “brand evangelist and digital marketer” and has hosted hundreds of cigar and spirits events, both for consumer and industry experts. We’re delighted to welcome Matthias to the Light ’em Up Lounge. Together we want to discuss:
+ Building cigar communities + Fine Tobacco NYC and what exactly it is + Responsible cigar marketing
As always, we are looking forward to your questions in person via Zoom, or on Facebook live.
You can join the event via Zoom (more info here) or watch the livestream on the Light ’em Up World Facebook page.
The Room 101 Johnny Tobacconaut has exclusively reappeared and safely landed at Luxury Cigar Club and their preferred retail partner stores. The cigar is reintroduced with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and a Nicaraguan binder and filler. The vitola adopted the name “Ranflactic” but featured a new size of 6×56 perfecto. And it is currently being produced out of AJ Fernandez’s factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.
Blend Specifics
Cigar Reviewed: Room 101 Johnny Tobacconaut (Chapter 1)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Ranflactic (6″x56)
Blind Review: Johnny Tobacconaught
Appearance & Construction
The figurado shaped cigar has a light amber color wrapper. Visually, I do not see any blemish or even the seam of the wrapper. I run my fingers across the cigar for further inspection, and it is smooth and silky to the touch. I do come across a small soft spot by the cap, but other than that, the construction is flawless.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
The Connecticut wrapper has a floral and honey scent to it, and since most of the foot is tapered, I can’t get many scents from there. I tend to v-cut most of my torpedo-esque cap. Therefore, I decided to use my Colibri SV cutter on this one. Once the cap becomes the shape of a crown, I take a cold draw and get tangy dry apricot from it.
I strike two matches together and slowly roast the foot. A stream of smoke slithers its way past my nose, and I immediately smell roasted barley from it. As I draw my first puff, white pepper spice floods my palate from the tip to the back of my tongue. As I expect the smoke, I get dry hay and cedarwood as the dominant profile, followed by white pepper spice. The most shocking part of this cigar is the finish; the flavor reminds me of green grapes. I proceed to retrohale and get bombarded with red pepper spice. Once my receptors calmed down, I get honey, tanned leather, and barnyard.
So far, the cigar is holding its shape. The burn line is even but a little wavy and the ash is still holding on past the 1-inch mark while providing a plethora of smoke from each puff. I am thoroughly enjoying this cigar.
I reach the second third, and the cigar becomes sweeter and buttery while toning down on the pepper spice. The flavor develops nicely with hints of sunflower seeds, syrup, dry hay, and cedarwood. As I retrohale the next puff, the cigar maintains its brightness with flavors of roasted nuts, tanned leather, honey, and red pepper spice. On a side note, the construction of this cigar is still good; it is burning well and even and there are no issues whatsoever.
I smoked past the final third, and suddenly the flavor shifted to highlight roasted peanuts as its main profile, with syrup, cedarwood, and hay tagging along. The spice on the palate withers with each puff. The uniqueness of this cigar though returns on the retrohale: blackberry, maple syrup, roasted nuts, cedarwood, and red pepper spice. The finish on this cigar remains sweet and clean to the palate. With a final retrohale, the fruity, sweet, and nutty flavors remind me why this cigar is out of this world.
Conclusion
Just like Matt Booth, the Johnny Tobacconaut is an eccentric cigar. While the pepper spice set the initial tone for the Tobacconaut, the journey didn’t truly begin until the second third, with the marriage of sunflower seeds, syrup, dry hay, and cedarwood. And it continues to develop from there. Lastly, to go where no cigar smokers have gone, I’ve experienced green grapes and blackberry for the first time in a cigar. Excellent.
