AJ Fernandez New World Navegente
Size: Robusto/Toro; Box Pressed 5 1/2 x 55.
Construction/Appearance: Extreme. Box. Press. Bro. I’m not sure I’ve ever smoked a cigar this pressed. There are edges on it. Tried to photograph them for you guys. It’s a little off putting. Wrapper leaf is a “dark Nicaraguan” as listed on the website. Has a little bit of a cocoa powder look to it. Dark, but a deep red, chocolate hue in the right light; it almost reminds me of a chocolate bar dusted in cocoa powder. I will say, I’m a sucker for old-timey looking bands like these. I love that shit.
Environment: It’s shortly after 8am. It’s kind of chilly, a little humid out. Got the tunes going (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8wifV5RYr8), and don’t have much of anything to do besides smoke for the next 8 hours. It’s going to be a great day.
Drink: Coffee with cream, tonic water.
Pre-Light/Cold Draw: A little resistance, which is nice from a cigar with a box press this extreme. I expected it to be under-filled. Cocoa off the foot. Sweet tobacco on the cold draw. I don’t usually get much besides that sweet tobacco taste on a cold draw, to be honest.
First Third: Lights with ease. First couple retro’s have a bit of pepper blast, with a sweet undertone; almost a very light chocolate or vanilla. It has a very Pepin vibe to it. The pepper on the retro subsides after the initial blast. Has a great resistance on the draw, that I would never expect from a box press this extreme. This cigar is hitting what I think of as a generic dark Nicaraguan “profile.” Pepper on the top, with an earthy, sweetness under it. Pepper on the retro is becoming mixed into a vanilla sweetness. The stick now has as an earthy cedar undertone. The finish on the mouth is long, with a bitter taste left on the lips. The sweetness fades towards the end of the first third, and morphs to more of an earthy, spicy, cocoa powder.
Second Third: This thing is smoking great. Cedar moves to the front, with a spice in the back of my throat. Finish on the mouth is still the deep chocolate, with a bit of sweetness. All of a sudden, about halfway through, the spicy cedar disappears, back to the cocoa sweetness. No spice on the retro. The cigar did a complete 180. It’s a nice cocoa/vanilla bouncing back and forth to finish out the second third.
Final Third: Little bit of dried fruit sweetness coming into this at the beginning of the final third, with the vanilla being the main component; a really nice way to start the final third. Construction is still impeccable. Starting to get a black coffee finish and tones under the vanilla. I’m loving this. At the final inch or so, coffee is now the main player. I nub as much as I can, and regretfully decide to let this one die.
Final Thoughts: I can be a little bit of a cigar snob at times; being a part of this forum has opened me up to a lot of different cigars, however, has led me at times to be blinded by the sparkle of limited releases, or boutique brands. And, in my very short smoking career, I have gotten in ruts where I don’t want to try brands that aren’t being heavily discussed; I have a limited budget, so I want to smoke what’s popular (Tatuaje, Crowned Heads, etc.) to talk about it and be on “the forefront” of what’s popular. I’m guilty. I’m the first to say it.
For me, the AJ Fernandez New World is a cigar that totally rocked that idea. It is available from our sponsors at around $5 a cigar (before promo codes). Because of my own blinders, I barely knew this cigar existed, and didn’t give it too much; I grabbed it at the B&M, just to try something new that I didn’t know anything about.
The box press definitely freaked me out at first, and I figured a press this extreme was going to yield under filling and all the problems that come with it. The cigar never went out, and I took my sweet time with it. No runs, no canoeing, nothing. Immaculate construction, even if it’s not a shape I would normally gravitate towards.
The flavor profiles were pretty good. Always shifting between classic Nica flavors I love, but it’s not something that I think you would need to concentrate on to enjoy. I cannot attest to the consistency of the marca, as I only had one for the review (believe me, I went back and bought 3 more later that day).
Maybe I enjoyed this so much because I was so surprised. Maybe I just got one fabulous stick, and it’s not all I’m saying it is. I don’t rate via numbers, but I can say this, with much certainty: I smoked a Jekyll later that day, and I kept wishing I could ditch it and smoke another one of these (and if it wasn’t for a review, I might have.)
The Bottom Line: Box Purchase? At $106.99 for 21, how could I not?
Final Smoking Time: Around 2 hours.
Size: Robusto/Toro; Box Pressed 5 1/2 x 55.
Construction/Appearance: Extreme. Box. Press. Bro. I’m not sure I’ve ever smoked a cigar this pressed. There are edges on it. Tried to photograph them for you guys. It’s a little off putting. Wrapper leaf is a “dark Nicaraguan” as listed on the website. Has a little bit of a cocoa powder look to it. Dark, but a deep red, chocolate hue in the right light; it almost reminds me of a chocolate bar dusted in cocoa powder. I will say, I’m a sucker for old-timey looking bands like these. I love that shit.
Environment: It’s shortly after 8am. It’s kind of chilly, a little humid out. Got the tunes going (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8wifV5RYr8), and don’t have much of anything to do besides smoke for the next 8 hours. It’s going to be a great day.
Drink: Coffee with cream, tonic water.
Pre-Light/Cold Draw: A little resistance, which is nice from a cigar with a box press this extreme. I expected it to be under-filled. Cocoa off the foot. Sweet tobacco on the cold draw. I don’t usually get much besides that sweet tobacco taste on a cold draw, to be honest.
First Third: Lights with ease. First couple retro’s have a bit of pepper blast, with a sweet undertone; almost a very light chocolate or vanilla. It has a very Pepin vibe to it. The pepper on the retro subsides after the initial blast. Has a great resistance on the draw, that I would never expect from a box press this extreme. This cigar is hitting what I think of as a generic dark Nicaraguan “profile.” Pepper on the top, with an earthy, sweetness under it. Pepper on the retro is becoming mixed into a vanilla sweetness. The stick now has as an earthy cedar undertone. The finish on the mouth is long, with a bitter taste left on the lips. The sweetness fades towards the end of the first third, and morphs to more of an earthy, spicy, cocoa powder.
Second Third: This thing is smoking great. Cedar moves to the front, with a spice in the back of my throat. Finish on the mouth is still the deep chocolate, with a bit of sweetness. All of a sudden, about halfway through, the spicy cedar disappears, back to the cocoa sweetness. No spice on the retro. The cigar did a complete 180. It’s a nice cocoa/vanilla bouncing back and forth to finish out the second third.
Final Third: Little bit of dried fruit sweetness coming into this at the beginning of the final third, with the vanilla being the main component; a really nice way to start the final third. Construction is still impeccable. Starting to get a black coffee finish and tones under the vanilla. I’m loving this. At the final inch or so, coffee is now the main player. I nub as much as I can, and regretfully decide to let this one die.
Final Thoughts: I can be a little bit of a cigar snob at times; being a part of this forum has opened me up to a lot of different cigars, however, has led me at times to be blinded by the sparkle of limited releases, or boutique brands. And, in my very short smoking career, I have gotten in ruts where I don’t want to try brands that aren’t being heavily discussed; I have a limited budget, so I want to smoke what’s popular (Tatuaje, Crowned Heads, etc.) to talk about it and be on “the forefront” of what’s popular. I’m guilty. I’m the first to say it.
For me, the AJ Fernandez New World is a cigar that totally rocked that idea. It is available from our sponsors at around $5 a cigar (before promo codes). Because of my own blinders, I barely knew this cigar existed, and didn’t give it too much; I grabbed it at the B&M, just to try something new that I didn’t know anything about.
The box press definitely freaked me out at first, and I figured a press this extreme was going to yield under filling and all the problems that come with it. The cigar never went out, and I took my sweet time with it. No runs, no canoeing, nothing. Immaculate construction, even if it’s not a shape I would normally gravitate towards.
The flavor profiles were pretty good. Always shifting between classic Nica flavors I love, but it’s not something that I think you would need to concentrate on to enjoy. I cannot attest to the consistency of the marca, as I only had one for the review (believe me, I went back and bought 3 more later that day).
Maybe I enjoyed this so much because I was so surprised. Maybe I just got one fabulous stick, and it’s not all I’m saying it is. I don’t rate via numbers, but I can say this, with much certainty: I smoked a Jekyll later that day, and I kept wishing I could ditch it and smoke another one of these (and if it wasn’t for a review, I might have.)
The Bottom Line: Box Purchase? At $106.99 for 21, how could I not?
Final Smoking Time: Around 2 hours.
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