Pictured are the telltale greenish-tinge of Sumatra and the darker Mata Fina wrapped robustos from this rather small, single line Bahian company named Le Cigar. Why a Brazilian cigar is not named in Portuguese O Charuto instead of this French appellation is a mystery to which I do not know have a clue. I suspect is has something to do with the companys history. Beginning as strictly a tobacco exporting business in the mid-1960s by a second generation Brazilian of a German immigrant family, Arend Becker was a tradesman dealing primarily with European accounts. Twenty years later, when Becker started to actually manufacture cigars in a small hand rolling operation, it is possible the French spelling of the product reflected where he hoped to sell most of his products. Though technically retired, in 1997, as a way to keep his hand in the business, Becker restructured his former factory into a sort of trade school for making quality cigars. A few current cigar production companies in Bahia have come about as a result of the entrepreneurial efforts of graduates learning the preparation and rolling of Le Cigars over the years.
The Le Cigar Sumatra truly reflects the coastal area that is part of the Reconcava, Brazils most fertile tobacco region in the state of Bahia, that lies between the Atlantic ocean and the northern tip of the Floresta Atlantico mountain range that winds nearly the entire north-south length of Brazil. All sorts of tobacco is grown there and the variety makes for many combinations from using different assortments for fillers, binders and wrappers. This firm and solid robusto is wrapped very well in an almost seamless manner, though the bumpy binder indicates its texture through the smooth wrapper. Pre-light draw is of sandy earth tones and that clean tobacco aroma one associates with quality aging and processing.
After toasting the foot, light up was easy only three puffs from a long match and it never went out again until I was done. Ease of draw was amazingly accomplished, with lots and lots of smoke from first to last draw, even though the pack was firm the entire way. First tongue taste was a lot like peanut butter which was reinforced by aromas from brown smoke seeping out the head. The body fragrance after the first flurry of puffs and a rest was like a forest floor in the shadows of leafy trees, mild and cool with musky moisture not far away.
This cigar hibernates well, with very little self-smoking off the foot, but it springs to life quickly after a 45 second rest, with only a single full draw (even without a primer puff.) The smoke is dense and fragrant very easy to taste on the tongue and very friendly as it passes through the olfactory regions of the sinuses. No burning feeling to make you not want to try more and more. Before I could evaluate the first ¾ inch of ash, it dropped off as I lay the cigar in the tray to make notes. Im not used to seeing ash drop so soon. Le Cigar burns a bit faster than a Cohiba of the same length and ring size, but I felt both the aromas coming off the length of the wrapper and that from the smoke off the foot were very, very similar to that Cuban cigar that so many consider the gold standard for a fine smoke. As when I smoke a Cohiba, this cigar kept the words traditional and consistent quality going through my mind as I smoked further. Nice part was - Le cigar is one third the cost of of its Cuban cousin.
At the halfway mark, the body was developing a distinct hickory wood fragrance that was deepening as it burned down. The foot smoke was still very friendly with the good tobacco aroma that drifted away as the smoke cleared quickly after each draw. The aroma from the head was starting to develop into something I felt was going to be good, but could not pinpoint it right away. The ash drops at ¾ inch length with the slightest tap to the ashtray, though the gray ash appearance is distinctive, without signs of breaks or flaking. I offered the cigar a 90 second rest test. A few pulls and its entire circumference evenly reignited from the center outward. Vast amounts of palatable smoke come off each pull. A tasters paradise!
At 2 ½ inches to go, the head now gives me the smell of honey-coated bees wax still clinging to a tree branch, syrup sweet/bark sour and wax tawny at the same time. The now shiny stick has its own aroma of recently rained upon loamy soil. The smoke off the foot is becoming more forceful, even as that which is drawn into the mouth remains very friendly. With 2 inches remaining, I start to rest it for my abstraction test - letting the ball of fire burn down into the center filler to about the diameter of a pencil. Two minutes pass, three minutes, still glowing hot. Still sleek and contoured well at this length, this good looking gar does not want to go out! During abstraction, I find the filler aroma turns out to not be as sweet as I had anticipated, but that just told me the binder/wrapper combo would probably not be as harsh as some others I have encountered among Brazilian puros, where the ultra-sweet core is offset by strong outer layers. But the Le Cigar center is butternut nice and gives a slight pine edge at times. The binder/wrapper abstract burn is dark and mysterious. Like a fire in some far away spot, deep in the Black Forest lots of body with little to no acidity. Comforting in some way, like a camp fire to keep one warm and cook by, as opposed to a raging fire. It is easy to sense how the filler/binder/wrapper combination all works together to make an agreeably mild cigar.
As I finish off this cigar, at an inch and a quarter the smoke takes on the aroma of a friendly pile of autumn leaves smoldering in an alleyway. The foot fragrance seems barely distinguishable from the head. It is a total package now. During the final inch, I draw small puffs primarily from the center to evaluate the personality this Le Cigar wants me to know in parting. As if telling me of the connection between Bahia and the ocean, I last get traces of a tangy sand beach where the sea air filters a friendly fire made of dried seaweed and driftwood at sunset. A light among friends, to illuminate the darkening end to a pleasant day in old Brazil.