It’s the most wonderful time of the year as IPCPR is right around the corner and new cigars will start to show up in cigar stores. I am a person that is guilty of asking “what is new” and I walk into a cigar store, but the question I should be asking is “what is good.” With July 4th in the rearview mirror we will begin to review the new cigars and help you discover what is good.
For me the holiday weekend started smoking cigars at the fire pit (it still gets chilly at night here in New Hampshire) with Tate and Christine who are listeners of the show. Sitting under the stars I learned how to track and find satellites moving across the sky which was amazing. Then on the fourth I went out on a boat to the Boston Harbor before moving to the Charles River for the Boston Pops and fireworks which was pretty cool. Sunday was a day full of more R&R.
Today’s cigar which was once known as ICON is now known as Trademark and it debuts at IPCPR for the first time as a Maduro. Available in the same sizes with the same pricing as the shade grown version the cigars are made at one of Davidoff’s factories in the Dominican Republic.
Cigar Review: Hammer + Sickle Trademark
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: San Andreas
Filler: Dominican Republic
Binder: Dominican Republic
Strength: Medium
Source: Hammer + Sickle
The Look: The band of the cigar is black and silver for the maduro with the hammer + sickle logo in the center. The symbol which stands for the working man, doesn’t take on a communist meaning due to the lack of the star on the symbol. The black background has an embossed honeycomb design. The evenly colored wrapper is chocolate in color with some thin veins and a flawless roll. The cigar is well packed with not soft spots.
The Notes: The cold draw of the cigar has a chocolate milk like flavor profile with elements of earth and mushrooms. The latter two are definitive trademarks of the Henke Kelner run factory. The foot of the cigar has a mocha like aroma that is heavenly.
Once the cigar is lit, there is some subtle spice through the nose with elements of carrots, mushrooms and earth. As the first third of the Trademark by Hammer + Sickle comes to a close a sweetness similar to a tootsie roll begins to develop.
The second third of the smoke takes on a coffee note as the vegetal elements have left the building. The short finish has some elements of earth. The maduro cigar is subtle, but enjoyable and more of a classic maduro then a modern maduro.
Moving on to the last third of the Trademark Maduro some pepper notes develop on the tongue and through the nose though it is subtle and not overpowering. Also appearing for the first time is notes of cedar with a continued earth on the finish with hints of mushrooms and carrots.
The Burn: This slow burning cigar had a nice thin combustion line with a medium gray ash that has zero flake and held on for each third of the cigar before a light tap dropped the ash into my stinky ashtray. The draw was near perfect until the last third on one of my samples where it did get a little tight but not to the point where I wanted to grab the poker to open it up. The cigar burned well and required no touch ups.
The Finish: The cigar which is a pre-release was dropped off on Friday by Eric Wentworth the Director of Sales for Hammer + Sickle was a combination of what I expected for the Trademark line. Mild and mellow the cigar has subtle flavors and is what I would call a breakfast maduro. The cigar definitely fits in the Trademark line, and the cigar builds on the portfolio making Hammer + Sickle one of the up and coming brands to keep an eye out for.
Score: 90
Price: $8.79
Trademark Maduro
Trademark Maduro Foot
Trademark Maduro Burn
