The Firecracker Corojo

In 2007 David Garofalo had an idea to create a cigar that had a fuse attached to it and call it the Firecracker. The first version of the cigar was offered to Pete Johnson of Tatuaje who didn’t like the idea and passed. The idea was then pitched to Don Pepin Garcia who though Dave was “loco” but agreed to do the cigar anyway as an exclusive to Two Guys Smoke Shop.

Eventually the production moved to a different cigar factory where it remains a regular production cigar for United Cigar Group. The 3 x 50 is the original cigar with a fuse and saw a limited edition release this year from La Flor Dominicana as a store exclusive. It is rumored that the limited edition Firecracker will be made in 2016 at a different factory in limited numbers.

Today we look at the regular production Firecracker.

Cigar: Firecracker
Size: 3 x 50
Wrapper: Corojo
Binder: Not Disclosed
Filler: Not Disclosed
Strength: Medium-Full
Source: Two Guys Smoke Shop

The Look: While the band of the cigar has some similarities to the Pepin version which featured a version of the blue label band, it is different enough to not be confused. The band of red, blue, gold denotes “The Firecracker”. The cigar which has visible oils has a partially closed foot and a fuse (long pigtail) from the cap.

The Notes: The cold draw of The Firecracker Corojo has notes of earth while to the foot of the cigar is earthy with a slight spice. Due to the small stature of the cigar, we won’t break this down into thirds.

Once the cigar is lit there is some spice through the nose, and earthy components right off the bad. As the cigar progresses there are elements of coffee and nuts along with some cedar. While none of the notes stand out above the other they are balanced enough to create a balanced smoke.

Moving in the second half of the cigar the strength kicks it up a notch with an abundance of pepper notes on both the palate and through the nose. The spice notes create a red pepper feeling especially on the roof of the mouth. It reminds me of when you put too many of the flakes on a pizza. As you adjust to the spicy kick the cigar finishes with notes of cedar that are moderate in length.

The Burn: The Firecracker has a slow burn to it, and for the size it lasted longer than I expected. The light color ash held for the first half off the cigar, and remained for almost the duration of the second half. There was adequate production and the cigar had the ideal draw.

The Finish: For some the Don Pepin Garcia Firecracker is still a cigar that is sought after by collectors, and even though Pete Johnson passed on the project it did lead to the creation of the M80 which should be released once again next week.

The Firecracker for the price is a cigar worth trying out a 5 pack in my opinion and at the price it might even be worthy of a box purchase to keep around for when the time to smoke is short. The cigar is a beast with its spicy notes that grow in intensity to a mouth-watering conclusions. Yes, it is not the Don Pepin Garcia version of the cigar, but had that cigar never been produced, it is my opinion that this cigar would stand on its own and solidify David Garofalo as an innovator in an industry of copy cats.

Score: 90
Price: $4.99 / $9.99