601 La Bomba Sake Bomb by Espinosa

Okay, I'll be honest. I bought this cigar so that I could get free shipping on an online sampler order. But I chose this one particularly because it really caught my eye as being something new and interesting. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but this is what I found:

The first thing you will notice after the bright yellow band on the foot of this cigar will probably be the pigtailed cap which runs down the side of the milk chocolate colored wrapper. One may not notice at first, but this cigar appears to taper from foot to mouth ever so slightly. The cigar appears to be somewhat loosely rolled, but a couple of smooth draws on the unlit cigar produce just the right amount of resistance with a definite citrus flavor. I usually leave the band on until after I have begun smoking the cigar, but unless I want to smoke the band, I should probably take this one off prior to lighting it. The first few draws are light and tangy, leaving a warm feeling in the back of my throat and on the tip of my tongue, but not in-between. There is a citrus-like flavor along with this cigar that I haven’t experienced with other smokes.

The tangy, semi-spiciness of this Nicaraguan puro is upbeat and yet laid back, like a sunny afternoon in a Meiji era countryside. Just imagine taking a break from the heat of the day in the fields, sitting in the shade, sipping your rice wine and smoking your Sake Bomb. You know you’ll have to go back to work soon, but it’s a Friday, and you’re on the downhill slide. You’ve earned this break, and you will use it well. Okay, so maybe that isn’t period or culturally accurate, but that’s not the point!

This cigar doesn’t pack the supersaiyan explosivity of a turn of the century anime boss battle like you might expect from Nicaraguan ligero. It’s more of a filler episode in your favorite series, but a good one; a good, mellow, backstory of an up-and-coming hero, with a hidden strength that is less like Goku, and more like Ruroni Kenshin (please pardon the nerdy references, I was a kid once too you know!)

Don’t misunderstand me; this cigar is medium-full to full bodied. After half an hour or so, you don’t know if it’s the sake, the Sake Bomb, or maybe just a long day at work, but you are shifting into low gear.

Thirty minutes in, I ash this cigar for the first time. The burn is perfectly even, and the draw is still smooth. I had to relight it, because I let it go out in typing the preceding couple of paragraphs, but I have no issues with the quality of its construction. The citrus taste I mentioned earlier I am going to identify as perhaps orange peel, with a light bitterness of chicory. This corona sized 4 ½ X 42 cigar is the perfect vitola for me. I don’t know how well I would deal with some of the larger sizes in this brand if they are as full bodied as the Sake Bomb. This slow-burning stick will cost you at least an hour, but more likely an hour and a half if you want to enjoy it. Of course, no one is forcing you to smoke it until you burn your fingers. The flavor is consistent the entire way down, not evolving much in taste or potency.

This is a cigar for a young aficionado. It is a new kid on the block from an up and coming cigar brand, marketed toward those with adventurous taste, and a geeky interest in the Japanese culture. Of course, this I gather only from the character of the brand name and packaging. Experienced cigar-lovers will find much to commend in this cigar, which is not lacking in that classic Esteli-Habano leaf flavor. This would probably not make for a good cigar for a novice or a lightweight. Small in stature, it still packs the punch of its namesake, like Tokyo’s take on the Molotov cocktail.

I’m putting it down after a little over an hour, but as I said earlier, I could get another thirty minutes from this cigar. If you have a nice long lunch break, and not much to do in the afternoon, light the fuse on a Sake Bomb. You won’t be disappointed.

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