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| My Father Commemorative 911 by Jaime Garcia Blend 343 10th Anniversary Oscuro |
Last month, we explored the My Father Commemorative 911 by Jaime Garcia Blend 343 10th Anniversary Rosado. This is one of two retail-exclusive cigars that are packaged together made by My Father Cigars exclusively for Casa de Montecristo in Countryside, Illinois. The other cigar is an Oscuro blend . The two cigars together are known as the My Father Commemorative 911 by Jaime Garcia Blend 343 10th Anniversary. The project was a joint effort between My Father Cigars and Casa de Montecristo in Chicago. The idea was suggested by Jeffrey Holst, a firefighter Battalion Chief out of Lombard, Illinois. Hoist contacted Casa de Montecristo in Countryside, Illinois who then teamed up with My Father Cigars and the project was in motion. For the My Father Commemorative 911 project, the two different cigar cigars are packaged together in each box. In this assessment, we take a look at the Oscuro blend – and in my opinion, this is even a better cigar than the Rosado we assessed last month.
When we assessed the Rosado blend, we provided the following background information on the My Father Commemorative 911 project:
The cigar is more than just a tribute cigar, it exhibits giveback that the cigar industry never seems to get credit for. As a part of this release, $40.00 from the sale of each box will go toward a designated charity of the fallen heroes of 9/11. There have been 343 boxes (commemorating the 343 fallen Firefighters of 9/11) produced containing the Rosado and Oscuro blends. Originally there was a plan to produce 80,000 cigars (or 4,000 boxes), but Jaime Garcia made a decision to limit the production to 343 boxes in order to take on the project and allow Casa de Montecristo to be an exclusive retailer.
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| My Father Commemorative 911 by Jaime Garcia Blend 343 10th Anniversary Packaging |
Let’s dive right in and break down the My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro and see what this cigar delivers.
Blend Profile
As mentioned above there are two blends in each box of cigars. Each box will contain 9 cigars with the Rosado blend and 11 cigars with the Oscuro blend. T The Oscuro blend uses the same wrapper used on the My Father Le Bijou 1922 series. The blends are vastly different for each of the cigars. The Rosado cigars are packaged in the top row of the box while the Oscuro cigars are packaged on the bottom row. With the exception of the wrapper, there aren’t too many details on the Oscuro blend.
The “9” cigars (My Father Commemorative 911 Rosado)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Rosado
Binder: 96 Corojo
Filler: “Secret” Fillers
The “11” cigars ( My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro):
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Oscuro Oscuro
Binder: “Secret” Binders
Filler: “Secret” Fillers
Vitolas Available
All of the cigars included in the package are a 5 1/2 x 54 Toro. This is the only size vitola made for this particular project.
Appearance
From examining the My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro, this is a classic looking Oscuro wrapper. No dyed look on this wrapper as it has dark roasted coffee color to it. The wrapper itself is oily, with some visible wrapper seams and a few visible beins. The toro-sized vitola contains a classic Cuban style cap. Like the Rosado, the My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro is also packaged unbanded.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. It was then on to start the pre-light draw. The dry draw notes as they yielded flavors of chocolate, leather, and cedar. While there were no real surprises on the pre-light draw, it still was a very good one. At this point I was ready to fire up the My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro and see what this would bring to the table.
Flavor Profile
The start of the My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro provided a decent, but not overwhelming pepper blast. While it wasn’t the strongest Garcia pepper blast, I was still willing to classify it as one. Some chocolate notes then surfaced with some sweetness to it. As the pepper blast subsided the chocolate notes became primary while the pepper moved to the background. The spice became a cross between pepper and baker’s spice. I could also detect notes of leather in the background.
Around the ten percent mark, the sweetness that is a part of the chocolate separated out into notes of sweet cherry. At times the sweetness had more of a chocolate feel, and at other times it had more of a cherry feel (in fact this varied each time I smoked the 911 Oscuro).
Around the 60 percent mark, the leather notes faded and the background spice kicked up a notch. The cherry sweetness was still present, but it was the chocolate notes that remained in the forefront. This is the flavor profile that held until the end of the smoke. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
While the My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro is a different blend than its Rosado counterpart, there is no loss of quality here. The Oscuro maintains the same excellent construction attributes its Rosado sibling. The burn needed very few touch-ups to burn straight. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal from start to finish. ideal burn temperature from start to finish. The draw was flawless – making for a very easy cigar to work with once fired up.
Strength and Body
The expression “close but no cigar” might apply to the My Father Commemorative 911 Oscuro. This is in reference to the fact that for both strength and body, this cigar just falls short of being full in both categories. This is no knock as I found the the medium to full strength and body of this cigar to be just enough to deliver a great experience. In addition, both the strength and body have a nice equilibrium – the nicotine and flavors are as balanced as can be.
Final Thoughts
In general, the My Father factory has become known for its use of Ecuadorian Habano Rosado and Nicaraguan Oscuro wrappers. In almost each case, I’ve found while the Rosado wrapper cigars deliver more in terms of flavor complexity, the Oscuro wrapper cigars deliver better flavor. The same holds true for the My Father Commemorative 911 series. Like the Rosado, the Oscuro is a good cigar for the novice cigar enthusiast to try if they are looking for something more medium to full in strength and/or body. Experienced cigar enthusiasts will appreciate just about everything about this cigar. The combination of the Rosado and the Oscuro in the packaging easily make this a candidate to get a box of.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 93
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Casa de Montecristo in Countryside, Illinois.
