Brick House Might Mighty Maduro by J.C. Newman

The Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro is a new maduro wrapper version of the popular Brick House brand.  A few years ago, J.C. Newman introduced their Brick House line of cigars.  The Brick House line was originally one of the first lines of cigars by J.C. Newman founder, Julius Caeser Newman.  The blend of that original Brick House was all-Cuban.  A few years ago, Eric and Bobby Newman decided to resurrect the Brick House line, but this time as a value-priced Nicaraguan puro.   This year, the Newmans decided to come out with a maduro version of the resurrected Brick House – the Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro.  In the end, the Newmans have hit gold with this value-priced maduro cigar.  This proves to be one of the standout maduros of 2012.

While many cigar purists are will always favor a small ring gauge, it is well known that the bigger ring gauges sell better.  I’ve always been of the opinion that if you get a big ring gauge that smokes well, it can create an amazing smoking experience. For the Mighty Mighty Maduro, the Newmans opted to only do a 60 ring gauge cigar.   This cigar is definitely a case study for how a 60 ring gauge cigar should smoke.

Let’s break down the Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro and see how this cigar smokes.

Blend Profile

The Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro uses a similar blend to the core Brick House line.  The difference is its Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper.

Wrapper: Brazilian Arapiraca Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

The Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro is available in one size – a 6 1/4 x 60 Gordo.  The cigar carries and SRP of $5.95.

Appearance

The Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro has a silky maduro wrapper.  For the most part, it has a classic maduro coffee bean color.  For the cigar I am assessing, one of the wrapper leaves is discolored and lighter than the remaining wrapper leaves (see photo above).  This should not be considered a negative.  As a part of either exposure to sunlight or the fermentation process, leaf colors can very.  As Drew Estate’s Jonathan Drew pointed out in a trip I took to Nicaragua, it is consistent texture that is more desired over consistent color.  With the case of the Mighty Mighty Maduro, the texture is consistent.   There are also some veins and wrapper seams that are visible, and it are the veins that are more prominent.

There are two bands on the Mighty Mighty Maduro.  The first is the same band with a pale yellow, black, red, and gold color scheme featuring the “Brick House” on it.  There is a secondary band located below the primary band.  That band says “MADURO” in black font on a pale yellow background.  There is also red and gold striping on that secondary band.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Before lighting my Mighty Mighty Maduro, I placed a straight cut into the large cap of the cigar.  When I commenced with the pre-light draw, I was treated to notes of coffee.  The dry draw flavors were very bold on this pre-light experience.  While it wasn’t the most complex pre-light draw, it still was a flavorful one.  At this point, I was ready to toast the foot of the Mighty Mighty Maduro and see what the rest of the cigar experience would bring to the table.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro had a combination of coffee and pepper flavors.  In these early stages notes of leather and cream also emerged.   The early profile saw the leather and cream as primary notes with the pepper and coffee as a secondary flavors.  In many cigars, usually the coffee flavors are dominant early on, so this seemed a little different from my perspective.  Yet, I found that with this particular combination of flavors, the coffee in the background worked very well.

While the coffee notes were a secondary flavor for a good portion of the cigar experience, there were times where the coffee flavors did surge to the forefront.   As the cigar moved into the second half, I detected some nut flavors.  It seemed as though the leather and nut flavors were at the forefront.   This is the way the flavor profile held for the second half.   The cigar never got overly spicy at the end like many big ring gauge cigars do.  The finish was on the smooth side.  The Mighty Mighty Maduro finished with an ideal nub – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

While there are a lot of reasons cigar purists do not like big ring gauges, one reason is due to an inferior burn and draw.  To some extent there is some truth to this.  However, when constructed right – there should be no reason why this should be an issue.

The Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro is such a cigar.  This cigar burned like a champ – from start to finish.  The burn line was razor sharp requiring two touch-ups.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.  A big ring gauge cigar can sometimes burn hot at the end, but not the case with the Mighty Mighty Maduro as it was cool right until the completion of the smoke.  The draw was outstanding – and in my book, the big ring gauge did not impact the quality of the draw.

Strength and Body

I did not find the Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro to be an overpowering cigar from a nicotine standpoint.  It is one of those cigars that has just enough power to satisfy most cigar enthusiasts.  I assessed the Mighty Mighty Maduro to be medium in strength.  The flavors to the Mighty Mighty Maduro have some nice depth to it – and I assessed this cigar to be medium to full-bodied.    I gave the body a slight edge over the strength, but both attributes still had a pretty good balance.

Final Thoughts

As far as the original core line Brick House goes, I’ve always considered it a quality smoke, but one that hasn’t fit my flavor profile.  In my opinion, the maduro version of this cigar takes this blend to another level. The Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper definitely works magic with this blend.   Not only does the Mighty Mighty Maduro fit my flavor profile, but in my opinion it is one of the better maduros to be released in 2012.  Finally, as I said up front, this is a case study for how a 60 ring gauge cigar should smoke.  While we don’t factor price into our final assessment ratings, it is worth noting the $5.95 SRP is very attractive for this cigar.  This is a great cigar for a novice cigar enthusiast looking for a flavorful, medium strength maduro.  Experienced cigar enthusiasts will appreciate the rich flavors of this cigar.  This is a cigar I look forward to smoking again and one worthy of a box purchase.

Summary