East India Trading Company
Wicked Indie Double Fuerte
The East India Trading Company Wicked Indie Double Fuerte is a modified blend of the East India Trading Company Wicked Indie. The main difference with the Double Fuerte is that it contains some extra ligero in the blend, and is available in a different frontmark (a 6 x 56). The Wicked Indie Double Fuerte is only sold to retailers in the East India Trading Company Cargo Chest. This is very similar to what was done with the East India Trading Company Red Witch Double Fuerte – which is a modified blend of the Red Witch (and is also included in the Cargo Chest). Overall, the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte is a nice cigar. It provides another option with a lot of the core components of the original Wicked Indie, but with a little extra kick.
The Cargo Chest contains 284 cigars. It features the Wicked Indie and Red Witch lines from the East Trading Company. As mentioned above, the chest contains the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte, and the Red Witch Fuerte. In addition, there are also two vitolas to both the Red Witch and Wicked Indie core blends that are only available in the Cargo Chest – a 7 x 60 and a 5 1/2 x 60 perfecto.
Without further adieu, let’s break down the East India Trading Company Wicked Indie Double Fuerte and see what this cigar delivers.
Blend Profile
The Wicked Indie Double Fuerte is an all-Nicaraguan puro. As mentioned the difference between the core Wicked Indie cigar is that there is additional ligero in the blend.
The Wicked Indie Double Fuerte is only available in one size – a 5 x 56 toro.
Appearance
The wrapper to the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte has what I term a brown bag color. The wrapper has a smooth and oily complexion. There are some visible veins, but the wrapper seams are well hidden even though the wrapper is not overly dark in color.
The Wicked Indie Double Fuerte features two bands – and both are toward the footer of the cigar. The primary band has an intricate design consistent with Gurkha Cigars. This is the same band found on the core Wicked Indie cigar. It features a green ghoul on a black background with a spotlight over it. Below the ghoul is a red ribbon that says “WICKED INDIE” in gold font. Toward the top of the band it says “EAST INDIA TRADING CO” in black font on a gold background. There is a lot of additional design and text on this band and we won’t cover the details here, but it is very intricate. Finally, there is a large black stripe going around the back of the band. On that stripe is the text “PREMIUM HAND MADE” in gold font on each side.
The secondary band sits below the main band. It is primarily black with green and gold trim. The gold-fonted text “DOUBLE” and “FUERTE” sits on a black background.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my smoking experience of the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was clipped, I proceeded with the pre-light draw. The prelight draw to the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte was similar to the core line. It featured notes of mild notes of wood, butter, and pepper. Overall this wasn’t the most exciting pre-light draw, but since we do not score the dry draw as a part of our rating or score, there is no loss of points here. At this point, I was ready to fire up my Wicked Indie Double Fuerte and see what the cigar experience would deliver.
Flavor Profile
There definitely were some parallels to the flavors in the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte when compared to the core Wicked Indie. I found the core Wicked Indie to have a complex flavor profile with many flavor twists and turns. The Double Fuerte isn’t going to have the flavor transitions of the core Wicked Indie, but it still will have plenty of flavor nuances.
The Wicked Indie Double Fuerte started out with a mix of wood and pepper notes to start. As the smoking experience progressed, the additional flavor notes surfaced. From smoke to smoke, the order in which these additional flavors emerged would vary, but they all tended to surface between the five and ten percent point of the smoke. These flavor notes included floral sweetness, caramel, and mint. Initially these flavors emerged as secondary notes.
As the smoking experience of the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte continued, the wood and pepper were a constant as primary flavors. There were some points during the smoking experience where the floral sweetness made its way as primary note. The caramel and mint flavors tended to stay relegated to the background throughout the smoking experience. During the smoke, I could also detect pepper through the nasal passages.
The flavor notes described above remained consistent until the end. There was no harshness as the cigar experience came to a close. The end of the cigar had a nice nub – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
For what is considered Gurkha’s value-priced line, the East India Trading Company cigars have performed consistently well when it comes to burn and draw. The Wicked Indie Double Fuerte is no exception. The burn line remained sharp from start to finish – requiring very little in the way of touch-ups. The resulting ash had a nice white color. The ash was tight and really did not have any flaking along the way. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
The draw was outstanding to the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte. This made the cigar a low maintenance cigar to puff on from start to finish.
Strength and Body
The extra ligero in the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte definitely had a nice impact when it came to the attributes of burn and draw. From a nicotine perspective, the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte does start out on the mild to medium side. By the second third, the strength progresses to medium. Toward the end of the cigar, there were points were the strength crossed into medium to full territory.
The body of the Double Fuerte also started out mild to medium, but would increase linearly throughout the smoking experience. It progressed to medium-bodied in the second third, and most of the last third the flavors were in the medium to full-bodied range. I’d give the Double Fuerte a slight edge in body over strength, but the gap is not too distant.
Final Thoughts
The original Wicked Indie was a cigar that pretty much had a very nice mild to medium profile in terms of strength and body. At the same time that cigar had some nice complexity to it. The added ligero in the Wicked Indie Double Fuerte will definitely amp up the blend in terms of strength and body. It does have more in the way of spice, and I think that spice sacrifices some of the complexity found on the original blend. While I still would give a slight edge to the original Double Fuerte, this cigar still has a lot to offer. This is a good cigar for the novice enthusiast who wants to take advantage of the additional kick this cigar offers. I think experienced cigar enthusiasts who thought the original Wicked Indie needed more power will like what the Double Fuerte offers. As for myself, this is certainly a cigar I would pick up again and smoke.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Mild to Medium (1st Third), Medium (2nd Third, most of final third), Medium to Full (End)
Body: Mild to Medium (1st Third), Medium (2nd Third), Medium to Full (Last Third)
Finish: Good
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 90
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Outland Cigars in Charlotte, North Carolina.
