Cigar Review: Frank Herrera Biography

Frank Herrera Biography

The Frank Herrera Biography is the second line of cigars launched by Herrera Cigars.  The name Frank Herrera might not be known to many casual cigar fans, but Herrera is well-known in the cigar industry.  Herrera is a lawyer to many of the cigar companies in South Florida who specializes in trademarks. His company is also well-known for launching another boutique cigar line called La Caridad Del Cobre (named for Cuba’s patron Saint).  The La Caridad Del Cobre wasn’t a widely distributed cigar, but it is one that gained almost a cult status among many cigar enthusiasts.  The Frank Herrera Biography was launched about a year ago, but it also seems to be gaining momentum among cigar enthusiasts.  I have recently had an opportunity to smoke the Frank Herrera Biography – and this has proven to be a very impressive blend.

For the Frank Herrera Biography, Herrera Cigars collaborated with Abe Flores and his team at the PDR Cigars Factory in the Dominican Republic.  PDR Cigars has been very active over the past year making cigars for Gurkha, La Palina, and Primer Mundo Cigars.

Let’s take a closer look at the Frank Herrera Biography and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The Frank Herrera Biography uses a combination of tobaccos from Brazil, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.  Tobaccos from these countries have utilized in many blends by PDR Cigars.

Wrapper: Brazilian Arapiraca
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

The Frank Herrera Biography is currently available in three sizes.  The cigars are sold in boxes of 20.

Robusto: 5 x 52

Toro: 6 x 54

Gordismo: 6 x 60

Appearance

For this cigar experience of the Frank Herrera Biography, I smoked the Toro vitola.  The Arapiraca wrapper of the Biography is a nice milk chocolate color.  Upon closer examination, some darker marbling can be seen on the wrapper.  While the wrapper has a slight amount of oil to it,  I would classify it as having a silky complexion.  The dark color of the wrapper does a good job at hiding the wrapper seams, but there are some visible veins.

The band has a black, white, and gold color scheme.  The top half of the band is white with the text “FRANK HERRERA” displayed boldly in black font.   There is smaller “FRANK HERRERA” text in a very light gray font that is in wallpaper mode across the top of the band.   The bottom half of the band is black.  The text “Biography” is draped over both the white and black halves in gold cursive font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

For this cigar experience of the Biography, I went with my usual selection of a straight cut to remove the cap.  Once the cap was clipped, I started the pre-light draw.  The dry draw flavor profile was simple as it provided some nice flavors with notes of coffee and pepper.  Overall, I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw.  At this point I was ready to light up the Biography and see what the overall smoking experience

Flavor Profile

The start to the Frank Herrera Biography provided a decent shot of pepper to start.  The pepper was soon joined by some notes of coffee.  The first part of the first third third reminded me a lot of the pre-light draw.  Later in the second third, some citrus notes entered the equation.  The citrus and pepper became the primary notes while the coffee notes were secondary.  The retro-hale also had some pepper, but I would categorize it as less than what I was getting on the tongue.

As the Biography moved into the second half, some earth notes joined the citrus and pepper in the forefront.  The coffee notes continued to be a secondary flavor.

In the last third, the flavor profile continued to hold, but an interesting sweetness emerged – this was a nougat flavor.  The nougat was more of a secondary note.   The Biography continued to be flavorful right until the end of the cigar experience.   There was no harshness at the end.  The resulting nub was cool in temperature, but soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

The Frank Herrera Biography is a well-constructed cigar and this is reflected in the burn and draw. Little maintenance was required to keep the burn line straight as it required minimal touch-ups. The resulting ash was a salt and pepper color, but I would say it was skewed more on the darker end.  The ash was slightly loose and had some occasional flaking – but nothing major to have a negative impact on the smoking experience. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Frank Herrera Biography

The draw to the Frank Herrera Biography was excellent.  It was not loose and not too tight.  It made the  Biography an enjoyable smoking experience from start to finish.

Strength and Body

Overall I found the Biography to have a little more strength than I expected.  This was especially true after the smoking experience was completed.  Overall, I assessed the strength of the Biography to be a medium to full strength cigar.  As for the flavors, there was quite a bit of depth to them.  I assessed the cigar to have just enough body to qualify as full-bodied smoke.   When looking at strength vs. body on the Biography, I found that the body definitely had the edge with this smoke.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I have been impressed with the cigars made by Herrera Cigars. The Frank Herrera Biography adds another impressive cigar to this line. I wouldn’t categorize this as a revolutionary cigar in terms of its flavor profile, but it is the kind of cigar that delivers some very nice flavors. While I think this cigar is probably better suited for an experienced cigar enthusiast, I still would encourage a novice looking for something fuller in terms of strength and body to try this. As for myself, this is definitely a cigar I would buy and smoke again.

Summary