Alec Bradley Mundial

The Alec Bradley Mundial was one of two new lines launched by Alec Bradley Cigars at the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show. It was just prior to the trade show that the company announced this new project.  According to a story by Cigar Aficionado this past July, the Mundial was a project that was five years in the making, but was put off for various reasons.  The company made a decision to final release the Mundial in a limited production run for 2013. In terms of manufacturers, one can certain make a case for Alec Bradley being one of the hottest names out.  Given this was a long anticipated, limited production cigar with some unique frontmarks and aesthetic packaging, we felt this was one of the hottest cigars to look forward to at the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show.  In terms of the final product, this one lives up to all of the high expectations.  This cigar is a home run for Alec Bradley and represents some of the company’s best work to date.

The name “Mundial” is Spanish for World.  Prior to the launch of this cigar, Alec Bradley took the words “launch” and “world” litertally and embarked on a most unique marketing campaign.  Just prior to the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show, the cigars were literally launched into the stratosphere.  A video of the launch and the cigars in the stratosphere was posted by the company.  On the company’s YouTube channel, they explained:

“…we decided that we wanted to do it in a way no one had ever seen before. On July 13, 2013 we sent the Mundial series of cigars into space from the 59th floor of the Palms Place Casino. Having no idea where the cigars were going to land they were tracked via GPS into the desert for over 2 hours.”

Once retrieved from the desert, the cigars were on display at the Alec Bradley booth at the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show.

The pack of Alec Bradley Mundial that was retrieved from the desert after being launched into space – Cigar Coop 2013 IPCPR Photo

In terms of the cigar, let’s take a closer look at the Alec Bradley Mundial and see what this cigar brings to the table:

Blend Profile

The cigar is made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Danli, Honduras.  It features a mix of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos – including a double binder.  The wrapper is grown in the Trojes region – which also supplies the wrapper to the Alec Bradley Prensado.

Wrapper: Honduran Trojes
Binder: Hondruan, Nicaraguan (Double Bnder)
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan (four tobaccos with as per Cigar Aficionado, a heavy component of Esteli ligero)

Vitolas Available

There will be five sizes launched of the Alec Bradley Mundial.  Each will carry the Punta Lanza name.  The name means “point of the lance” and this is appropriate in the shape of each of these cigars.    It is worth noting that each of these sizes are in the shape of a reverse torpedo. According to the article by Cigar Aficionado that announced the Mundial, this name was a reference to an old mentor of Alec Bradley President Alan Rubin.

Punta Lanza No. 4: 4 1/4 x 48
Punta Lanza No. 5: 5 1/8 x 52
Punta Lanza No. 6: 6 x 54
Punta Lanza No. 7: 7 x 52
Punta Lanza No. 8: 6 1/2 x 58

The cigars are being packaged 20 to a box with production being capped at 3,000 boxes for 2013. There is no word on any further production of this cigar has been mentioned at press time.

Appearance

For this cigar experience, I smoked the Punta Lanaza No. 5 vitola of the Alec Bradley Mundial. The Trojes region wrapper has a nice coffee bean color to it.  There is a slight amount of oil on the surface.  Most of the veins and wrapper seams are actually quite well hidden.  When holding the Mundial in the vertical position (pointed foot on the bottom), the cigar has a stalactite-shape to it. While the cigar is in the inverse torpedo shape, the footer does not taper to a full point and could be considered open

When it comes to banding, Alec Bradley is a company that is at the top of the game.  I always admire the intricate designs.  The Mundial has a blue, gold, ivory, and red color scheme.  The center of the band features the oval shaped Alec Bradley red-badge logo.  There is a pattern of oval designs surrounding the badge in blue, gold, and ivory coloring.  Most of the band also has adornments with this color scheme.  Above the oval designs is a blue ribbon with the text “ALEC BRADLEY” in white font.  On the lower right of the band is the Alec Bradley motto “LIVE TRUE”. To the far right of the band is another Alec Bradley red badge.

There is a secondary band just below the primary band.  It is ivory in color with blue and gold trim.  In large blue font is the text “MUNDIAL”.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to my smoke of the Alec Bradley Mundial, I used a straight cut to remove the cap.    Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw.  The dry draw of the Mundial treated me to a mix of dried fruit, leather, and cedar.  Overall I considered the pre-light experience of the Mundial to be excellent.

Since the footer was opened, I opted to light up the Mundial as opposed to clipping the foot some more.  It was not on to the actual cigar experience and see what this cigar would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Alec Bradley Mundial Punta Lanza No. 5 picked up where the dry draw left off. The cigar provided some initial notes of dried fruit, natural tobacco, and red pepper.  The red pepper could also be detected on the retro-hale.

As the Mundial burned past the tip of the cigar into the main body, the dried fruit and natural tobacco emerged as the primary notes.  The red pepper receded into the background.  I also detected a creamy component in the background.  The cream slowly increased throughout the first half.

By the second half, the cream notes joined the dried fruit notes in the forefront.  The natural tobacco and pepper notes were a close secondary.  This is the way the flavor profile held until the very end of the cigar.  The close of the Mundial cigar was flavorful with no harshness.  The resulting nub was slight soft, but cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The Punta Lanza design still falls under the definition of a figuardo in my book.  Sometimes I’m weary  of figuardo or artesian-shaped vitolas because they can lead to burn an draw issues.  No such problems with the case of the Mundial.  Not only did this produce an excellent burn and draw, but it also is a very well constructed cigar.

The burn remained straight from start to finish – requiring minimal touch-ups along the way.  The ash was tight and firm.  The color of the ash was light gray with some darker spots streaked in there.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

 

Burn of the Alec Bradley Mundial Punta Lanza No. 5

The draw was outstanding.  It was not too loose and not too draw.  The fact that it had a classic cap gave this cigar the feel of a parejo – which is something I really liked.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, I did not find the Mundial to be a nicotine bomb, but I actually found this cigar’s kick sneaks up on you (this most likely is the product of that ligero in the filler).  I still assessed the Mundial as being medium to full in strength.  As for the depth of the flavors, I also assessed the Mundial to be medium to full-bodied.   The strength and body counter each other very nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.  I also felt for this particular blend, the strength and body were perfect and if either were fuller, it would have detracted from the cigar experience.

Final Thoughts

It’s kind of ironic that Alec Bradley literally launched these cigars into the stratosphere because figuratively that is exactly what I felt after smoking this blend – namely this is an excellent cigar.   It’s not a cigar that is going to undergo a lot of radical flavor transitions, but its a case where the flavors all seem to come together perfectly.  I also really liked the reverse torpedo shape for this blend.   In terms of the Punta Lanza No. 5 vitola, I also feel this was a “perfect storm” scenario for this blend – namely right size for the right blend.  This is a cigar I would not hesitate to recommend to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast.  As for myself, this is easily a box worthy cigar, and one I really look forward to smoking again.

Summary

Score: 94

References

Source: Split – Purchased and Samples provided by Manufacturer (*)
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a

* Some cigars for this assessment was provided by a representative of Alec Bradley Cigars. The samples were received in order to provide feedback.  Cigar Coop is appreciative for the samples, but in no way does this influence this write-up.