Cigar Review: Ortega Wild Bunch 2013 Crazy Jack Psycho

January: Big Bad John “Jackhammer”
February: Iron Mike “I Beam”
March: Island Jim “WaHoo”
April: Tony The Boss “Enforcer”
May: Dandy McCoy “Empire State”
June: Honest Abe “Ringmaster”
July: Wild Bill “Cheroot”
August: Fast Eddie “Eight Ball”
September: Gearhead Gary “Crankshaft”
October: Warrior Joe “Bushmaster”
November: Da Byrdman “Boys Club”
December: Crazy Jack “Psycho”

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at Crazy Jack:

Blend Profile

Crazy Jack is a Nicaraguan puro featuring a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper.  It is the fifth cigar in the series to be a Nicaraguan puro joining  Big Bad John, Iron Mike, Honest Abe, and Wild Bill.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Esteli Habano
Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan Esteli/Jalapa

Vitolas Available

The official name of the vitola is Psycho.  This cigar is a 7 x 58 Gordo.  This is the second longest cigar in the series at 7″ and the second biggest ring gauge (58).  As with each installment of the Wild Bunch 2013, it was released in a single size for the blend. Also consistent with the series, Crazy Jack is also packaged 20 per box with a total of 500 boxes made.

Appearance

The Crazy Jack Psycho has a dark caramel colored wrapper. Upon close examination of the wrapper, some darker marbling can be seen. The wrapper has a good amount of oil on it. There are some visible veins as well as visible wrapper seams.

The rest of the band is similar to the layout of the other bands in the Ortega Wild Bunch 2013 series.  To the left of the illustration is the text “TABACOS ORTEGA, HECHO A MANO” in white font on gold background. Below that is the text “Premium Ortega Cigars” in white font on a red background.  On a third row is the text “GRUPO SALAJE – THE WILD BUNCH” – also in white font on a gold background.   To the right of the illiustration is the text 12 of 12″ in white font on a gold background.  Below that is a white “12” that is circled in white on a (darker) red background. Toward the bottom of the band it says “Crazy Jack” in a white modern font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I usually do, I started things off with a straight cut.  Once I removed the cap, I moved on to the pre-light draw ritual.  The dry draw notes provided a mix of chocolate, grass, and a slight pepper note.  Overall I was quite pleased with what the pre-ight draw delivered.  At this point I was ready to light up the Crazy Jack and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

Crazy Jack kicked off with a mix of chocolate and pepper notes.   This was soon joined by some earth and grass notes.  The earth and grass notes moved into the forefront early while the chocolate and pepper notes balanced things in the background.  The retro-hale produced a nice herbal spice.

By the end of the first third, the earth and grass notes continued to be the primary flavors.  The chocolate notes had now pretty much dissipated, but the pepper notes were still providing spice as a secondary note.

In the second half, the earth and grass notes remained primary.  There was a slight increase in the pepper, but also some natural tobacco sweetness surfaced.  Eventually the pepper made it into the forefront by the last third.  I found the last third to have mostly earth and pepper.  The pepper never got overly spicy or harsh.  The resulting nub was excellent (especially for a long smoke) – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall, for a large cigar, the Crazy Jack scored nicely in both the areas of burn.  The burn line stayed on the straight path for the duration of the cigar.  There were a couple of points of slight meandering, but nothing major (the photo below probably was a worst case scenario).  The ash was a lighter salt and pepper color.  The ash remained firm and was not prone to any major flaking.  The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Burn of the Ortega Wild Bunch 2013 Crazy Jack Psyko

The draw performed very well.  It was not too tight and not too loose.  This was a low maintenance cigar to puff on – making for an enjoyable smoke.

Strength and Body

I did not find the Crazy Jack to be a powerhouse of a cigar from a strength perspective.  The strength remained in the medium range from start to finish.  As for the flavors, these also fell into the medium-bodied range.  While I didn’t find the flavors were heavy on the pallet, I still found the medium-bodied profile worked very well for this flavor profile.  There also was a nice balance between strength and body from start to finish.

Final Thoughts

As I finished smoking my first Crazy Jack, there was somewhat of a feeling of disappointment.  It wasn’t over the cigar itself (as I thought it smoked very nicely), but due to the fact that this would be the final installment of this series. I had gotten used to looking forward to having a new cigar each month.  As I said, Crazy Jack was a nice cigar.  The cigar performed very well – especially for such a large cigar.  There were cigars in the Wild Bunch series that were better suited for my flavor profile – and at the same time Crazy Jack was better suited for my pallet than other installments of the series.   The medium strength, medium-bodied smoke is going to be one that will satisfy the novice or experienced cigar enthusiast.  As for myself, I would smoke this again. It’s certainly a cigar I’d recommend trying one or two – and keeping them around.

Summary

* Some cigars for this assessment were provided by Ortega Premium 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.