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| La Antiguedad by My Father Cigars – Toro |
La Antiguedad is a new line by My Father Cigars that has been launched in 2014. From its initial appearance, its banding evokes memories of another line by My Father Cigars, the Flor de las Antillas. La Antiguedad is a completely different line; but with the banding and box-press design, one can certainly argue these cigars could be grouped with the Flor de las Antillas line. That is not necessarily a bad thing because one can make the case that for the past couple of years, Flor de las Antillas has been one of the most successful cigars from both a commercial and critical acclaim standpoint. I have recently had an opportunity to smoke the La Antiguedad. I found this to be an excellent cigar and one that I have enjoyed more with each subsequent smoking experience.
The name La Antiguedad means Spanish for “the seniority or the aged”. In terms of the blend itself, it is being positioned as s stronger, more full version of the Flor de las Antllas. In fact, I’ve heard this cigar referred to as a “Flor de las Antillas” on steroids.
Without further ado, let’s break down La Antiguedad and see what this cigar brings to the table:
Blend Profile
As mentioned this is a completely different one from Flor de las Antillas. While Flor de las Antillas is a Nicaraguan puro, La Antiguedad uses an Habano Rosado Oscuro wrapper from Ecuador. The filler tobacco in the blend is all grown by the Garcia family in Nicaragua.
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador Rosado Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Vitolas Available
The La Antiguedad is available in five sizes. The cigars are packaged in 20 count boxes.
Robusto: 5 1/4 x 52
Toro: 5 5/8 x 55
Corona Grande: 6 3/8 x 47
Super Toro: 7 x 56
Toro Gordo: 6 x 60
Appearance
For this cigar experience, I went with the Toro. I found the La Antiguedad Toro to be a nicely packed box-press with no soft spots. The Habano Rosado Oscuro wrapper is a rich coffee bean color. Upon closer examination some darker marbling can be seen on the surface. The wrapper itself has a light oily coat to it. The cigar itself was nearly void of veins, and there were a few visible wrapper seams.
As mentioned above, the banding does evoke memories of the Flor de las Antillas band. The La Antiguedad’s band has a oil-painting look that is reminiscent of the days of the Spanish Empire in the New World. Above the image is the text “LA ANTIGUEDAD” in a classic red font. Below that text is the text “MY FATHER CIGARS” in a small thin gold font. The remainder of the band has lots of gold adornments. There is also a red ribbon over surrounding the footer of the cigar.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Prior to lighting up the La Antiguedad, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. It was then on to the pre-light draw phase. The cold draw provided some excellent notes of mocha, leather, and some black pepper spice. Overall I was quite pleased with the pre-light draw of this cigar. At this point, I removed the footer ribbon, lit up the cigar and awaited what the smoking phase would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the La Antiguedad delivered notes of coffee, black pepper, and some black cherry. In the early stages, the black cherry notes became primary with the coffee notes a close secondary note.. The black pepper floated back and forth between the forefront and background. The pepper had a tingling sensation on the tongue and could definitely be felt on the retro-hale.
Later in the first third, the coffee flavors transitioned to more of a creamy chocolate and join the black cherry notes in the forefront. The fusion of these flavors was most interesting. Meanwhile the pepper notes were now a close secondary note.
In the second third, the creamy chocolate notes were now primary. The pepper notes were still secondary while the black cherry notes were now also in the background.
The last third saw the creamy chocolate notes transition to more of a classic Nicaraguan earthy flavor. The pepper had transitioned back to the forefront while the cherry notes pretty much dissipated. The end of the cigar had some spice, but exhibited no signs of harshness. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
La Antiguedad has the type of burn and draw performance that I have come to expect from the My Father Cigar factory – excellent. The burn line remained relatively straight from start to finish requiring minimal touch-ups. The resulting ash was a silvery gray color that was not prone to any significant flaking or flowering. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.
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| Burn of La Antiguedad |
The draw performed very well on La Antiguedad. It was not too loose and not too tight. I found this a low maintenance cigar to derive the flavors this cigar had to offer.
Strength and Body
In terms of La Antiguedad being an “amp’d up Flor de las Antillas”, I’m not sure I subscribe to that. This was a very different cigar from the Flor de las Antillas, but I can say La Antiguedad is definitely a more “amp’d up blend” than that cigar. From a strength perspective, I found La Antiguedad to fall into the upper end of the medium to full range of the spectrum – falling just a little short of full strength. In terms of the flavors, there was plenty of depth to them – and you can feel the weight on your pallet. I assessed La Antiguedad to be a full-bodied smoke.
Final Thoughts
No doubt, if one is a Flor de las Antillas cigar enthusiast, the first reaction is going to be to try to compare the two cigars. However, take away the fact that La Antiguedad has more strength and body, the comparisons really stop there. I found La Antiguedad to deliver its own story in terms of flavor profile. As I mentioned at the start of this assessment, I found this to be one of those cigars that grew on me as each time I smoked it, I picked up something new. I don’t have a read one way or another what the aging potential will be, so I will leave time to be the final arbiter. This cigar is going to be appeal to those who like a stronger and fuller cigar profile – and I’d recommend this to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast who fits that mold. As for myself, this is definitely a cigar I would smoke again. It’s definitely a worth a box split.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 92
References
News: My Father Cigars La Antiguedad Arrives on Shelves
Price: $7.50
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Episode: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a
I smoked one last week at a cigar lounge and found the stick to be very peppery and it kept going out. Halfway through I put it down and smoked a different cigar. Hopefully it was a fluke.
These cigars need some humi time. I have them for 3 weeks now and they are starting to shine now. This is one great cigar!