Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Brown

The Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr Brown is a limited edition shop exclusive cigar to Westside Humidor in Wichita, Kansas. The Mr. Brown introduced traditional lancero sized vitola to the Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun line – which is the company’s Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper blend. Word of a Red Screaming Sun lancero was broken by Cigar Jukebox this past September. Mr. Brown is one of six cigars with each made available from different manufacturers for Westside Humidor’s 5th anniversary.  The six cigars are all named for characters in the motion picture “Reservoir Dogs” with Mr. Brown paying tribute to the character played by Quentin Tarantino. Recently, I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Lancero. Overall I found this to be an excellent cigar that offers the best of two worlds – Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and the lancero frontmark.

Paul Stulac Cigars was founded by Paul Stulac.  Stulac is the owner of Paul Stulac Smoke on the Water in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He launched his brand Paul Stulac Cigars at the 2011 IPCPR Trade Show.  Stulac makes his cigars in Esteli, Nicaragua and Miami, Florida. The Red Screaming Sun line at the Guillermo Pena Factory which is located in Miami.

As mentioned, there are six cigars making up the Westside Humidor 5th Anniversary set with each cigar named for a character.  The cigars are:

Mr. Brown – Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Lancero
Mr. Blonde – A special event cigar for the shop by La Flor Dominicana
Mr. Pink – 262 Paradigm Lonsdale
Mr. White – Viaje Platino 5 x 58
Mr. Orange – Alec Bradley Tempus Maduro – Box-pressed torpedo
Mr. Blue – Reinado Grand Empire Reserve Ecuador Edition Petite Lancero (Not a retail exclusive, but Westside got the national launch.)

Without further ado, let’s break down the Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Brown and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Brown shares the same blend components as the rest of the Red Screaming Sun line.

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Sumatra
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: United States (Guillermo Pena Factory)

Vitolas Available

Mr. Brown becomes the fourth vitola in the Red Screaming Sun line.  This lancero-sized cigar uses a traditional 38 ring gauge lancero.

Mr. Brown: 7 x 38 (Lancero – Shop Exclusive to Westside Humidor)
Robusto: 5 x 54
Torpedo: 6 x 54
Toro 6 x 56

Appearance

The Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Brown is a rugged looking cigar, but it also gives the cigar a lot of charm. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper has a roasted coffee bean color.  Upon closer examination, there is some darker marbling in the color scheme.  There is also a light coating of oil on the wrapper.  The surface of the wrapper is on the bumpy side.  There are some visible veins and wrapper seams that contribute to the wrapper’s ruggedness.  The cigar is finished with a thick pig-tail.

The band on the Mr. Brown is identical to the rest of the Red Screaming Sun line.  The band is highlighted by its bright red background.  On that background is a gold and black Paul Stulac logo consisting of a skull, two crossed swords, a shield, and wings.  Below the logo is the text “PAUL STULAC” in gold gothic font with a gold pinstripe above the text.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

While the Mr. Brown had a pig-tail, I still opted to place a straight cut into the cigar and remove the cap off in its entirety.   Once the cap was removed I moved on to the pre-light draw.  The dry draw notes brought a mix of earth and cedar sweet-spice.  Overall I didn’t find it to be the most complex dry draw, but it was a satisfactory one.  At this point I was ready to light up the Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Brown and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Brown started off with a blast of black pepper.  As the pepper subsided, some cedar and earth notes entered the equation.   This was soon followed by a coffee note in the background.  The coffee note soon developed some classic maduro sweetness (that I define as a cross of natural tobacco, coffee, and some cherry).  Meanwhile the black pepper was prominent on the retro-hale.

By the middle of the first third, the maduro sweetness moved to the forefront.  For a short time it was on par with the pepper, earth, and cedar.  Toward the later part of the first third, the pepper, cedar, and earth notes all receded into the background allowing the maduro sweetness to shine.

Entering the second third, the maduro sweetness was still primary.  Given the maduro sweetness had both coffee and cherry characteristics, I found these notes varied in intensity from time to time.  As the cigar burned through the second third, I found the cherry notes started to diminish.  The sweetness now took on more of a natural tobacco flavor.  The earth notes also became more prominent.  Meanwhile the cedar and pepper spice remained secondary notes.

By the last third, much of the remaining maduro sweetness had receded into the background.  I found the Mr. Brown had much more of an earthy and peppery notes as the cigar experience came to an end.  The resulting nub was cool in temperature and soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

From a burn perspective, the Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Brown scored excellent.  While there was a slight jaggedness on the burn line, the burn remained on the straight path from start to finish requiring only occasional touch-ups.  The resulting ash was mostly white in color with some dark streaks in it.  The ash was tight and firm and came off the cigar in nice clean chunks.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr. Bo

The draw was excellent.  It was not too loose and not too tight making for an enjoyable and low maintenance cigar experience from start to finish.

Strength and Body

In terms of both the strength and body of the Mr. Brown had some kick to it.  I found the strength to the Mr. Brown to fall in the medium to full range.  At the same time, I also assessed the body in the medium to full range.  Overall not only did I find the strength and body of the Mr. Brown to balance each other nicely, but I also found both attributes to be ideal for this particular cigar’s flavor profile.

Final Thoughts

I have been smoking through the Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun line over the past few weeks and have found it quite impressive.  It was only recently that I explored this blend in a lancero, and I have found this to be the best vitola (belle of the ball) in the line.  I wouldn’t consider this to be a revolutionary flavor profile, but it delivered very good flavors that really showcase the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  The lancero format of the Mr. Brown really delivered those rich Connecticut Broadleaf flavors consisting of maduro sweetness and earth.  I also liked the fact that Stulac opted to make a traditional 38 ring gauge lancero.

This is a cigar I probably would steer toward a more experienced cigar enthusiast who likes lanceros.  However, I wouldn’t discourage a newbie from trying this as its an excellent cigar to “graduate” to something a little more fuller.  As for myself, this is easily a cigar I would smoke again and its worthy of a box split.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 91

References

News: Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun Mr Brown Heading to Westside Humidor in Wichita Kansas
Price: $12.95
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufactuer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Stogie Geeks Episode 115
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