Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4

The Wilson Adams Sumatra is one of two lines offered by Wilson Adams Cigars. The company was founded by Brandon K. Wilson and Stephen A. Miller, both out of California. Miller was a long time cigar enthusiast who had experience as a cigar sommelier and retail tobacconist. Wilson had worked as a Director of Golf for one of Southern California’s most prestigious golf courses when he met Miller. The two eventually connected over their for cigars. Eventually, they traveled to Esteli, Nicaragua where they developed a connection with the Plasencia family. The two realized that cigars were in their blood and eventually decided to turn their attention to making cigars – thus in 2012 Wilson Adams Cigar Company was born. While Miller has stepped down from the company, Wilson Adams cigars forges on. Today, we take a look at the Wilson Adams Sumatra. Recently I had a chance to smoke this in the No. 4 (Toro) size. Passion for an industry is sometimes the key ingredient with making a cigar. There is no doubt this passion translated to making a great product. This was a very impressive Sumatra blend.

The Wilson Adams Sumatra was released a little over a year ago. It was the second release by the company and was a follow-up to the company’s inaugural release, the Wilson Adams Habano. Both cigars are made at the Plasencia factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4 and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

In addition to an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, the blend features a Pennsylvania Broadleaf binder and a blend of primarily Nicaraguan fillers.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Filler: Primarily Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Plasencia SA)

Vitolas Available

The Wilson Adams Sumatra line includes the following sizes:

No. 2: 5 × 50
No. 4: 6 × 52
No. 7: 6 × 60

Appearance

The Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4 has a dark brown wrapper. There is a reddish tint to this wrapper.  Depending how the light hits this wrapper will influence how much red will be visible to the eye. The wrapper has an oily complexion with a smooth surface. There are some visible veins, but the wrapper seams are well hidden because of the wrapper’s dark color.

The band to the Wilson Adams Sumatra has a mostly red background with gold font. On the band is the text “WILSON” with a “W” just below it. Sitting on the red background is a white rectangle with the text “ADAMS” in gold font. The remainder of the band has several gold adornments.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to the cigar experience of my Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. After clipping the cap, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw provided a mix of cherry, cedar, and cocoa notes. Overall I was quite pleased with the pre-light draw of the Wilson Adams Sumatra. At this point I was ready to light up my cigar and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4 began with notes of cherry and wood in the forefront. In the background I picked up some white pepper and a little more distant was some cocoa notes.  The pepper was also present on the retro-hale – delivering a nice layer of spice on top of the other notes.

Throughout the first half, the cherry sweetness and wood were the dominant notes. I found the cherry sweetness had a slight syrupy quality that coated the palate very nicely.

By the mid-point, there were a couple of subtle changes. The wood notes took on more of a nut flavor. Meanwhile the cocoa increased and had moved in the forefront – joining the wood / nut and cherry notes. The pepper notes still were a close secondary note.

By the last third, some of the cherry sweetness diminished.  The woody notes seemed to return to the forefront as well with the nut flavors dissipating. The cocoa notes also returned to a background note. There still was an underlying peppery spice right until the end. This is the way the Sumatra No. 4 came to an end. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4 to be a well-constructed cigar and this reflected nicely on the burn and draw. The burn line remained on a straight path from start to finish requiring only occasional touch-ups. The resulting ash had a nice salt and pepper color. The ash was not overly tight, but it was not loose either. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Burn of the Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4

The draw proved to be outstanding. It had a touch of resistance – which is something I like on a draw. This made the Wilson Adams Sumatra a very enjoyable cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, the Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4 started out on the high end of medium. Just prior to the midway point, I found that the strength had progressed into the medium to full range of the spectrum. Meanwhile I found the flavors of the Sumatra No. 4 to have some nice weight on the palate. I assessed this as pretty much being medium to full-bodied throughout the smoke. In terms of strength versus body, I thought there was a slight edge to the body early on, but found both attributes to balance each other nicely from the mid-point on.

Final Thoughts

Overall I found the Wilson Adams Sumatra No. 4 to be an enjoyable smoke. I didn’t find this a cigar that is going to redefine what an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapped smoke will bring to the table, but I did find this to deliver the classic flavors of Sumatra. The combination of the sweetness and spice put this cigar into the “classic Sumatra” category in my book. While this is a nice cigar to smoke at any time, this is one of those cigars where if you smoke undistracted, you will pick up plenty of nuances. Because it does have a little more in the way of strength, I probably would steer this cigar to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. At the same time, this is a nice cigar for a novice to progress to something that “leans toward full” in terms of strength and body.  As for myself, this is a cigar I’d smoke again and recommend a box split.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium (First Half), Medium to Full (Second Half)
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 90

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