In 2008, the first My Father Cigar was created by Jaime Garcia to honor his father Don José “Pepin” Garcia. A year later Pepin paid homage to his own father, José Garcia Alayón by releasing a cigar known as the My Father Le Bijou 1922. Le Bijou is French for “The Jewel”. The 1922 represented the year that Pepin’s father was born. Fast forward to the year 2022 and it marks 100 years since the birth of José Garcia Alayón. As a result the Garcia family decided to create a special limited edition cigar offering to mark the centennial of the elder Garcia’s birthday known as the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition. The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition 100 Años has two offerings – a Corona Especial and a Corona Extra. Both of those sizes are tweaked blends from the original My Father Le Bijou 1922. Today we are taking a closer look at  Corona Extra size.

My Father has been long known for its limited-edition releases. There is only one other time the Le Bijou has been released in a limited edition and that was back in 2016. That cigar would be the My Father Le Bijou 1922 Limited Edition 2016. The Limited Edition 2016 was a coffin offering like most of the (near) annual My Father Limited Editions are. In addition to being a different blend The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition is also different in that the cigars are not placed in coffins. The 100 Años was also released in two sizes.

Without further ado, let’s break down the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra and see what this cigar brings to the table

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

As mentioned, the blend for the two 100 Años Limited Edition cigars is described as different from the core Le Bijou 1922 line. The cigar itself is not only a 100% Nicaraguan puro, but a Garcia family puro in that all of the tobaccos come from the Garcia family farms at San Rafael, Las Quebradas, and San José.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro (aka “Oscuro Ocuro” or “Habano My Father”)
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.

Vitolas Offered

The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition is offered in two sizes. Each size is presented in 22-count boxes. A total of 1,922 boxes have been produced.

Corona Especial: 6 1/2 x 44 (Parejo)
Corona Extra: 5 1/2 x 48 (Box Pressed)

Appearance

The “Oscuro Oscuro” wrapper of the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra lived up to its name. This was a cigar with a deep, dark brown colored wrapper. The wrapper was quite pristine and had a silky look to it. There was also a light coating of oil present on the upper. There were some visible veins and visible wrapper seams. The wrapper is finished with a small pigtail on the cap. As mentioned above, the Corona Extra size is box-pressed. The box press on the cigar had a soft, Cuban-style box press.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

As opposed to pulling the pigtail of the cap of the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra, a straight cut was used to remove both the cap and the pigtail simultaneously. After the cap was removed it was on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered notes of coffee, cedar, and a slight pepper note. While this was a simple flavor profile on the pre-light draw, I found the flavors satisfied. At this point, it was time to remove the ribbon around the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra, toast up the cigar, and move on to the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra opened up with notes of mocha (a combination of coffee and chocolate), earth, cedar, stone fruit, and black pepper. Early on the mocha notes moved to the forefront. The earth, cedar, pepper, and fruit notes settled in the background. There was an additional layer of black pepper on the retro-hale. As the cigar moved toward the second third, the mocha notes became more of a traditional black coffee note.

The second third saw the mocha notes now completely transformed into black coffee notes. The stone fruit notes diminished greatly and for all practical purposes were not really present. The earth, cedar, and pepper notes were still present in the background. There was a slight increase in the cedar component during this stage.

During the final third, the coffee notes remained in control and had a nice richness to them. During this phase, the stone fruit notes resurfaced in the background. There was also a slight increase in the pepper notes. Meanwhile there still were cedar and earth notes present. Rarely does the final third of a cigar stand out, but with the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra, this stage did stand out. As the cigar came to a close, it finished with a cool and firm nub.

Burn

The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra maintained a straight burn path and a straight burn line from start to finish. The cigar did not require a high amount of touch-ups to keep the burn on track. The resulting ash had a mix of silver-gray and charcoal-gray. This was an ash that was skewed toward the firmer side. The cigar maintained an ideal burn temperature. The cigar burned a little slow, but that had no adverse effects. The burn rate did increase the smoking time to over 90 minutes – which was a good thing.

Draw

The draw of the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra had a touch of resistance to it. If you have read my cigar assessment in the past, you will know this is what I consider to be ideal. This was also a low-maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Corona Extra started out with medium to full strength and medium to full-bodied flavors. During the duration of the smoking experience, there was a nominal increase of strength and body. Both the strength and body still remained in the medium to full range and didn’t progress to full territory.

When looking at strength versus body, there was a slight edge to the body throughout the smoking experience.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES

When it comes to banding and packaging, it’s tough to top My Father Cigar in this area. The My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition features similar banding and packaging to the core Le Bijou line. The one difference is the footer ribbon (which would have really been nice if it was another band). In the end, the multi-colored My Father bands combined with the white box design of Le Bijou still work nicely with this limited edition. This is packaging worthy of how a true limited edition cigar should be packaged.

I also really liked the shelf-talker telling the story of the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Not only is the My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition packaged like a limited edition cigar should be, but this cigar is also blended like a special limited edition cigar should be. This cigar builds on the foundational components of the original My Father Le Bijou 1922 and goes to the next level. This is a true masterpiece by the Garcia family and deserves to be ranked with some of the best cigars the Garcias have done. This is a cigar I would recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast. I would also recommend this cigar to a novice that may be looking to graduate to something fuller. As for myself, not only is this a cigar I would smoke again – it’s one that I would make a box purchase of. This cigar comes in with a high 92-point rating – easily surpassing the threshold for Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence.

Summary

Key Flavors:  Mocha (Coffee, Chocolate), Earth, Cedar, Stone Fruit, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent

Rating

Value: Box Purchase
Score: 92
Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence

REFERENCES

News: My Father Le Bijou 1922 100 Años Limited Edition Announced
Price: $13.00
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: My Father

Photo/Video Credits: Cigar Coop