Oz Firsat — Firsat F52 by Oz Family Cigars

Today, we review the Firsat in the F52 (Robusto) size from Oz Family Cigars. Firsat is the third regular production line in the Oz Family Cigars’ portfolio, and also added the first Connecticut Shade offering into the portfolio.

The “Oz” in Oz Family Cigars stands for Ozgener. This name may sound familiar because it belongs to the same family that owned CAO Cigars. Tim Ozgener, who founded Oz Family Cigars, worked alongside his father, the late Cano Ozgener. The Ozgener family eventually sold CAO to the Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG). After CAO became part of the STG portfolio in 2010, Tim left the cigar industry. He took a break for 12 years, until 2022, when it was announced that he was forming his own company. Originally launched as Ozgener Family Cigars, the name was later shortened to Oz Family Cigars.

The cigar’s name fits in with the theme of all of the Oz Family Cigars’ releases. So far, each Oz Family release has paid homage to either Ozgener’s family or heritage. In this case, Firsat is Turkish for “opportunity,” and it pays homage to Tim’s parents, Esen and Cano Ozgener. Both of Tim’s parents were immigrants (Cano was from Turkey) and were able to capitalize on the American Dream when they came to the United States.

Firsat comes out of the Casa Carrillo factory, and it completes a trifecta of three Oz Family Cigar releases from that factory. Each with a different blend/wrapper and format:

Bosphorus (Ecuadorian Habano) – Box Pressed (Core Line, a limited edition parejo was recently been added)
Aramas (San Andres Mexican) – Parejo
Firsat (Ecuadorian Connecticut) – Soft Box Pressed

For now, let’s turn our attention to the Firsat F52 and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Firsat F52 by Oz Family Cigars – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Firsat uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper over a Habano Ecuador binder and all Nicaraguan fillers. The Connecticut Shade wrapper comes from a higher priming. As mentioned, Firsat is produced at Casa Carrillo in the Dominican Republic. This is the factory owned by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Habano Ecuador
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Casa Carrillo

Vitolas Offered

Firsat comes in four sizes. The names of the vitolas follow a pattern used by Oz Family Cigars – namely, a combination of the first letter of the cigar with the ring size of the actual cigar. Each size comes in 20-count boxes.

F52: 5 x 52
F55: 5 1/2 x 55
F60: 6 x 50
F54: 7 x 54

Appearance (*)

One thing that was quite obvious about the Firsat is that it has a darker shade of Connecticut wrapper. This wrapper almost looked medium brown and had a light sheen of oil. There were some visible veins, and any wrapper seams were minimally visible. On the F52 cigars smoked for this assessment, the box press wasn’t as soft or rounded as other box presses and still seemed more traditional to me.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

A straight cut was used to commence the cigar experience of the Firsat F52. Once the cap was removed, it was time for the pre-light draw ritual. The pre-light draw delivered a mix of earth, cedar, and a slight cream note. Overall, this pre-light draw did not have me doing handstands. Since the pre-light draw is not factored into the overall score or assessment rating, there was no loss of points here. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of the Firsat F52 and head into the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The Firsat F52 opened up with notes of fruit, earth, cream, cedar, and tannins. Early on, the fruit notes became the primary focus. The cedar, cream, earth, and tannins settled in the background. As the cigar experience progressed, the fruit notes also were fused with natural tobacco qualities. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered an additional layer of cedar.

As the Firsat F52 moved into the second third, the natural tobacco/fruit fusion continued to be the primary note. The natural tobacco component took over by the midway point. Meanwhile, the cream notes had dissipated by the midway point. Once in the second half, there also was an increase in the tannins and cedar. Some earth notes were also present in the background.

The final third saw the natural tobacco now completely in control as the primary note. There wasn’t much in the way of fruit sweetness as this component. The cedar and tannins were now close secondary notes, and there still were some earth notes present. This is the way the Firsat F52 came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The Firsat F52 scored nicely on the burn. The cigar maintained a straight burn path and had a relatively straight burn line. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm, nor was it loose. There was some minor flaking from time to time. The F52 ash was silver-gray. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Draw

The draw to the Firsat F52 was on the open side. This wasn’t a loose draw, but the draw was more open than I prefer. Normally, I like a touch of resistance on the draw. This had no adverse effects on the cigar experience.

Strength and Body

The Firsat F52 opened up with mild to medium strength and medium-bodied notes. There was a slight increase in the intensity of both attributes along the way, but in the end, the Firsat F52 remained mild to medium in strength and medium in body. In terms of strength versus body, the body maintained a slight edge over the strength.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

My comments here are basically the same as I gave when I assessed the Aramas.

Oz Family Cigars has taken some unfair criticism for the bands. Many have said the bands are “too busy.” The brand has done an excellent job telling the family story through its regular production line brands. The problem with the bands is that the Bosphorus, Aramas, and Firsat all have bands that look too similar. There needs to be better delineation. I don’t think you need to reinvent the wheel with the band’s framework, but I would change the color scheme more.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Given that the Firsat F52 falls into the mild to medium range of the strength spectrum, this gave the cigar a lot of traditional Connecticut Shade qualities to it. While the flavors weren’t overly radical for a Connecticut Shade, the one flavor that was the “X factor” was the tannins. I’m not the biggest fan of tannin notes in a blend. I found this note worked early on, but as the note increased in intensity, it had a negative effect, in my opinion.

Coming in at $12.00, this cigar isn’t going to break the bank in today’s market. In the end, there still was enough going on for me to recommend this cigar to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would buy and smoke again.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Fruit, Cedar, Cream, Tannins, Earth
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Mild to Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Excellent