All In! Staff Review
Boy, have I got a deal for you! I’m not a big gambler, but I’ve played a good bit of roulette in my day by taking chances on random bundles I’ve come across on the Holt’s homepage. I scour the site for the best yard ‘gars money can buy and scoop them up sight unseen. I got lucky as heck when I rolled the dice on a fresh 20-count batch of cigars called All In! Allow me to explain why I believe these budget-friendly gems belong in your coolerdor, too, while I fire up a 7-by-50 Churchill called The River.
All In cigars hail from a small-batch factory in the Dominican Republic where the rollers are especially efficient at cranking out the best Cuban-sandwich cigars you’ll ever lay your eyes on. They’re drafted from an oily, chestnut-blond Connecticut Shade wrapper with a mellow blend of Dominican sandwich tobaccos on the inside.
Cuban-sandwich cigars, also called Fumas, are blended with a mix of long-filler and short-filler tobaccos under the wrapper leaf. They’re assembled from scraps of tobacco leftover from rolling long-filler cigars. They’re packaged in cellophane bundles, as opposed to boxes, which is another reason why they’re so darn affordable. Truth be told, All In is just one of over a dozen Cuban-sandwich brands I regularly stock in the collection of coolerdors that I keep in my man cave.
Despite being tucked away in the massive, humidified labyrinth that serves as our bundle annex, All In cigars are easy to spot. They’re clad in colorful cigar bands adorned with a poker chip logo. Every cigar looks perfectly uniform when I tear the packaging off a new bundle to extract the specimen I’m smoking for today’s review. I’m fond of The River, the biggest size, because this easygoing blend is a pleasure to smoke for as long as possible.
Subtle aromas of leather and fresh tobacco permeate my nasal cavity when I hold the foot of a fresh cigar to my nose. The cold draw opens with a tangy intonation that shifts into a woody and buttery profile the longer I twirl the cigar in between my lips after clipping the cap with my Xikar guillotine cutter.
As the official bargain hound for Holt’s, I’m fully conditioned to sniff out the best deals. Instinctively, I knew I’d been dealt a winner the first time I smoked an All In. Creamy notes of coffee bean and cashew create an interesting sequence of tasting notes in the first few minutes after firing up The River. Silky streams of luscious smoke come through effortlessly, leaving a clean ash in their wake as the cigar unfolds. Cigars blended with sandwich tobaccos sometimes burn crooked, but that’s not the case here.
All In isn’t an overly complex smoke, but that’s why it’s an ideal utility cigar, i.e., a blend you can passively puff on without stinging your eyes or your nose hairs while you’re painting a fence. And that’s reflected in the price—a paltry $49.95 for 20 Churchills. Delicate notes of almond butter, cocoa, acacia honey, and pepper characterize the second half.
I’m able to squeeze a commendable sixty minutes out of The River before I contemplate taking the cigar band off and tapping out. I bet my bottom dollar you’ll become a loyal advocate for All In after your first few puffs. Ante up and add a bundle of All In cigars to your weekly rotation before lawnmowing season is staring you in the face, friends.
Until next time, long ashes to you!
