Old Henry Fumadores Staff Review
All dogs go to heaven, and you can bet your bottom dollar that’s exactly where every tasty puff of cigar smoke is headed the second I expel it from my mouth when I’m smoking an Old Henry Fumadores in a classic 5 by 50 Robusto.
It’s the perfect time of year to post up on my front porch, unhook one of my bib straps, and kick my bare feet up on the good ol’ Coleman cooler I converted to a coolidor over a decade ago. It’s worth its weight in gold because I spend copious hours filling it with the best-tasting cigars I can buy for the cheapest prices possible all summerlong.
You can probably picture me chewing on a piece of straw or a three-day-old toothpick before a premium cigar – on account of my incontrovertible frugality – but high-quality, affordable franchises, like Old Henry, make cigar smoking possible for guys like me. Old Henry Fumadores is one of the best-kept secrets in the Holt’s warehouse. Old Henry cigars are named for a pooch who was an old pal of ours. Old Henry’s been gone for a spell now, but his legacy carries on in a collection of incomparable cigars blended in his honor by none other than Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia in Estelí, Nicaragua, from the finest reserves of premium tobacco.
You can smoke Old Henry cigars in five handmade blends, but the Fumadores edition is special because the cigars are packaged in sumptuous 20-count bundles for a paltry, entry-level price of just over three bucks apiece. Fumadores, also called Fumas or Cuban Sandwich cigars, are blended from an economical mix of long-filler and short-filler leaves, and, because they come in bundles, you’re not spending a penny on excess packaging.
The second I step near the Old Henry aisle in the Holt’s warehouse, my antenna for mouthwateringly cheap cigars shoots into the air like a shotgun shell chasing a fat mallard during duck season. Shelf upon shelf is lined with Nicaraguan gems that meet my criteria for ravenous consumption without provoking an immediate audit of my discretionary spending from the Mrs. After tearing open a fresh bundle of Fumadores, soothing aromas of cedar, cocoa powder, pepper, and leather fill the nostrils.
The Old Henry Fumadores Robusto I’m drooling over is sheathed in an oily Ecuador Habano wrapper leaf. Inside is a primo blend of tasty Nicaraguan filler tobaccos patiently assembled by the experts who work in the esteemed My Father Cigars factory for the Garcia family. With a quick clip to the cap, creamy and peppery notes of leather and coffee bean blanket my palate as I eagerly devour a succession of juicy cold draws before I light up.
After I flick my trusty Djeep soft-flame lighter and hit the foot, a delightful sequence of cedar, leather, milk chocolate, and cracked black pepper comes into focus. I consider Pepin Garcia a god among other cigar-makers, and the proof is in the pudding, friends. The flavor, aroma, and construction Pepin delivers in a Cuban Sandwich cigar exceeds what many other cigar-makers struggle to achieve with their top-shelf premiums. For cigars in that start in the $3 range, count me in all day.
After about fifteen minutes is off the clock, a zesty and woody bouquet of cashew, sweet cereal, and fresh coffee pleases the palate with a soft but consuming texture. Hints of cayenne and wasabi hit me in the beak. A touch of caramel makes a cameo, but the cigar’s chief tasting notes are cedar and spices. A stark and fairly stiff ash emerges, and, for a mixed-filler smoke, it hangs on like a champ. Praise Pepin! Only he can work such confounding miracles. The finish is easy and delicious and departs the palate with a pleasant aftertaste. I think I’ll have another.
IMHO, Old Henry Fumadores are the beefy jerky of cigars – and I love beefy jerky, BTW. They’re inexpensive, unbelievably consistent, and just as tasty as steak without the fuss or the price tag of traveling to a supper club. Don’t waste your dough or your tastebuds on cheapo dog rockets when you can procure price-savvy bundles of these premium puppies from Old Henry via your pals at Holt’s. Add a bundle to your summer rotation, posthaste, friends!
Until next time, Long Live Old Henry!
