Member's Cigar of the Month April 2023.

Every month our cigar locker members at our Downtown Baltimore location receive four premium cigars to try. Here are the cigars for the month of April. 

This month features two Cigar Aficionado top 25 Cigars of the Year. 

1. My Father Cigars Opulencia Toro

The My Father La Opulencia blend is a marriage of two opulent tobaccos with splendid provenance—Mexican and Nicaraguan. The wrapper is a dark Mexican San Andrés that the company calls Rosado Oscuro. There are two Nicaraguan binders underneath, one corojo and one Criollo, both of which bolster the body of the cigar. And then there’s the filler, a combination of Cuban seed tobaccos grown by the Garcia family, owners and makers of the My Father brand. The Garcias have a number of farms in Nicaragua, and La Opulencia shows off the quality of the leaves grown on these tobacco plantations, known as El Pedrero, Las Lometas and La Bonita.

This isn’t the first time the Garcias have experimented with the Mexico-Nicaragua combination, but My Father La Opulencia is the most refined version of this blend, combining body, complexity and a stellar appearance. It’s neatly box pressed and adorned with a secondary band that reads “La Opulencia,” as this line is an offshoot of the core of My Father original. 

The tobaccos play off each other in interesting ways. The combustion is perfect, the draw offering earthy underpinnings of chocolate and cocoa with each puff, balanced by a mid-palate oakiness and sweeter, subtle top notes of anise and nougat. And this cigar evolves, getting stronger incrementally as the flavors gradually gain intensity. It’s another top effort from the Garcias, who have won Cigar of the Year two times.  

2. Don Chico Robusto Robusto - Berrada Cigars

A medium to full-bodied cigar, made with the finest tobacco leaves from different regions of Nicaragua, selected and processed by hand by local artisans. With a balanced flavor, the cigar guarantees a pleasant smoking experience, in which notes of roasted coffee stand out and cocoa flavors are perceived during the retro hale.

 

3. Rocky Patel Vintage 1999 Connecticut Perfecto

The Rocky Patel 1999 Vintage Connecticut Cigar is an iconic cigar that features the oldest TRUE Connecticut Shade Wrapper on the market. Many Aficionados tend to write off milder cigars, claiming that “It’s easy to make a mild cigar”, but Rocky Patel elevates the craft by infusing the Vintage ’99 with a lot of character, a lot of flavor, and a lot of complexity, that remains mild and smooth on the palate.

Building upon the success of his Vintage ’90 and ’92 Cigars, Rocky has continued to up the ante with the fabulous Vintage 1999 Cigar Line. Featuring some of greatest tobacco from the Dominican Republic and Central America the Rocky Patel 1999 Vintage is designed to please novices and aficionados alike.

Built around a 7-year aged Connecticut Tobaccos leaf, the Vintage ’99 features a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos that have been cured and aged for 7 years as well. The result is a spectacularly creamy smoke with notes of spice and wood that pairs wonderfully with a cup of java, a wonderful way to start or end your day.

4. My Father Flor De Las Antillas Robusto

Box-pressed beauties from My Father.

Introducing the Flor de las Antillas, the first entirely box-pressed line from My Father cigars. Meaning 'Flower of the Antilles', the Flor de las Antillas represents Cuba, the largest island in the Greater Antilles islands, and home to the Garcia family's rich cigar making heritage. Traditionally focused on more full-bodied cigars, Flor de las Antillas ventures into the company's untapped niche of a true medium-bodied experience.

Featuring an all-Nicaraguan blend of tobaccos, Flor de las Antillas maintains My Father's reputation for crafting full-flavored, well constructed handmades. Greeting you from the outside is a dark brown Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper beautifully box-pressed and smooth to the touch. This leaf houses a bouquet of Nicaraguan long-fillers and binder, to create an exceptionally balanced and smooth experience. Each Flor de las Antillas delivers a distinct array of flavors, including notes of cocoa, pepper, sweet cedar, and earth. From start to finish, Flor de las Antillas maintains its smooth character and never goes a tick over medium to full-bodied. An anytime of day My Father experience.

It didn't take long for Flor de Las Antillas to catch the eye of critics earning eight 90+ ratings, including #1 Cigar of the Year honors and a 96-point score in the process, which noted: "Delicious from the first puff, with notes of nutmeg, white pepper and just enough strength without being overpowering. They are hard to put down."