Anybody tried this place in Dresden?

[ayepatz]

Just walked past this place today. It was closed, but I picked up a flier. Looks interesting.

Is anyone here familiar with it? Worth a visit?

Cheers,

Iain

*Edit* - Looking at the website, it states that the roller is a Habanero called Lazaro Javier Herrera Cabrera, and that he moved to Dresden a few years ago. He was a roller at H. Upmann, like his mother, and that he was later appointed a quality manager at the Partagas factory. He apparently uses tobacco from Nicaragua, grown from Cuban seed.

 

[ayepatz]

So, I finally managed to pop in and pick up a cigar to try.

Lazaro was a very welcoming host. Despite my having no Spanish, and him no English, we muddled along fairly well in our mutual rough German.

His “Nicaraguan leaves from Cuban seed” were, it seemed to me, of a good quality, the volado leaf particularly pungent, with a definite hit of ammonia.

He rolls all the familiar vitolas, and the two I purchased to try were Robusto and Corona, of which the Corona is the one I am smoking now.

Construction is very good, and the draw is spot on.

Cold draw was overwhelmingly dark chocolate.

First impressions were of a strong, bitter, distinctively non-CC flavour, but it settled quickly into a medium-bodied, smooth smoke, with a floral aspect not dissimilar to that I’ve experienced on Fonseca No.1s. An occasional hint of cherry and black pepper was sporadically noticeable, but the overwhelming note in the first third was of a heavy, dark tobacco taste, with a tannic, mouth-drying quality. Ash is medium-gray, and the burn is a little uneven.

As with other NCs I’ve smoked, a slower smoking tempo seems to yield more flavour. Going too quickly just seems to suppress flavour.

Burn is a little uneven, but it’s a cold, damp today here in Dresden, so that’s probably not helping. Nothing desperately bad, though.

Into the second third, and while I can pick out flavours of game, cherry, a little mint, and even a sugary, milky coffee, the tannic tobacco still dominates. The burn is still a wee bit off, but again, not too bad. Flavours are generally more noticeable in aftertaste, rather than retrohale.

The final third didn’t really move things on, for me. To me, there has always been something of a cigarette-y taste to the non-Cuban cigars I’ve tried (with the exception of Hamlet’s Tabaquero range), but I freely admit that I am no expert in the world of NCs.

Overall, I would say that if you find yourself with some free time in Dresden, you should definitely pop along and meet Lazaro, as it always worthwhile chatting with rollers and learning a bit more about the industry. He is a charming host, and good company, and you won’t regret your visit.

As for the cigars, I would say these fall firmly in the NC camp, and, for those who enjoy NCs, I reckon you wouldn’t be disappointed, but for all the “Cuban seed” stuff, don’t expect a CC experience.

As a footnote for those who subscribe to the conspiracy theory that there’s no difference between Cuban marcas until the labels go on, Lazaro went to great pains to convince me that this is indeed the case. He claimed that quality managers select cigars for various marcas, based solely on construction and appearance, from a large central pile of cigars assembled from many rollers, rolling different tobaccos sourced from different areas. He said that this was not always the case, but is common practice now. I remain totally unconvinced of this (it seems to me an easy way of promoting NCs at the expense of CCs), but I thought it was worth passing on his comments for the purpose of debate.

[Smokin Joe]

Thanks for the interesting article. I would definately check this place put if I get to Dresden. Agree with you about the cigarette characterists in NCs.

[Leopolis Semper Fidelis]

12 hours ago, ayepatz said:

 

As a footnote for those who subscribe to the conspiracy theory that there’s no difference between Cuban marcas until the labels go on, Lazaro went to great pains to convince me that this is indeed the case. He claimed that quality managers select cigars for various marcas, based solely on construction and appearance, from a large central pile of cigars assembled from many rollers, rolling different tobaccos sourced from different areas. He said that this was not always the case, but is common practice now. I remain totally unconvinced of this (it seems to me an easy way of promoting NCs at the expense of CCs), but I thought it was worth passing on his comments for the purpose of debate.

I have heard of this "conspiracy theory" before, and it would be interesting to have a thread on this - unless one already exists?