Front Street box pressed

 Oh how I love a good box pressed cigar. Easy to hold, comfortable in the lips, and maybe it's just me, but they seem to smoke better than their round siblings. 

Today I've got one of the last of a bundle of Front Street I picked up from Havana Castle cigars. Despite being marketed as a strong full cigar, I find them to lean a little more towards medium. Of course, as far as Nicaraguan cigars go, yes they do fit the stronger end of the spectrum, but in the Grand scheme, not so much. This isn't a bad thing, just an observation. Personally I would put them too strong for a morning coffee, Sun coming up, enjoy the start of a day cigar, but too weak for a good strong rum, night time patio lights, relax after a long day cigar. They're a great mid day walk, after dinner puff, coffee break kind of cigar. 

The cigar has an extremely subtle cold draw. Perhaps a trade off with the box pressing and tapered head? I had to really pay attention to get anything, and it wasn't string enough for me to pick out much other than "yup, I'm pretty sure that's a cigar". It lights very easily and burns faster than you might expect. I noted the body of the cigar was firm, with just enough give to suggest a well rolled balanced cigar so I was surprised to see how quickly it burned. You're not going to spend an hour with this one unless you're letting most of it burn away. After cutting the cap, I found the wrapper wanted to come off. Not quite enough glue on these ones. My first cut was short, leaving me about a half cm diameter to draw through, but I found I needed to cut more. Taking a full cm of length off the head led to a much easier smoke (I don't like having to work to draw smoke through the cigar. That's not how they were designed). The cigar itself smokes easily with a good ash, below average smoke production, and seems to be very good leaves used to make it with a consistent quality. Flavour wise, it's not a complex smoke (which is why I don't recommend it for your evening enjoyment) but it's got enough potency to make to take note. The tobacco taste is dominant, with very subtle nuttiness hiding behind the leather. From head to foot, there isn't much evolution of taste, just a strengthening. I haven't had any issues with tar buildup or over present nicotine taste, so that's a win. I would happily keep these in my humidor for a great fill in when I just want a cigar that's not expensive and doesn't take any work to enjoy. 

If you're looking for these, find your local Havana Castle and give them a shot. They're one of their house brand cigars so you won't find them anywhere else. Certainly worth a taste!