Le Pâtissier is the French term for a pastry chef or “the baker” and while that might not excite you, dear reader, it surely gets my expectations riled up because the TNCC absolutely loved the Le Carême cigar (an homage to 19th-century French pastry chef Marie Antoine Carême who perfected the chocolate soufflé) when we featured it back on Episode 94. So if today’s cigar comes anywhere close to that smoking experience then I’m in for a treat. Doigts croisés…

THE CIGAR – LE PÂTISSIER by CROWNED HEADS

SIZE: 6 1/2 x 44 (lonsdale)
WRAPPER: USA (Connecticut broadleaf)
BINDER: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
FILLER: Costa Rica (Pueblo Nuevo) & Nicaragua (Ometepe)
PRICE: $10.49 (Tonight’s cigar was acquired from the amazing Smokers Abbey in Austin TX, you can order directly from them HERE)

First things first, the Le Pâtissier was a very difficult cigar to photograph (for me at least). For some reason I had great difficulty capturing the correct hue of the brown wrapper while also capturing the extremely similar shade foot ribbon clearly. Production stuff that you most certainly don’t care about aside, the Le Pâtissier features a very dark brown broadleaf wrapper with some surface oils and fairly prominent seams. There’s just a slight sponginess present when the body is squeezed between two fingers.
 

1/3

 
Le Pâtissier’s broadleaf wrapper emits a strong aroma of hay and manure or as we call it here in Central Texas “rodeo stuffs”, while smelling the foot often cigar directly reveals some sweetness, grass, and a very faint floral aroma. Upon clipping the cap, there’s leather and raisin detected on the cold draw.

Strength – mild/medium
Body – medium

First impressions are of mineral and low strength pepper spice through the nose while equal parts leather and espresso are evident on the draw. As the Le Pâtissie heats up, a bright cedar joins the mineral and rapidly diminishing spice. Smoke production is copious, with beautiful grey clouds pouring from both ends of the cigar. At around the 1.5” mark, I begin to have trouble drawing in enough smoke so using a poker tool (i.e. stabbing the head of the cigar in a few strategic places with the sharp end of my nub tool) seems to help. Now that things are moving along more smoothly, the spice begins to make an upward trend just as a coffee with generous amounts of cream element arises on the draw.
 

2/3

SO here’s the deal, you really have to stay on top of the Le Pâtissie as far as puffing frequently or else this cigar might go out on you as it did on me several times. When I have to puff on a cigar more often than I would prefer to, my mouth often gets very dry very quickly so I pour myself a pint of Stone Brewing’s Delicious IPA. I wasn’t planning on drinking tonight but I’m a professional and I will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Strength – mild/medium
Body – medium

The creamy coffee sensation has now completely overshadowed the leather, while the retrohale’s trio of flavors (pepper, mineral, cedar) remain steadfast. When you’re not stabbing the head of the cigar with a sharp object or relighting its foot, the Le Pâtissie’s overall profile works very well. Right around the halfway mark, the cream factor starts to show up through the nose in the form of buttercream icing and it makes a pleasant dance partner for the ever present mineral.
 

3/3

Strength – medium
Body – medium

In the final third, the draw becomes far more bold with the dark espresso and leather returning and the cream receding. The retrohale spice has increased in strength as well but that buttercream icing note is still hanging in there providing an interesting balance. The Le Pâtissie is also smoking much more effortlessly now than the prior two thirds with no more relighting needed.
 

THE NUB

TNCC FINAL SCORE = 87

I wish I had purchased two Le Pâtissies so that I had a comparison sample to smoke. I believe wholeheartedly that without the relight issues that took place in the first two thirds my cigar smoking experience would be a far more enjoyable one.

I loved the variations of creaminess present in the Le Pâtissie and the transitions from espresso to a lighter roast coffee flavor throughout the 50 minute duration of the cigar were another highlight. Add in some classic Nicaraguan mineral with a nice spice and there’s a potentially very good cigar here that was just kinda good for me tonight.

Hopefully next year my 21 and up Only Fans channel will pick up and I’ll be able to afford two of each cigar I review. Snootchie bootchies ladies!