I was excited to receive samples of the new Powstanie San Andrés in the TNCC mailbox recently. I heavily enjoyed Powstanie’s Connecticut release that we featured on the podcast last year. It was a cigar that I kept wanting to revisit but, honestly, it’s a perfect example of a good cigar priced a few bucks over what I typically like to spend. Manufacturers are obviously free to price things as they see fit, retailers as well, and I completely understand that the good things in life come at a cost. No problems there at all!
If I’m standing in my local shop’s humidor and I’m choosing between the RoMa Craft Intemperance EC XVIII Faith 5×50 for $8.35 on the left and the Powstanie Connecticut Justice 5.5×46 for $13.50 on the right… well, they are both very good cigars… about the same size… they’re both made at Fábrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño S.A…. yeah, it’s gonna be the RoMa all day every day. I’m a Drew Estate fan but if I wanted to enjoy many of their recent Liga releases I’d be paying double the price of the Powstanie Justice and I’d have to order them from Hong Kong. I know everyone thinks that we in “cigar media” have our hot interns type up our reviews on their diamond-encrusted typewriters as we dine on the finest of china and smoke nothing but Daniel Marshall Golden Cigars™. While that may have been true back in cigar media’s halcyon days (oh sweet 2018… we should’ve appreciated you more while you were here, sigh), these days there are no pretenses to be found in the TNCC’s Corner Of No Hope. We do this simply because we love the world of premium cigars so much that we’re willing to invest a significant amount of time smoking them (some free, most not), taking a few pics, and then typing up 700 words to share our experience. Look, let’s be real here, if you aren’t Halfwheel than you’re really just looking for an excuse to hang out with your buddies in the garage with the clever addition of some microphones. And that’s perfectly okay. The ad money we bring in keeps the mothership hovering, nothing more nothing less, so ~yeah~ that $5 difference between two high-quality sticks on the shelf right next to each other makes a big fucking difference.
Now where were we?
THE CIGAR – POWSTANIE SAN ANDRÉS by POWSTANIE CIGARS
Size: 5 x 50 (robusto)
Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Ecuadorian habano
Filler: Nicaraguan & Dominican Republic
Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño S.A.
Price: $14.00 (while these samples were submitted for review, please head over to Famous Smoke Shop where Powstanie cigars are currently on sale and you can save another $20 by using promo code TNCC20)
Upon removal of its cellophane sleeve, the Powstanie San Andrés reveals aromas of cocoa powder and earth. The dark brown wrapper is devoid of surface oils, features only minimal veins like your hot grandma, and there’s just the right amount of give when gently squeezed… just like me. After a quick punch, the cold draw delivers a little woodsiness and some walnut.
Upon ignition, sharp crisp pepper floods the retrohale and the spice is nice. The draw is primarily composed of dry oak with a black coffee note alongside it. Smoke production is off the charts and construction overall is fantastic here in the early goings. Around the 1” mark a malted milk sensation begins to develop and gradually intertwine itself with the retro’s pepper. Now there’s a sentence that I never thought I’d type. While they might seem like odd bedfellows, the combination works surprisingly well.
The French roast coffee is now pushing the oak aside as the draw’s primary flavor. That unique malted milk note didn’t last nearly long enough as it’s been mostly replaced by must and a now-muted spice through the nose. I’ve read cigar reviews where they referred to mustiness as a negative but I’ve never viewed it that way. The draw continues to be smooth as silk and the burn line is pretty damn perfect. The ash does drop with a thud around every inch or so, I’d advise paying attention to it and your lap will thank you. Hopefully my lap will someday forgive me. Both for the hot ash that just dropped on it and that unfortunate incident at a Fort Meyers strip club back in the late 90s… but that’s a whole other story.
Something remarkable happens in the final third of the Powstanie San Andrés. Everything I experienced prior comes roaring back and all within a few puffs of one another. The powerful pepper, malted milk, and mustiness have all returned to prominence upstairs while the oak and coffee are once again equal dancing partners downstairs. And all of these elements are working so well together that the cigar is smoking smoother than ever before. A little splash of mineral has even popped up out of nowhere and it’s a welcome addition to the cigar’s profile.
There’s not much I hate more than a boring cigar. The Powstanie San Andrés is not a boring cigar. It’s a consistently enjoyable cigar showcasing excellent construction and some noticeable and much appreciated transitions. If this all sounds good to you, I’d encourage you to pick one up and give it 57 minutes of your precious time.
THE NUB
TNCC FINAL SCORE = 92
If I sounded angry in the opening of this review, I’m not. When I enjoy something, I naturally want to enjoy it again and it can be a little frustrating when the price isn’t right. For me, that’s on me. However, the price might be a bargain for you personally if you smoked one last night and thought it was the most flavorful, unique cigar that you’ve ever experienced. One of those amazing goddamn cigars that you wake up thinking about the next morning and you’ve tracked down five boxes of them suckers by lunchtime. For you, that $14.00 is nothing. Hell, you’d pay $20 and smile while doing it. So that’s why I’ll reluctantly give any new cigar that’s priced on the high side a chance, one chance, because who doesn’t crave that feeling of falling in love with a cigar for the very first time? There’s simply nothing like it.
Did I love the Powstanie San Andrés? No, it sadly wasn’t love. Did I highly enjoy it? Very much so! Will I probably ever smoke it again? It’s possible, and I never like to say never, but unless my Only Fans account really starts to see some growth (in memberships you dirty pervs) the odds are that I most likely will not be smoking it again at this price point.
I feel like I ranted a bit over the course of this review, and if it’s received that way I apologize. I’m a cigar media professional after all and I was told long ago that there are certain standards we should strive to uphold. But the guy who told me that blocked me on social media a while back so I don’t imagine that he’ll ever read this. You know, as long as I’m sharing my thoughts on this industry we all love, here’s another one for you: When a company sells out to a larger company STOP declaring in a press release that the blends will remain the same “only better due to all the new resources available!” They are never the same and they are never better. For better (rarely but possible) or worse (highly likely), they will always be different moving forward. And that’s perfectly okay. I don’t judge any owner who chooses to benefit financially from his or her’s many tireless years of hard work, I applaud them. But if you’re a big fan of that particular brand, that masturbatory press release signifies that it’s time to start stocking up big time.
As a podcast host who suddenly finds himself, after 10 long years, no longer hosting a podcast… I guess I had a few things on my mind. I think I went over my 700 words, oops.
