El Septimo Recommendations

[jbfrady]

Lately I've been exploring the world of ritzy cigars, hoping to find some kind of nuance that can make a cigar stand out completely from any I've had before. I've found that this is no small order, as many of the highest grade productions feature similar wrappers and fillers.

I've sampled several Davidoff varieties, which are probably my favorites so far, but I can't imagine that Davidoff represents the outer edges of the market.

I've been perusing different offerings and I've stumbled across El Septimo. They sound different from the rest, but The same rate, I've thought that before and I've been wrong. My question(s)...

Am I right here? Are they notably different than other brands? Are their flavor profiles unique, or simply nuanced? And among their catalog, are there any you would (or wouldn't) recommend?

 

[pantsBoots]

Davidoff is indeed an outlier due to the aging they put their tobaccos through and the resulting flavor profile - the only sticks that I've found to match a Davidoff cigar are other brands they produce (at a lower price point!) such as AVO.

If you're spending a lot of time with Nicaraguan cigars, I've watched the Fernandez outfit take over the supply of leaf in that country. Regardless of the band the cigar wears, anything produced by Fernandez tastes very similar to me.

I would recommend you take some time smoking puros from Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba to explore the difference in terroir. Unless you're dealing with a seed to box outfit like Fuente or Padron, smoking cigars comprised of tobacco from a single country will inform the palate more than a multi-country blend will.

 

[jbfrady]

Davidoff is indeed an outlier due to the aging they put their tobaccos through and the resulting flavor profile - the only sticks that I've found to match a Davidoff cigar are other brands they produce (at a lower price point!) such as AVO.

If you're spending a lot of time with Nicaraguan cigars, I've watched the Fernandez outfit take over the supply of leaf in that country. Regardless of the band the cigar wears, anything produced by Fernandez tastes very similar to me.

I would recommend you take some time smoking puros from Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba to explore the difference in terroir. Unless you're dealing with a seed to box outfit like Fuente or Padron, smoking cigars comprised of tobacco from a single country will inform the palate more than a multi-country blend will.

On that front, I was spoiled. My first cigar back in 2008 or so was a Fuente Queen B sun grown and ever since then, I've had difficulty finding cigars that wow me. Fuente makes a majestic cigar but at the same rate, because it was my base line, finding that perfect 10/10 feels impossible.

Pipe tobacco, however, was the opposite. While cigars were rare treats for me, I smoked shit pipe tobacco on the regular from glass jars on the counter top and it wasn't until a couple years in that I learned about the good stuff.

 

[kcghost]

Nothing wrong with smoking Arturo Fuente cigars. Davidoff never achieved much penetration at the B&M I frequent. Mainly due mildness and the price tag. Now the Cuban Davidoff is another breed of cat all together and it is marvelously flavored but outrageously priced. I know that Nicaragua and The Honduras very good cigars now adays if you buy wisely. And A.J. Fernandez is quality maker of cigars.

 

[jbfrady]

Nothing wrong with smoking Arturo Fuente cigars. Davidoff never achieved much penetration at the B&M I frequent. Mainly due mildness and the price tag. Now the Cuban Davidoff is another breed of cat all together and it is marvelously flavored but outrageously priced. I know that Nicaragua and The Honduras very good cigars now adays if you buy wisely. And A.J. Fernandez is quality maker of cigars.

I'd be fanatically curious to try a Cuban Davidoff

 

[Egg Shen]

I recently sprung for a $48 el septimo excepecion Esmeralda. It was described as organic tobacco aged 15 years so I figured it must be awesome but it burnt terribly. The flavor could have been good iif it didn’t draw so thin. Because it performed so poorly I will not buy another .

 

[jbfrady]

I recently sprung for a $48 el septimo excepecion Esmeralda. It was described as organic tobacco aged 15 years so I figured it must be awesome but it burnt terribly. The flavor could have been good iif it didn’t draw so thin. Because it performed so poorly I will not buy another .

Damn.

 

[jpberg]

I find they are brilliant when smoked in a billiard.

 

[eljimmy]

I am not a fan. Burn issues and (for me) the flavor is just not there. If I want a great smoke I reach for a Padron Maduro.

 

[daveinlax]

OMG!! We had an El Septimo lounge here in Tucson. Very fancy but the cigars were way overpriced for what they were, I think the lowest price stick was like $27.00 for a 15/20 minute petit corona. As expected the lounge closed and reopened under new ownership/name. As someone who’s cleaned a lot of cigar smokey glass what it takes to clean chandelier’s in a cigar lounge??

 

[jbfrady]

OMG!! We had an El Septimo lounge here in Tucson. Very fancy but the cigars were way overpriced for what they were, I think the lowest price stick was like $27.00 for a 15/20 minute petit corona. As expected the lounge closed and reopened under new ownership/name. As someone who’s cleaned a lot of cigar smokey glass what it takes to clean chandelier’s in a cigar lounge??

It's a great feeling when you find something that deserves the price it's asking, but when it's a let down at that price point it'll piss you right off. There's been consensus enough on this thread to make me assume that El Septimo would fall into the latter category.

 

[eljimmy]

No joke, I ended up chucking my last El Craptimo cigar almost whole. It was not good

 

[Egg Shen]

Seems we’re all victims of good marketing haha.
Whatever.
Burn me once - shame on you.
Burn me twice - shame on me.
It won’t be happening again and hopefully ES learns to get themselves together now that the cat is out of the bag…or not. I don’t care since I won’t be conducting further experiments with their products.

 

[jbfrady]

Seems we’re all victims of good marketing haha.
Whatever.
Burn me once - shame on you.
Burn me twice - shame on me.
It won’t be happening again and hopefully ES learns to get themselves together now that the cat is out of the bag…or not. I don’t care since I won’t be conducting further experiments with their products.

Agreed. Davidoff products are expensive, but they are well done and in my opinion they are worth the asking price. I was hoping these would be the same, if not better, but it would seem that's far from true.