Ventura Cigar Project 805R
The Ventura Cigar Company has been around for a good amount of time. They have numerous lines of cigars from the affordable “Cuban Rejects” up to their new line “Project 805”. I was contacted them in regards to doing a review on the new line “Project 805” recently and gladly accepted. I did a little research and found out the Andulo tobacco they use in the 805 blend is not derived from the way the tobacco is processed. Yet, its a natural form of tobacco. I was sent a sample leaf of the Andulo tobacco and it smells amazing!! It reminds me a lot like some darker musty (perique) pipe tobacco. I am actually contemplating trying to smoke the leaf in a mix and alone in my pipe.
With the recent releases of the Leccia Black followed by the MUWAT Fire Cured with fire cured tobacco, the 805 fits in well with new forms of tobacco being used. Finding “new” tobacco or “new” ways of processing tobacco will keep companies one or two steps ahead of their competition.
Cigar Stats
Size: 5×50
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Corojo Shade
Binder: Dominican Olor
Filler: Dominican Blend & Andullo
Country: Dominican Republic
Factory: La Aurora
Sizes Available:
ROBUSTO (805R) 5.00â€x50
TORO (805F) 6.00†x 50
FIGURADO (805F) 6.25†x 52
CHURCHILL (805C) 7.00†x 50
First Looks
The corojo shade wrapper on the 805R is almost thing of beauty. There are a few minimal veins that run the length of this firm cigar. They lead up to a double cap. The band has an “industrial” or “Area 51” look to it. It reminds me of the sign atop old first person shooter game called “Area 51.” The 805 in orange matches the “Andulo” on the second band. The orange text on a white background really makes the band pop and stand out.
The cigar has an aroma of hay and a light toasty tobacco. The foot, on the other hand, has a totally different aroma to it. It reminded me of those old pipe and cigar shops that have been around for ages. The ones that don’t smell like febreez or fresh paint. The ones that have decades of smoke embedded into the walls. The foot reminded me of a faint fresh tobacco smell with dark cured pipe tobacco mixed in. The foot smells unlike any other cigar foot I have ever came across. The prelight draw was very nice; flavors of a mix of the wrapper and foot, stronger on the foot.
Construction
The draw stayed consistently smooth, yet slightly firm. I never had an issue with the draw, the burn did start off somewhat off at first. Not wavy, just uneven and corrected itself without any assistance. From the burn came a dark off white and gray ash with tight rings and no flakes. Coming out of the La Aurora factory, I can see why I had no construction issues with the cigar.
Flavor
The 805R started off with a decent amount of spice, a bit of a sweetened wood note. Along with those came a graham cracker flavor, although it was sweet, but short lived. I really like the complexidity of the smoke right off the bat. The more I go into the cigar, the more it starts to remind me of pipe smoking. It reminded me of a Louisiana Perique and Virginia blend with a bit of sugar casing on it. If you have never had perique, its a fairly musty tobacco and a personal favorite of mine. The slight musty and sweetness of the cigar really caught my attention and has got me wanting more. I notice, the longer and deeper draws I take, the darker and stronger the mustiness and other flavors got.
Working into the middle portion of the 805R, the sweet graham cracker taste eased off a decent amount. The spice departs the smoke before the second portion. It was replaced by a nice amount of black pepper. The wood note now resembles a healthy musty oak note and I am liking it… a lot! Working out of the middle portion, the graham cracker comes back some, but this time, it had a slight bitterness to it. The core oaky flavor is the meat and potatoes of the blend with the mustiness being the dessert.
The oak notes got more and more pronounced as I enter the final part of the cigar. The musty note eased out to a faint resemblance of what it once was. The black pepper stuck around for a while, but not as strong as the oak. The flavor and body strength seemed to ramp up in strength with an inch or so remaining. Fearing it was about to get out of hand and burn too hot, that is where I left it to lay to rest.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed this cigar. It is unlike any other cigar I have ever smoked. The mustiness, oak and black pepper kept me coming back for more. I really would like to try this blend in larger and smaller ring gauge to see how it effects the smoke. I liked how the Andulo reminded me of dark perique pipe tobacco. With the fall technically here, I am enjoying my pipe more and more. This cigar is a great compliment to it and could see myself enjoying it regularly.
I would recommend pairing the 805R with an Innis and Gunn Rum Aged Beer. The oakiness of the beer would go along pretty good with the 805R, I think they would really compliment each other well.
*This cigar was provided to me, unsolicited, from Ventura Cigar Company, for this review. Many thanks to them for the opportunity to review this cigar!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
We just a blind cigar review of this on Blind Man’s Puff and it got our highest rating ever, a 94. Very impressive. Bill, that is odd. I got a small leaf sample and two cigars in the box. I’d contact Ventura, I’m pretty sure they would make it good. Emmett, You are right, this is a very impressive smoke. I’d definitely like to keep a handful of them on hand at all times.
Comments
Leave a comment
I was contacted by them as well and they said they were sending me a sample. I got the package.. a little box and 4 pieces of tobacco.. By your review sounds like I should try them. Also like the Innis % Gunn Rum Aged!http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t239/wm2slc/Cigar%20Biz/Venturatobaccoleafs_zpsfbcf9b80.jpg