Paul Stulac Phantom
The Paul Stulac line of cigars started off with Paul Stulac, a B&M owner from Canada. Paul was on vacation in Miami, FL a few years back and went to the Cuban Crafters factory and started talking with Enrique “Don Kiki” Berger. One thing led to another and eventually they came up with the Paul Stulac cigar line. I have seen a little talk of these on a few forums and when I was at Buckhead Cigar Club in Buckhead (Atlanta) GA this December for the 2011 ATL Tweetup I saw they had them on hand. I figured, why not try one. I smoked the Phantom and liked it alot. The next day, I tried the Angel as well. I liked it too, but the Phantom seemed to be a little more on my wavelength. I had another Phantom the last day there and I brought one home to review.
Vitola: Box Pressed Torpedo
Size: 6×53
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country: Esteli Nicaragua
Cost: $12.60
First Looks: The Phantom is just like all the other Paul Stulac cigars, they are all box pressed, but the Phantom is a box pressed torpedo; something you don’t see too often. They all have a beautiful medium brown colored wrapper that is almost flawless and smooth. The cigar has an overall firm feal to it, almost a little too firm, but not real hard or soft spots. The top band of the double band screams “Bad Ass”. With a Skull, shield, staffs, etc.. its a very gothic or dark and intriguing looking band.
Taste and Aroma: The pre-light draw has notes of a sweetened earthy tone with undertones of hay. The pre-light draw is a “milkshake” type of draw; tough, but bearable. The aroma of the smoke during the toasting reminds me a lot like a sweet sugary cedar.
The first part of the Phantom has some nice spice to it. Its not a lot of spice, but is undertoned by dark woody notes as well. A slight taste of chalky-sweet coco emerges as well on my pallet as well as the spice is still tagging along still. The sweet woody and spicy notes are what drawed me back to this cigar enough to smoke three of them within a few days time. Neither note is overpowering ( I don’t like spice bombs much). Its a pleasant mix of spicy-sweet that mixes well.
About halfway into the cigar, the spice seems to ease off a good bit. The semi-sweet woody notes are now adorned by a nutty note (I’m thinkg along the lines of roasted almonds). The even burn gives up an inch and a half off-white nice tight ash. A long, tight ash is a sign of a well constructed cigar in my book, and the box press can be a part of the ash holding well too.
Towards the end the spice seems to poke through here and there but is not as abundant as the woody and nutty semi-sweet core notes. The 53rg is a good sized cigar. Its right in my comfort zone; anything over a 54rg, I particularly don’t care too much for. The last part of the Phantom has some chocolatey notes creeping up some, but not as strong as the woody tones.
Overall Thoughts:
Over all a well constructed medium-medium/full cigar with an even burn throughout. Spicy that changes to a semisweet woody and nutty smoke with some re-emerging spice and chocolate towards the end. the only faults I see with this cigar is the $12+ price tag and the “milkshake thick” draw. The draw can be dealt with, but if this cigar was slightly less, I could see myself smoking the Paul Stulacs more regularly. Definitely worth a try, I liked this cigar.Other Sizes:
Angel (Robusto) 5×58
Ghost (Toro) 6×58
Skull (Salomone) 7×58
Cross (Gigante) 7×64
Website: Paul Stulac Cigars
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Comments
Its an average cigar with a expensive price tag. It should be no more than $8 bucks. Padron Thousands Series smoked better than this cigar.
Hello,just a quick note to thank you for reviewing the Paul Stulac cigar. I’m glad you enjoyed the cigar. I also have some great news…due to higher volumes and some packaging decreases the price is now down to between $8 and $9 each for both the Ecuadorian wtapper version and the new maduro! Thanks again and very well written review!
Paul
Thanks for the update Paul! The new lower pricw will deffinately be an eye-catcher for the line.
Cant wait to try the new maduro!
Thanks,
Shawn
Great news on the price of the cigar, thanks Paul! Great review Shawn – looking forward to purchasing a few of these at the lower cost.
Great review,the band alone makes me want to try one…