Cigar Review: L’Atelier Surrogates Cracker Crumbs

Cracker CrumbsVitola: Petite Corona
Size: 4.50″ x 38 ring gauge
Price $14.99 for a 5 pack
Obtained From Maxamar’s Cigars

Background

I hadn’t heard about this cigar before I went into the shop and saw some of the sleeves sitting out.  I guess if I would have paid more attention I would have seen the write ups about it.  This was announced at the last IPCPR and seems to have just started shipping recently.  L’Atelier is doing a small cigar for each of their four lines.  They are all the same size, all long filler, and from what I can tell all have a MSRP of $14.50 a 5 pack.  From what I can tell the Cracker Crumbs have the same blend as the Animal Cracker which is Nicaraguan filler and binder with an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper.  This was the second one I smoked.

Prelight

The wrapper had the familiar oily dark brown and slightly greyish wrapper I’ve seen on the Animal Cracker.  There was some tooth and scattered medium veins to it as well.  The band is very simple and just says Surrogates on it.  The cigar is pre-cut, and this makes me wonder whey they did this.  Was it so all you needed was fire if you had one of these soft packs in your pocket?  I think I would rather have to cut it myself.  When I put the wrapper to my nose I got the light aroma of barnyard with hay and leather from the foot.  After taking a cold draw on it I noted a good draw with some graham flavors.

Flavor

It started off with the flavors of sugar and maple with some spice on the tongue and retrohale.  Towards the end of this third I started to get notes of grilled meat from it as well.  It was medium strength to start.  When I got into the second third the flavors changed slightly to sugary sweetness, bbq sauce, cinnamon and wood.  By the end of this third the strength had built to medium full.  The spice started to build back up a bit as I moved into the final third.  The flavors didn’t change a whole lot from the second third.  The strength stayed the same.

Construction

In spite of it small size it took a little bit of fire to get it going.  The draw was a bit more direct than I like and it felt like I had to keep puffing on it to keep it lit.  However the small ring gauge can sometimes cause that.  The burn was pretty even throughout.

Value

To me $3 for a flavorful short smoke like this is great.

Conclusions

Overall I definitely enjoyed this cigar.  While I don’t usually smoke cigars this small I’ll definitely be keep these around for the times when I want one.  If you like the L’Atelier line I’d suggest giving this one a try, especially at this price.  As usual check out our sponsor SmallBatchCigar.com to order these.  The website doesn’t list it but send them an email as I saw some last time I was there.  And remember to use the code ‘smallbatchcigar’ for an extra 10% off.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10

Keith Hollar

Keith has been a cigar enthusiast since 2003 and it's rumored that he remembers details about every single cigar he's ever smoked. He wrote for Tiki Bar Online for four years before co-founding Leaf Enthusiast. Twitter: @Keith1911

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13 Responses

  1. Mark VanSledright says:

    This sounds like a perfect cold weather quickie to me. The price point is amazing too.

  2. Texican says:

    Guess you don’t need too many quick smokes in SoCal during the winter, Keith. This does sound like a great one for that though.

  3. David Selph says:

    Sounds interesting. I don’t know if I would like that flavor profile in that small a ring guage. May have to try it and see.

  4. dale427 says:

    I’m on it!

  5. Patrick Mulcahy says:

    Sounds awesome, I think you made up some of those flavors though, im on to you

    • JJO says:

      LOL, I wonder if it’s a North Carolina BBQ sauce, or Kansas City. 😉

      It does sound good, though, especially for someone like me who doesn’t want to deal with the 6×60 size.

  6. Craig says:

    This does sound good. I have had the full size and enjoyed it. These would be a good quick smoke with a cup of coffee in the AM

  7. Swede214 says:

    YES, I’m sold!

  8. atllogix says:

    I was unaware that each blend was getting rolled into this size. I’m looking forward to the Tramp Stamp blend in this petite corona vitola. Thanks for the info and nice review.

  9. Chris Adkins says:

    Excited to try

  10. Christopher Brose says:

    Just picked up a few others on the Surrogate line and now I will have to add these. Another good winter smoke.

  11. Peter Brown says:

    There was a surge in black pepper notes on the finish which I like most.

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