In 2014, the AJ Fernandez Cigar Company scored a breakthrough hit with the New World line. They had some great cigars before that with the San Lotano blends, well-received, but never ubiquitous…but the New World seems like a game changer for the company and for the industry at large. AJ and his father, Ismael, developed that original blend to highlight AJ’s unique blending style and pay respect to his industry roots. And releasing a dynamite stick at a price point starting around $6 surely didn’t hurt.
A decade (or so…I’m wondering if this release was postponed because of the fire at the factory earlier this year) later we have the New World Decenio, a blend of Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, a Nicaraguan binder, and a Mexican wrapper. If you’re paying attention to the somewhat “color-coded” New World packing, this would be the blue one.
I wouldn’t have pegged this as a Mexican wrapper simply because most of those are Maduro and this appears to be in the Colorado color range. It had a rich earthy aroma to, while the foot had a mix of earth, chocolate, and cedar notes. The cold draw had notes of hay and wood, with a slight chocolatey sweetness. Firing up, I got mild earthy and sharp cedar and cinnamon spice up front, while the cocoa notes were just under the surface. The was tons of pepper spice on the nose, a hallmark of AJ’s blending style.
I paired this with a bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County Original Stout released in 2024…the year a decade of New World was supposed to be celebrated. This is a thick, rich beer with heavy maltiness carrying notes of maple, coffee bean, dark chocolate, and bourbon. I found it to be a really nice pairing with the New World Decenio.
