It’s always fun to try new cigars…and especially ones from new-to-me factories. I was in the Pigeon Forge area a few weeks ago and went to a store called Destination Cigars. They have a store exclusive line and I tried one of those…it was pretty good. I bought a sampler pack and one of the ones I walked away with was a brand called “The Circus” a brand made by El Viejo Continente and master blender, Daniel Guerrero. It is a Nicaraguan blend, although there really wasn’t much more detail available on their website.
I do love the pyramid shape of this cigar…similar to what you may have seen on the Drew Estate ACID Nasty or Liga Privada Nasty Fritas. This particular Circus is called Vulcano, and is described as a “full body cigar.” The wrapper leaf had a decent amount of oiliness to the touch and an aroma of wood. The 60-ring gauge foot was very earthy with a tinge of sweetness. The cold draw was easy despite the tapered shape and featured a coolness that reminded me of menthol, although not tasting minty at all.
Once fired up, the Circus Vulcano had notes of dark earth, espresso bean, and toasted wood, along with a bit of pepper spice. The pepper was much more noticeable on the retrohale, along with a heavier woodiness that served to punctuate the full-bodied aspect of the cigar. I sipped a bit of Roaming Man Tennessee Rye Whiskey to go along with this cigar…something else I picked up while up in the mountains…and something I’ll hopefully talk about a little more soon. For a rye whiskey, it is surprisingly sweet and I especially liked the baking spice on the finish.
Honestly the whiskey was probably the best part of this pairing. The cigar wasn’t bad, but also wasn’t great. It’s “fine” but that ends up sounding like “damning with faint praise”…I just didn’t find it to be all that flavorful or complex, while also not finding it so bad or even so dull that I would just let it go out and move on to something else. In a world of a lot of really great cigar blends, I found The Circus Vulcano to be smokeable and feature a decent price.
