Reviewer: John Galt
The Cigar:
St Terence by Aganorsa
Event only 6×52 box press
The Blend:
Double binder, triple cap, Criollo 98 & Corojo 99, Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Corojo dominate. Rolled at TABSA in Nicaragua.
Pre Light:
Body; The body doesn’t carry much for scent beyond a slight tobacco note.
Foot; Tobacco, earth, coffee
Cold Draw; White Chocolate/Macadamia nut
Tangibles; Light brown wrapper, no tooth, silky smooth. Lots of small veins.
The St Terence of Aganorsa is a limited release cigar for Underground Cigars NFG2022 event. The cigar was sold in 5 packs to attendees and saw Terence Reilly personally selling the blend dressed as a Catholic priest. (no kids were harmed during the selling of this cigar) For those that know me, I’m often saying, only half jokingly, that I want my ashes spread on the Aganorsa farms. I whoreishly chase down Aganorsa blends and any cigar rolled at TABSA, or utilizing Aganorsa tobaccos. I’m fortunate to have a good cigar network that allowed me, in the absence of a social media presence, to get one of the very few Aganorsa Leaf, Validated patches.
The St Terence features a beautifully silky Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, the caramel-colored wrapper shows many small veins, but is noticeably absent of large stems. The 6x52 box press fits nicely in the hand, with the smoothness of the wrapper very palpable immediately. The body and the foot of the cigar don’t carry much scent, with light tobacco and earth notes being the only notes present. On the cold draw the note is a strong white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, a flavor not uncommon for me to pick up on a cold draw.
On first light the St Terence offers up subtle notes of nuts, earth and bread, a very light dry fruit finds itself hinting at the back of the draw flavors. The retrohale in the beginning offers up very soft pepper notes, with just a hint of a burn in the sinuses. Flavors don’t immediately pour off the cigar, though abundant smoke does.
Working into the first third the flavor profile takes on more character, with more prominence coming into the profile as it makes its way to the first inch. The burn line is strong if not razor sharp to start, though the ash produces some slight splinters of flake that hold on to the body of the ash. That these are not falling into my keyboard is a small, but important victory.
The first of the cigar reveals a dry cocoa flavor, with the dryness, and light cocoa being the prevailing notes on the finish, which lasts until the next draw. A flavor of pretzel, nuts, cocoa and a dry earth and light cinnamon are complimented nicely by the fruity sweetness, which leans its way toward citrus. More than once I find myself thinking it reminds me of a trail mix. That said none of the flavors smack you in the face as the strength and body decidedly medium. At about the 1.5” point I tap the ash, not because it was in danger of falling so much as I’m afraid of the above-mentioned keyboard/ash intersection. Once the ash has fallen there is a slight touch up needed, to bring the burn on the wrapper back to even.
Entering the middle third the base profile of the St Terence is mostly unchanged with subtle differences in the amount of nuts and cinnamon moving forward in the flavors. As I smoke it down the 2 things that keep coming to mind is the dry cocoa on the finish and the trail mix on the flavors. The retro brings out more nuttiness and highlights the earth notes. At about the halfway point a touch up is required as the burn begins to run on one side.
The final 3rd brings the first noticeable transition to the cigar, though as seems to be characteristic of the cigar, remains nuanced and subtle. For those who understand tobacco, especially Aganorsa tobacco, it’s an increase in the c99 sweetness while the c98 slowly backs off from the forefront, though still present. The fruity sweetness, that has hinted at citrus throughout is more prominent in the final third. Interestingly, even with the c99 coming forward, the dry cocoa and earth remains the prominent finish flavor and continues to last until the next draw.
As an inch is left in the cigar the heat is such that I finish without nubbing it. Just under 2 hours have passed with this cigar, and they’ve been enjoyable and a positive reflection on what Aganorsa can do.
Cigars are a wonderful hobby to have, with an infinite combination of tobaccos available, an infinite range of flavor profiles are available. Many cigars, and many from Aganorsa’s stable, come out of the gate firing, assaulting the pallet with complex and prominent flavors, the St Terence is not among them. While no one flavor ever stood out and kicked my face in, the blend offered a balanced, very smooth experience. This is a cigar that can be enjoyed at any time as it doesn’t present any nicotine strength and won’t fry a pallet if smoked first thing in the day. While I wouldn’t place this among the finest blends that Aganorsa has to offer, or even among the upper echelon of Ecuadorian Habano wrapped cigars, there is no question that this cigar is quite good.
While I’m not keen on giving a numeric score to a cigar, preferring to recommend buying and trying, investing in a 5 pack, buying a box, or going crazy and keeping it around and playing with aging of the cigar. In these terms, and due to the availability of the release of St Terence, I’d suggest hunting a 5 pack while available. Out of selfishness I’ll not link to the cigar, to ensure more will be available for myself when it’s time to reup my own stash.
Final verdict: “Grab a 5 pack of St Terence, say 3 Hail Mary’s and burn one as an offering to the cigar God’s.”
