Alec Bradley Family Blend Robusto

Spring has finally sprung; BOING. Outside, smoking a cigar with an old friend over the lunch hour is my idea of a perfect way to usher in le printemps. I brought out an Alec Bradley stick recently ransomed from a local shop during a visit from regional AB rep, Snappy 'Chuno' Bigman. Snappy spins a good yarn, and the Family Blend story is a good one, but you'll have to hear it directly from him. I will say, though, that Snappy would put his sac on the line if he thinks it's the right thing to do.

The Family Blend robusto is a rustic-looking stick with a light brown Honduran wrapper and veins that would make a smack junkie jealous. A blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos make up the core. The draw is, as usual for Alec Bradley, perfect and the cigar burns okay, but outside in a light breeze I have to touch up the burn a couple times.

Once I get the cigar lit, I get mainly flavors of grass and _____ ; sometimes grass and tart wood, or grass and light coffee, but always the grassy flavor is there. Any sort of spice that may be there is hiding behind the grass. The last third features a tart wood flavor uprising against the oppression of the grass. At their peak the flavors get to almost medium-bodied, but not beyond medium.

Another colleague sits down to join us, and remarks "Hey, are you smoking a Cuba Aliados?" At his reference to the grassy blends of the dearly departed Don Rolando Reyes senior, I start thinking about it more. "No," I reply, "but close enough."

Perhaps Spring is in the air; grass is greening up, trees budding, and I'm tasting that green in this cigar. The Family Blend retails for a buck less, per stick, than the more tasty Black Market line, but I'm happy to pay up to move up a bit.