Back in June, My Father Cigars, Inc. released another toro in its Limited Edition lineup, this time using the Le Bijou 1922 blend
Previously, different blends and packaging have all been used, but the one mainstay is the 6 1/2 x 52 toro size.
The entire presentation of the 2016 Limited Edition is quite impressive, with the coffins adding that extra special feel to the cigar that only a coffin can seem to do. The primary and secondary bands are separate affairs, but are cut with similar enough shapes that the fit snugly together with only a small gap between the two.
The wrapper is a beautiful dark brown, with a slightly rough feeling to it along with a nice oily feel as well. Squeezing the cigar, it’s quite firm, almost to the point where I would call it hard as there is almost no give at all. Bringing the cigar to my nose, I get a rich, deep barnyard aroma from the wrapper, with lots of earth, leather, a hint of cocoa and a sprinkling of black pepper. The cold draw is very different, with a sweet chocolate dominating the initial draw, followed by some black pepper, cinnamon, a hint of licorice and dehydrated fruit leather.
Starting into the first third, I’m greeted with a ton of spice, pepper, rich fruits and a healthy amount of earth as well. There doesn’t seem to be any subtlety right off the back, with all these notes going full bore and attacking my senses.
Perhaps part of this is the large amount of smoke that is being produced, with each draw bringing billowing clouds that swirl around my head until they slowly drift away. The draw falls within the acceptable range, though it does push a little closer to the snug side of acceptable.
Right from the start I was a little worried about the burn line, and while I gave it some time to get started and correct itself, a touch up is needed fairly early on. As the cigar progresses, the spice has died down slightly, allowing the pepper, earth and fruit notes to take the lead.
The second third starts off with a bit of a problem, where almost an entire third of the cigar has decided not to remain lit. A significant touch-up gets things going again, but not to the detriment of the profile. The pepper out front has picked up a harshness to it, while the sweet fruit note has become significantly less sweet. Earth and spice mostly remain unchanged, while a very light cocoa note has joined everything in the background. Unfortunately the burn can’t seem to get itself going and needs more help along the way before I’ve gotten too much further into the cigar.
The final third continues with the disappointing story of the burn, completely going out and requiring a relight. Cleaning out the old ash before relighting, I notice there’s still an entire section that doesn’t want to ignite, which is certainly causing issues with the profile. By now it’s mostly devolved into a harsh, bitter mess, that is actually quite difficult to pick out individual notes from. Having said that, I’m still getting a little bit of pepper, spice and earth, though any light, complimentary notes are definitely lost in the hubbub.
Final Notes
- Oddly enough, all three cigars seemed to have the exact same issues with an entire third of the cigar keeping up. This required multiple touch ups and a relight or two along the way.
- While the coffins add a sense of specialness to the release, I’m definitely curious if the tight-fitting coffins didn’t allow these to breathe or be humidified evenly.
- One coffin’s lid was actually wedged on so tight, I had to get a screwdriver to pry it open.
- Strength was quite sneaky on this, not really showing it’s hand until almost the final third. At that point however, I was quite aware of how strong this cigar is. I highly recommend smoking this on a full stomach.
- While this is a yearly release—there was not a 2014 Limited Edition. Otherwise, there has been a release every year since 2010, making this the sixth iteration, though the first time we’ve seen the Le Bijou 1922 blend used.
- Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
- Final smoking time averaged right around two hours and 15 minutes.
Overall Score – 79
From the beginning of my experience with the My Father Le Bijou 1922 Limited Edition, I was pretty excited. The presentation, the look, the smell the taste—it all started out on a really high note. Even through the first third, the first touch-up wasn’t something that gave me any hesitation about enjoying the rest of the cigar. Unfortunately, it just slowly continued to go downhill from there, with multiple touch-ups, relights and a profile that deteriorated until it was something I was dreading in the final cigar. My hunch is that there is a good blend there, and perhaps some rest and time outside of its coffin would do it some good. Unfortunately, all three cigars I smoked had the same problems, and therefore I’d have a pretty hard time bringing myself to buy this again, even if it wasn’t priced at ₹2150. I’d be very interested to see what some time loose in a humidor would do to the cigar, but until then I could only recommend a single at most to try for yourself
