Stay Fresh Humi Bag

Stay Fresh Humi Bag

By DAVID THEUS

This week again finds me stranded from the comforts of my trusty tobacconist and craving for a premium hand rolled cigar. I’m too lazy to just place the order and have them shipped to me, and I’m too cheap on gas to get into my car and make the trip to civilization and visit my sanctuary, in 

town. I have decided to continue to sample less expensive and more readily available cigars from our local apothecaries. This week I made the trip to CVS to see what was available behind the counter.

My eyes scanned the various machine rolled cigars, cigarrettos, and blunts, none to my liking. Then off to the very end of the shelf I spotted a label touting "Hampton Arms" Handmade Churchill. Sure enough, there was a pack of four premium 7"x 48 cigars imported from Nicaragua.

I have to tell you, all I know about this cigar is what it says on the box / packaging. "Every Hampton Arms Nicaraguan Handmade starts with a specially select blend of aged Nicaraguan filler tobaccos that are rolled into a flavorful Cuban -seed binder. This bunch is then skillfully rolled - by hand - into a flavorful Ecuador sun-grown Sumatra wrapper, the same tobacco used on cigars selling for twice the price. Now comes the best part. To assure maximum factory freshness, Hampton Arms Nicaraguan Handmades are packed in a stay-fresh humi-bag.

Now before you run out and try to replicate the "humi-bag", just go to your kitchen cabinet and pull from it what we like to call a Zip Lock or self sealing sandwich bag. On to the cigar…

It seems to be well crafted upon my initial inspection. I found the cigar to have a reasonable moisture content considering, and when I cut the head, the cigar was well preserved and neatly wrapped.

It lit with ease, the draw was perfect, not too laborious and yet not too airy. The aroma of the smoke was pleasant and mild as it wafted around in the wind. I could imagine a neighbor several doors down saying, someone smoking a nice cigar. The ash was right on, but for a Churchill it did seem to burn a little fast. The taste was nice, not quite mild, but a little spice. As I smoked to about half way down, things began to change drastically.

My fingers began to feel the heat as it continued to burn slightly faster than most its size. The draw continued consistent, but the flavor started to taste almost burnt and increasingly uncomfortable to my pallet. It finished very strong and burnt, not a very pleasing experience. If I had stopped smoking this cigar at about the half way mark, it might have been okay. As it were, I had no desire to complete my smoke, it almost became unbearable.

Four cigars for $4.99. For the same price I could have had a finer premium cigar and enjoyed the experience hands down. Hampton Arms will not be a repeat experience.