Episode 26 Hard Pass | AB Prensado

Yo yo yo yo yo. And we're back again for another episode of the Sticks and Stones podcast. Sticks and Stones podcast is the podcast that we talk about life, love, and our love for the Brotherhood of the Leaf. So today is an episode of Hard Pass where we revisit cigars that I initially said, "Hell no." And today it's the Alec Bradley Pransado. This cigar debuted in 2009 as a box press. And if anybody who follows me on any of the social media channels or this podcast knows I cannot stand a box press cigar. It just got a weird mouth feel. I had a little technical difficulty. So I had already started this cigar. I've liten it I've lit it three times already. It's like jump starting a diesel truck this cigar. So with the help of my AI buddy companion, we've been going through the Alec and Bradley the Alec Bradley story. Basically everything that uh I am going to read to you is from Wikipedia, Holt Cigar Company, Garfficado, the Alec and Bradley, the Alec Bradley website, Holt Cigar Company, House of Grow, G R A U E R, Holland and Knight Cigar Co-op, Famous Smoke, Gotham Cigars. So here we go. So this is the origin story of Alec Bradley Cigars. Alec Bradley was established in 1996 by Alan Rubin, the son of a hardware importer. He launched the brand named after his children at the tail end of a cigar boom of the 19 and entered a clog market. The name has a great story in itself. Taking a cue from his father, Reuben named the company after his sons Alec and Bradley. Reubin was given advice from his father that companies starting or beginning with the letter A stood out in the alphabetical listing. That's back in the day when companies were listed in registers, printed registers and like the yellow pages and white pages and stuff like that. So way back in the day, I remember those days. I actually used to do sales calls from registers like that. So the Rocky early years, the first cigars were known as bogey stogies, designed to be sold through the golf pro shops for golfers to smoke on the course. manufactured from 1997 to 1999 during the deepest years of the cigar bust. They proved an unprofitable venture. The company was found the company found its footing in 2000 when Allen met Ralph Monto. After knowing him only a few months, they decided to join forces and create their first cigar together, Accidental Reserve. Declining production numbers postboom prompted David off Master Blender. Hanky Kelner's interest in rolling a new brand for Reuben and Montero. 500 sample packs were mailed to retailers with no pricing and roughly 300 accounts signed on. Building towards greatness supply of select Trojas region cigar tobacos from the Halapa Valley had been reserved for the Alec Bradley Max with two X's blend but was deemed too young at release. So, Reuben continued aging the crops. By 2007, the tobacco had matured to perfection and was blended to create Alec Bradley Tempest, also another great cigar. It was actually a daily driver of mine for a while. A more full-bodied cigar that elevated the company with greater consumer demand. As the company flourished, Allen's sons, Alec and Bradley, joined the business full-time. Alec focused on marketing, promotions, and sales support, while Bradley contributed to marketing and social media development. After years of apprenticeship, they unveiled their own blend, Kenugi, under the secondary line, Alec and Bradley, in 2020, December of 2020. Now, anybody who follows me knows that I love the Kugi. It is a great cigar. Also, all of this time, I assumed that it was Alec and Bradley all the the entire time. I didn't realize that it was Alec Bradley and then it became Alec and Bradley as a subline. So, the big exit, a deal closed March 1st of 2023, valued at $72.5 million or 500 million Danish croner acquired by Scandinavian Tobacco Group STG, one of the largest cigar manufacturers in the world. The sale included substantially all assets and associated brands including Princado, Kugi, Alec Bradley, Double Broadleaf, another great cigar, Fine and Rare, amazing cigar, and Black Market. The company at the time of sale was generating roughly 10 million cigars per year. Alan Rubin stayed on as adviser, reporting directly to SG STG's president of North America. Alec and Bradley Rubin also joined STG handmade cigar team going forward. The Alec Bradley brand was folded into STG's forged cigar company following the 90-day transition period. So now it brings me to the Prince Auto. Alec and Bradley Prince, Reubin's best known and bestselling cigar debuted in 2009. A 96 rated by Cigar afficionado, which is probably one of the highest cigars ever rated. blend of rich Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacos nestled beneath an oily Honduran coroho wrapper. The name itself tells you what the cigar is. Prrenado in Spanish is Spanish for pressing, indicative of the cigar's box press shape, which I can't stand. It's just got a weird mouth feel. So, here's the the blend breakdown. The rapper is Honduran Troj or Trojas Koho 2006. Binder is Nicaraguan from the Halapa Valley. Filler Honduras and Nicaraguan. The Koho leaf was grown in late 2006, then delicate delicately fermented and aged through mid 2008. The result being strength with potent smoke. Now, I will say this is this it is a potent cigar, but it's like so hard to pull a draw on this. By the way, I'm I'm enjoying a Dopio Compana, which is two shots of espresso and whipped cream. Key to Princado's appeal is its supremely aged Honduran kohjo leaf which Reuben and Montero deliberately kept in extended fermentation despite their temptation to use it for an earlier project where it's made. The racius the races Cubana's factory in Denali Hondur Honduras known for the manufacturer of Cuban style cigars with triple capped heads. Now Racies also makes some really good sticks. So the vitalas available in the Prrenado is there's six of them. Box pressed Corona Gorda which is 5 and 58 x 46. Booto 5x 50. Hirill 7x 48. Antoro 6x 54. Pedo 6 and 1/8 x 52. Double t 6x 62 which I believe is what I'm smoking today. The number one cigar of the year moment. A lush profile of leather, cocoa, and spices earned cigar afficionado's number one cigar of the year award in 2011 for Alec Bradley Pritzado Churchill with a staggering 96 point rating. No joke. I don't think many cigars have achieved 96 in cigar fishado. The aftermath was a double-edged sword. Alan Rubin later recalled with Alec Bradley, "Even with those little bits of success, we're kind of flying under the radar as a company." And then the first week of January of 2012, your now family implanted in the center of the radar screen. The well-deserved accolade capitulated Alec Bradley into the spotlight, but the young company made quick adjustments with the races factory to amplify production which opened the door for quality control issues to arise and a concern with consistency became apparent by end of 2012. Testing profile. Billows of thick smoke. Billows of thick smooth creamy smoke. Rich leather notes. Creamy chocolate and a whole lot of earth on the palette. The finish is longlasting until the next draw. See, this thing is dead again. The Koho wrapper shows a dark walnut and espresso bean hue through which a deep reddish mahogany is filtered. Earth spice, pine needles, and fireplace notes permeate the unlit foot. Earthy and bittersweet cocoa powder dominate alongside baking spices, exotic cooking spice, and citrus show in subdued amounts along with touches of tea and some mixed pepper. Tongue tingling action. Strength is solidly medium full to full. So, the Princado's comeback when the entire Alec Bradley line was bought out by STG in 2023. The cigar skyrocketed back onto the charts, landing at number eight at Cigar Afficionado, prompting renewed critical attention that had quality that had been inconsistent in 2022 and early 23 notably improved postacquisition. So, this is a definitely medium to bold cigar. Definitely. I'm not I'm not going to [ __ ] all over this cigar because I do love the Alec Bradley line and the company. It's just not my cup of tea. This thing is like jump starting a diesel truck. Anybody who owns a diesel truck and has run out of diesel knows how difficult it is to get a diesel truck restarted. That's what this is like. I don't like the mouth feel. Um, and having to puff so hard on such a bold cigar is not good. I mean, I wished that I liked this cigar. It just doesn't do it for me. It's not my cup of tea. I mean, look at the smoke output on a 15 to $20 cigar, depending on where you buy it. I mean, that's not that's not what you should be dealing with on a cigar of that level. my in my humble opinion. So, this is still going to be a hard pass for me. So, I've I've revisited it. I tried this cigar in probably 2009, 2010, maybe 2011. So, when it right around when it first came out and it was a hard pass for me then. And just to show that I'm not a hard ass and just to show that I'm not a stubborn bastard, I started this series, the hard pass series, just to show that the world of cigars is always ever changing. And I'm not opposed to going back to revisit something, to try something that I once passed on. And so far, this is the second cigar in the series. First one was God of Fire and I tried the God of Fire Caro and hard passed on that. Quality control has been better on that cigar, but still for the price I would hard pass on it. I'd smoke it if it was given to me, but to go to a cigar shop and buy it and to smoke it, no, not going to happen. Hard pass. The Alec Bradley Pransado, going to hard pass on it. I mean, it's it's dead. It's dead at this point. And to have to restart it again and relight it. Going to hard pass. My apologies for the overexposure. I mean, when I started this, it was kind of dark outside. Yeah. So, that's that's a little bit of background on the Alec Bradley Company. That is my take, my revisit to the Alec Bradley Princado. But, I will say for the Alec Bradley company and the Alec and Bradley subbrands, let's let's just go down the list of bangers. Okay, so Princado Prince Lost Art Tempest Tempest Nicaragua Tempest Maduro Black Market. Let's see where where we at. Uh, Black Market. Black Market Estie Family Blend. That was also another good one. Family Blend Lineage Connecticut. American Classic. That's That's the one. The American Classic. That's That's a That's a great one, too. American Sunrown Coyo. Co YOL. The Double Broadleaf. Amazing. Magic Toast. Smoked that one last night. Mandial, another good one. Sanctum, I got to revisit that one. Uh, the Nika Puro Rosado. Fine and rare. And now they have they have a ton of fine and rares. I think they have like three or four different fine and rares. Um, Project 40, the Project 40 Maduro, both of them phenomenal. 1600, which I've I have not tried the 1600. The 1633, I've not tried that one. The accidental reserve was kind of before my time. Trilogy and the Max with two X's. I have not tried that one. Kugi, love it. Blind Faith, I'm not a huge fan of the Blind Faith. And this this comes under the subbrand of the Alec and Bradley from the two sons blends. Kugi, Blind Faith, and the Gatekeeper, which I love the Gatekeeper. So, the early the early blends are also discontinued are the Bogey Stogies, which I would love to get my hands on one of those to see what that was like. The accidental reserve. Now, just to just to go on the Alec Bradley website, cuz I know there's some new stuff that's not listed here. Okay, so I guess they're coming out with a fine and rare each year, like an anniversary or whatever. Uh the do not disturb. I I bought a couple of those. My brother actually smoked one last night. Said it was great. Chunk Maduro. The chunk is great. Love the chunk. Safekeepings. I reviewed that one. Not a fan. Post Embargo. Great. It's a great one. Black Market's a good one. Prince Auto. I mean, we just did that. The Double Broadleaf Kugi Gatekeeper. Yeah. So, those are the new ones. The new ones are the safekeepings, which honestly they uh I mentioned this last night, the bands on the Alec Bradley cigars, they get like I don't want to say like subliminal messaging or whatever, but they use a lot of like Crescent Moons, they use a lot of like kind of creepy things in them. I'm not going to lie. But yeah, so the Chunk Maduro, the Do Not Disturb is a new one. Safekeepings is a new one. Black Market Post Embargo. See our cigars. So, Kugi, they have a new one called the Kugi Wabishabi, and it's a green label, a green band, which I'm I'm assuming is got something to do with Wasabi. I got to try that one. The Do Not Disturb. I can't wait to light that one up. The Magic Toast is really good. Project, those are good. Oh, yeah. Here's here's some other ones. The Texas Lancero, which is actually a funny cigar because Lanceros are known to be a very small ring gauge, but longer. And the Texas Lancero is like it's a 70 ring. It's a huge cigar. Accidental reserve. I mean, that's so cool. Now, some of the things that are going to be coming around now is the Filthy Hooligan. They usually come around March in honor of St. Patty's Day because it is like a a St. Patrick's Day Irish kind of homage to the Irish because it's a barber pole that's a dark green leaf with the, you know, traditional brown leaf. And then they have a version of it called the filthy gooligan in October for uh Halloween, which if anybody who knows me knows is not my favorite holiday at all. Uh then the Alec Bradley Coyol, which I have not tried. Uh let's see here. Embargo, the Mandal, that's a good one. Nikapuro. I didn't know that uh Alec Bradley made it's a boy, it's a girl cigars. Like celebratory when you have a a baby. It's interesting. So yeah, so that's that's my wrapup of one of my favorite brands, Alec Bradley cigars or Alec and Bradley. Both both brands, Alec Bradley of STG and the subbrand of Alec and Bradley from his two sons, Alan Rubin. Alec and Bradley Rubin. So that is my wrap-up of the hard pass on the Alec Bradley Princado. It's still going to be a hard pass. It's something that I would pass up on if I had to buy. Honestly, with the box press and the hard start and all of that, honestly speaking, I would pass on this if it was given to me to be honest. It's just not my favorite. And I'm going to be painfully honest with you guys with, you know, anybody who follows me. You know, the I have no endorsement deals. Even if I did, I would I would speak the truth because this is this is a brotherhood. The Brotherhood of the Leaf is a real thing. And I am not going to steer someone down a path for any other reason that than the if you are I mean if you're a Box Press fan, by all means. I think the fact that I'm a little biased because I don't like the box press at all, but there are there's a my father's cigar um that is a box press that I will smoke because it is really really good. This just it it didn't have the draw. It didn't have the smoke output. It was difficult to smoke. So, you know, it is what it is. They're not all going to be winners. No, not throwing any shade to Alec Bradley. Phenomenal company, phenomenal cigars. really really awesome. Just this one is not my favorite. Um even though Cigaricado put it at number one uh back in 2011 and they put it uh post 2023 at number eight. I just don't see it. So, that's all I got for this episode wrapping up um my hard pass on the Alec Bradley Presado. I wish you all a wonderful blessed week. Stay blessed and above all, keep it rolling,