Cigar Review: Henry Clay Brevas

This review is brought to you courtesy of Cigars Direct.  They’ve sent me a good line-up to bring to you over the next few weeks, and to start it out I decided on the Henry Clay Brevas.  I’d never tried any of the Henry Clays before, so I was excited to see exactly how Henry Clay has stayed around so long.  This is an Altadis brand now, but it has a long history, and is even part of a famous quote by Rudyard Kipling: “There’s calm in a Henry Clay.”  Well, we’ll see, won’t we Mr. Kipling.  Let’s get to it:

Appearance: This 5 1/8×42 box-pressed cigar with a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper has an old-style band keeping in mind that Henry Clay has a long tradition in the cigar industry.  Nothing fancy or flashy, just a band that says “Henry Clay.”  The wrapper is smooth, but with large veins.  It also has a mottled appearance of dark browns and darker browns.  Not an even coloring throughout.  I will say, however, that this cigar intrigued me with its unkemptness.

Taste: Pre-light draw gave me no hint as to how this cigar would be, but after lighting it, I was hit with spice and leather.  And it’s the kind of spice that rests on your lips like you just ate some jalapenos.  And you could tell right away that this was no sissy cigar.  I was looking for some chocolatey cocoa-ness, but didn’t find it here.  After the first inch, some of the leather went away as did almost all of the spice, and some earthy goodness kicked in.  It maintained that earth taste with the undercurrent of leather most of the way through, and I have to say it was very good.

Aroma: This is probably where my intrigue started.  Pulling this out of the humidor, it smelled like one of those chocolate bars your kid sells for school fundraisers.  It didn’t have that fake aroma of a flavored cigar, but rather this smelled of rich, premium chocolate.  I’ve not had a cigar that smelled so much like chocolate.

Construction: Feeling along its length, there was consistency in its firmness.  The foot looked like the tobacco was evenly rolled, and this thing had a good solid weight to it.  The draw was firm and it took a bit to get it properly lit, which means that it may have had too tight a roll.  Once it got going, it was a good burner and held a good firm ash that held reliably.

Overall Impression: I’m liking this.  It was full-bodied, but not too overpowering.  This reminded me of the much loved EO 601 Oscuro (green label). There was good flavor, good construction, and it was an overall good experience. Maybe Kipling knew what he was talking about.

Cigar Rating:

No related posts.

1. 

   MountChuck says:

   February 12, 2009 at 7:52 am

   Henry Clay’s are a really nice smoke. I haven’t had the maduro version, but the natural version is sublime. Only cigar I prefer a v-cut on because of how they are wet packed into the boxes.
2. 

   eShamus says:

   February 12, 2009 at 12:58 pm

   A sublime smoke for $2?

   I just ordered a box from Cigarsdirect… here’s hoping they match up with the Zelo de Cuba and Cu Havana cheapies I enjoy…
3. 

   JasonT says:

   February 12, 2009 at 7:53 pm

   I really enjoy Henry Clay cigars. I have a couple left over from a JR sampler I got 3 years ago. Thank you for this review. It reminded me of some well aged cigars I can dig into this weekend.
4. 

   Ricky says:

   February 12, 2009 at 9:53 pm

   @MountChuck – The ones I sampled weren’t wet, so I’m wondering if they were a little older. Why do you prefer the v-cut on them if they’re wetter?

   @eShamus – Man, I had initially misread the price thinking it was $106 for 25, but $106 for 50?! That’s awesome!

   @JasonT – Let us know how the aged ones smoked for you. I’m interested to know.
5. 

   JasonT says:

   February 14, 2009 at 10:46 pm

   I smoked one tonight. It is a Rothchilde maduro. I remember these being huge pepper bombs. Well, it mellowed out nicely. The pepper is still there, only smoother. Some of those chocolate tones that you were missing come out a little past the halfway point. It’s still pretty much pepper and wood. The Rothchilde is the perfect size I believe. I’d probably get bored with the flavor in a bigger stick. Not very complex, but good.
6. 

   Ricky says:

   February 18, 2009 at 8:32 am

   I have to say that for a churchill, which I don’t smoke often, I wasn’t all that bored. Thanks for coming back and letting us know how the aged ones did. I’m looking forward to seeing how these come along.