Smooth melted caramel chocolate, light coffee tastes with a hint of spice. How does that sound? A medium-bodied cigar that offers flavours of spice, earth, and sweetness. But most of all a smooth creamy smoking experience. Its Nicaraguan Sun-grown wrapper covers a Honduran binder and a Honduran and Nicaraguan filler.

Ehtefal 2022 Fifa World Cup Plasencia Cigar paired with Portuguese Waterdog red wine

Plasencia Cigars launched the new cigar in Doha the night before the 2022 World Cup. A cigar named Ehtëfal. That was the night before the 2022 FIFA World Cup started. Ehtëfal, in Arabic, spelt احتفال, translates to a celebration. A world cup celebration with an exceptional cigar.

Plasencia released a total of 5,000 boxes of 10 cigars. Half of all the boxes shipped to U.S. stores and the other half to international retailers.

Ehtëfal is a 6 x 52 toro

Plasencia Ehtëfal

Country of Origin Nicaragua

Factory Plasencia Cigars S.A.

Wrapper Nicaragua (Jalapa)

Binder Honduras

Filler Nicaragua

Length 6 Inches

Ring Gauge 52

Vitola Toro

Release Date Nov. 19, 2022

Number of Cigars Released

5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars

(50,000 Total Cigars)

The Ehtëfal is a 6 x 52 toro vitola with a blend that incorporates a sun-grown wrapper from the Jalapa region of Nicaragua. The wrapper covers filler tobaccos from both Honduras and Nicaragua aged for 10 years.

A cigar for a celebration. But life is a celebration so why wait for an occasion to light up the cigar? And when you do, you are in for a delicious treat.

Plasencia Ehtefal Cigar Appearance

A dark milk chocolate-covered wrapper with a beautiful green and gold band. The wrapper veins are smooth but visible. It is a firm Toro with a glowing sheen on the caramel wrapper.

Plasencia Ehtefal Cigar Aromas

Coffee beans

Milk chocolate

Tumeric and pepper spice

Aromas from the wrappers include a little sweetness, earth, nuttiness, coffee beans and burning firewood with caramel chocolate scents. It is a cigar that can offer different aromas depending on the time of day and environment. The nuttiness ranges between cashews and pecan nuts. Then there are expressive caramel chocolate, rich brewed coffee, baker’s spices and creamy biscuits scents.

Plasencia Ehtefal Cigar Cold draw

Spice

Mild tobacco tastes

Caramel chocolate

The easy and light draw for a Toro cigar

With a light V-cut, the cold draw tobacco has nutty flavours. Then there is some earthiness, light cooking spices like pepper, and creamy chocolate with caramel sweetness and smoothness.

Plasencia Ehtefal Cigar First Puff

Melted light brown milk chocolate and creamy biscuits...

That is my first experience with this cigar.

Rich with a creamy smooth profile with tastes of chocolate and rich coffee.

The first puff immediately offers melted caramel chocolate. It's wow. Few cigars start with such smooth creaminess. There is a soft sweetness, but mostly I experienced the creaminess. It's a combination of melted caramel and cashew nut butter tastes. And there is the warm firewood aroma and heat from the clouds of smoke.

The cigar features an interesting floral flavour mixed with white pepper and a touch of spice on the tongue. And while the caramel notes top the cigar profile during the first part, rich coffee and chocolate flavour that blends into a light chocolate brownie combination join in.

Extra notes include creamy peanuts, damp earth, roasted espresso beans, cinnamon and dry straw. On the retro-hale, there are both white pepper and some vanilla bean sweetness. The flavours remain constant in the second part. Both the body and strength are mild to medium. You will struggle to find a cigar with such a perfect construction. The burn line started even, though the breeze came into play causing a wavy burn line. Each puff offers copious amounts of smoke and an excellent easy draw.

Plasencia Ehtefal Cigar flavour progression

The flavours remain the same in the last part. Although it also depends on your pairing. The light red wine made for a good companion. The creamy melted caramel notes remain with a bit of added cocoa and espresso flavours emerging. Even when I smoked for a while only drinking water the creaminess remained. A clean palate did enhance the cashew and pecan nut flavours. The light sweetness disappears towards the final part.

The flavours are exceptional. That is if you enjoy a creamy smoking cigar. Even into the last part, the cigar strength is mild to medium with fuller flavours.

Wine Pairing, The Waterdog Red

Loving, loyal and intelligent, Portuguese Waterdogs are a treasured breed originally from the southern coast of Portugal near the Jose Maria de Fonceca winery.

Waterdog red wine is a blend of Castelão, Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional grape varieties. Aged for 6 months on French and American Oak. Enjoy the wine with BBQ, roasts, pasta dishes and a cigar.

Red wine

VINTAGE: 2017

GRAPES

Castelão (56%) | Touriga Nacional (22%) | Touriga Francesa (22%)

TYPE OF SOIL: Clay-lime

WINEMAKER: Domingos Soares Franco

AGEING: 6 months on French and American Oak

SHELF LIFE: 4 years after bottling

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Serve at a temperature of 11oC and drink at 13oC with BBQ, roasts and pasta dishes.

13.2% Alcohol | 5.9 g/l Total Acidity | 3.31 pH | 7.3 g/l Residual Sugar

Tasting Notes

COLOR: Ruby

AROMA: Ripe blackberry, dried figs and tobacco smoke

PALATE: Ripe blackberry, fresh and with smooth and well-integrated tannins.

Waterdog Red wine Aromas

Ripe mulberries

Tobacco notes

Fresh ripe fruits

The fruity scents are prominent yet lighter. The wine has a light red colour like Pinot Noir.

Waterdog Red wine Taste

The wine's first taste is fruity with a slight dryness that compliments the ripe fruits. The tannins are dry and mild but ripe and fruity. It is an easy approachable red wine. It is a fantastic weekday wine to open and enjoy.

On a warmer winter afternoon the wine tastes light but with enough body to enjoy with a super cigar like the Plasencia Ethefal.

Plasencia Ehtefal Cigar evolution

Powdery caramel chocolate and creamy nutty flavours continue to lead the way when it comes to the profile of the Ehtëfal. If you enjoy a cigar with a consistent profile, then the Ethefal cigar is for you. Many cigars' flavour profiles evolve, although to me the best cigars have a constant profile enjoyable from start to finish. Consistency is an art.

The cigar releases voluminous smoke throughout the cigar with slight wavy burn lines. It will also be due to the winter breeze outside. There is almost no change in the retro-hale, a bit of pepper spice and caramel sweetness creates a brilliant combination that continues until the end of the cigar. It's a near-perfect cigar from the start with an easy draw, beautiful grey ash and volumes of cloudy puffy smoke.

The profile became a bit stronger at the end, but that is what you will expect from a great Toro cigar.

Plasencia Ehtefal Cigar Conclusion

The tobacco for the fillers was grown in Plasencia-owned farms, and they aged for 10 years, which contributes to the cigar's remarkable smoking experience. The cigar has perfect ash with a glowing wrapper in the dusky winter sunset. This cigar's gold and green band adds a warmness to the chill gusts.

Winter sunsets are the perfect time to light a cigar and enjoy a juicy red wine to add fruit flavours to the warm melted cocoa taste.

Smoking the cigar for a while without sipping wine release volumes of smoke and an ever-present creaminess.

The wine offers ripe berries with soft tannins. Add the taste of chocolate caramel biscuits dipped into coffee and you have a very tasty pairing.

Offley Tawny Port

The port is sweet but dry. The ultimate cigar pairing.

A sip of port releases even more nuttiness. I get a taste of pecan nuts. A slice of pecan nut pie could be a great pairing with the Port and cigar.

Fortified wines like Port, Sherry and Madeira are excellent to pair with cigars. These wines have a higher alcohol content and are sweeter tasting than regular wines. This sweetness works well with cigars that feature oaky, spicy, or nutty flavours.

Flavor Harmony

Port wine exhibits rich, sweet, and complex flavours with notes of dark fruits, spices, chocolate, and sometimes nuttiness. These flavors can complement the earthy, smoky, and sometimes peppery notes in cigars. The combination creates a harmonious balance of flavours, enhancing the experience.

It is a classic pairing that adds to the enjoyment and appreciation of both the port and your cigar.

Light up your Plasencia Ehtefal cigar

If I could name the pairing, I would say it is coffee creme brulee with dark berry jam on top.

Take your time and enjoy the Fantastic Plasencia Ehtefal Toro cigar

Get your cigar here = Plasencia Ehtefal