Product Description
Best Cigar of 2015 by Cigar Aficionado
Rating: 97
The original My Father brand was created by Jaime Garcia to honor his father, Pepin. A year later, Pepin decided to honor his own father with an offshoot brand called My Father Le Bijou 1922. Unlike the originals, which wear an Ecuadoran cover leaf, Le Bijou 1922 cigars are darker and stronger. The blend is Nicaraguan from top to bottom, showcasing Cuban-seed wrappers that the Garcia family calls oscuro. Only one size—this torpedo—is box-pressed. Some will say that box-pressing a cigar is only an aesthetic decision. But when the Garcias took this hearty, complex blend, rolled it into a torpedo shape and then gave it a pressing, the result stood out for its ability to deliver complex notes clearly and harmoniously.
The date 1922 denotes the birth year of José Garcia, the father of José “Pepin” Garcia. Le Bijou means “the jewel” in French. And this cigar is emblematic of all the Garcia family has achieved. Pepin started as a roller in Cuba before emigrating to Miami and eventually opening up a tiny rolling gallery in Little Havana. Commercial and critical acclaim for his cigars allowed expansion into Nicaragua. Today, Pepin, Jaime and Janny Garcia lead My Father Cigars, and their factory in Estelí produces millions of cigars a year. Despite rapid growth, the family still takes great care in producing cigars of quality and distinction, which shows in this My Father Le Bijou 1922 Torpedo Box Pressed. It takes a profound understanding of cigar tobaccos to create a smoke that conveys uncanny impressions of dark chocolate-covered raisins, savory leather and a sweet-and-salty finish that resonates on the palate.
This cigar has an ideal combination of power and finesse to make it No. 1. It’s the second Cigar of the Year for the Garcias.
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Ode to the Brown Monarch
O Habano, brown monarch wrapped in a cloak of sun-soaked earth, you are a rolled scroll containing the secret history of the island. Before my thirst for you, you were a broad leaf, a sleeping green flag in the kingdom of the veguero, drinking the violent Caribbean sun, softened by the nocturnal breath of the sea. Your body, a firm cylinder of patience, holds the aroma of aged wood, of honey that remembers the flower, of leather bound in a forgotten library. I bring the fire to your brow, a small, devoted sun, and you begin your slow ode, your transformation of fire into cloud. The first puff, a sharp, peppery confession. Then, the smoke unfolds like a flag of peace inside my soul, a dense, blue-gray thought that climbs towards the ceiling of the afternoon. O solemn ceremony, this quiet burning, this conversation between my hand and your ash, growing, a white cathedral that threatens to fall but stands, defiant, a testament to your perfect combustion. You are not mere vice, you are a slow hourglass, a measured minute of communion. In your delicate ash I see the sediment of time, in your fragrant demise, the celebration of the moment. So I sit with you, and we are two silent accomplices: you, offering your body to my fire, I, receiving your wisdom as smoke, until nothing remains but the memory of your warmth on my fingers, and the ghost of your soul, lingering in the room, like a gentle, persistent truth.
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Le Bijou 1922
Elegantly put together and a joy to look at. You are initially greeted by black pepper notes that progress into a savoury leather taste towards the end of the first third. The second third is nutty with a full body. A generous finish to top off a very satisfactory smoke. My favourite Nicaraguan by far.
