Ortega Cigar Company – Serie “D” No. 8

This week we take a first look at Eddie Ortega’s newest endeavor with the first release from Ortega Cigar Company, the Serie “D”.

The Good Stuff: As most of you now know, Eddie Ortega had recently decided to separate from the joint operation he founded along side Erik Espinosa, EO Brands. Shortly after announcing his new brand, Ortega Cigar Company, Eddie announced and even started shipping the first installment under the new label the Serie “D”.

The Serie “D” is hand crafted in Esteli, Nicaragua using fillers and binder grown in the Jalapa and Esteli regions of Nicaragua, with a San Andreas, Mexican maduro wrapper. The Serie “D” will come in both 10 and 20 count boxes of the following 5 sizes: The No.6 (4 ½ x 48), the No.7 (5×46), the No.8 (5 1/2×50), the No. 10 (6×52 belicoso), and the No. 12 (5×52) and will range from $6.50 to $7.50.

As of today, around 70 retailers across the United States will start receiving limited shipments of the Serie “D”. Although, from what I know, this is not a limited edition cigar, production will start out small. In a conversation I had with Eddie, he let me know that as of right now he is pretty much sold out, and is grateful that he has been getting the feedback that he has, and has even already received re-order which he is working diligently to fill. Once they can produce more of the Serie “D” they will expand into more, and more retailers across the country. For more information follow Eddie on twitter (@eddieor) and visit the Ortega Cigar Company website (www.ortegacigars.com).

 Size: 5 ½ x 50  –  Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas  –  Binder: Esteli Nicaraguan  –  Filler: Esteli/Jalapa Nicaraguan  –  Strength: Medium/Full

Prelight: The Ortega Serie “D” is an awesome looking cigar. It stars out with this crazy dark, toothy, rough looking wrapper. Seriously, this thing is almost black. Although very consistent, the cap is quite a bit lighter than the wrapper on the rest of the cigar. Again, I like to see inconsistencies in my maduro cigars. It proves to me that they aren’t dyed. The body of the cigar is a beautiful, wide, box press which only display ones smaller vein running about half of the body of the cigar. The wrapper on this cigar feel really tough, and very hard as well as the filler. The Serie “D” barely even compresses as I squeeze the hell out of it. The cigar is then polished off with an elegant, double band looking single band. Red, black, green, and white and gold with Eddie’s new “Ortega” logo printed on the front as well as the words “Serie D” and a barcode stamped on the back. The wrapper doesn’t give off too much aroma at all, mostly cedar which I would assume came from the actual box these were packaged in. The foot gives off some nice coffee, tobacco, and a dash of pepper. The cap on the Ortega Serie “D” clipped cleanly, and easily using my double bladed Palio cutter, despite how tough I thought the wrapper was going to be. The cold draw lets looks this crazy chocolate and coffee flavor with just a tiny bit of earthy tobacco underneath.

First Smoke: It took a little convincing, but after a minute or so the Ortega Serie “D” finally caught fire using my single flame butane torch. Right away I was greeted with a very nice, light pepper which faded away after only a few puffs to reveal a really strong, dark chocolate, coffee, nut, and tobacco flavor profile. The draw is slightly tighter than I would of liked, but it’s far from plugged and after only a few puffs the Serie “D” kicks out a nice cloud of very thick, white smoke. The cigar doesn’t give off much in the stationary smoke department, but the aroma is a terrific spicy cedar. The burnline is nicely even leaving behind a nice, zebra striped white and dark grey ash. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The more I smoke this Ortega Serie “D” the smoother it becomes. The chocolate has morphed into what I could best describe as a nice chocolate milk flavor along with the ramp up in the coffee flavor resulting in a crazy espresso style profile. The nut is still there as well. The retrohale is just as easy and smooth as the rest of the experience coating my nasal passage with an awesome chocolate/cedar. I’m not really feeling any nicotine, and the burnline is still dead even.

Finish: And again, the dark chocolate flavor in this Ortega Serie “D” has really ramped up yet again. I actually made a comment when discussing this cigar with my good friend Dan Reeve over at Cigar Explorer that cigar was kind of like smoking a Hershey’s bar. The chocolate is really taking hold of the rest of the flavors in this experience leaving only some sweet, sweet tobacco, deep woodsy flavors, and of course the espresso.  The band slid right off. The entire experience has been incredibly smooth and I am feeling absolutely no nicotine at all from this cigar. Even into the final inch, which burned so well it didn’t even heat up much, with no harshness at all. It took me about an hour and a half to take this wonderful cigar down.

Overview: It’s safe to say Eddie Ortega has hit it out of the park once again. I’ve always been a fan of the work he did with Erik Espinosa over at EO Brands and the Serie “D” didn’t disappoint. This is one of the smoothest experiences I have had while producing some strong, and pleasant flavors. Don’t think this is an infused cigar, or even close to an infused experience. It’s not. Far from it. I honestly went into this experience imagining a tweaked Murcielago experience, which it wasn’t anything like. For the quality cigar that you get at the low price point I think this cigar is a perfect addition to anyone’s regular rotation. I’m extremely curious to see what else Eddie has up his sleeve.

Pairing: Here’s another beer that isn’t a stranger to Casas Fumando’s pairing section. Chimay’s Grand Reserve, or Chimay blue. The entire Chimay line has made multiple experiences to this website, and with good reason. Not only are they baddass Trappist brewed Belgian beers, but they each go perfectly with just about any cigar. The Blue is the strongest out of the bunch, boasting a 9% ABV and it’s also the darkest, thickest out of the trio. The deep fruity, malty, chocolaty flavors goes perfect with any fully bodied, or maduro cigar. This cigar would also go incredibly well with some porter, any stout, dark coffee, or brown cola.