Quesada Oktoberfest 2015 Double Bock Nicaraguan

By Tony Casas | August 31, 2015

It’s that time of year again. With Oktoberfest right around the corder I decided to head out back with the new Limited Edition Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock 2015 and a bottle of Erdinger’s Oktoberfest.

The Good Stuff:

It’s no secret that the Quesada Oktoberfest has been a constant cigar in my rotation since it’s release so it was natural for me to jump all over the new Nicaraguan blends as soon as they got released. I’m a big fan of beer pairing (no surprise there right?) and I’m half German so Oktoberfest is my favorite holiday so a cigar, name Oktoberfest, that is created to pair great with beer? I’m all over that. Since the cigar was introduced in 2011 it has used the same Dominican-based blend. You can read my review of the Dominican Oktoberfest from 2011 here and my review of the Smoke Inn Microblend Series Exclusive Oktoberfest Dunkel here. This year Quesada decided to switch it up a bit releasing two additional formats each with their own Nicaraguan-based blend. Today, we are focusing on the Double Bock. The Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock comes in a single 7 x 47 Limited Edition format and carries a Viso Habano Jalapa wrapper, Viso Habano Esteli binder, with Seco Habano Ometepe, Ligero Habano Esteli, and Habano Condega fillers. The Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock comes packaged in boxes of 10 and runs $8.95 per stick. I picked up a handful of these form our friends over at Smoke Inn who have plenty in stock the last time I checked.

Size: 7 x 47
Wrapper: Viso Habano Jalapa
Binder: Viso Habano Esteli
Filler: Seco Habano Ometepe, Ligero Habano Esteli, and Habano Condega
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8.95
Pairing: Erdinger Oktoberfest (Marzen/Heffewiesen 5.7% ABV)

Prelight:

The Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock starts out with a gorgeous dark brown wrapper. The wrapper is consistently dark brown for the most part with a few subtle areas of orange, and darker webbing. The texture is very tooth with a ton of oil. I can actually feel the oils rubbing off on my fingers as I inspect the cigar. There is quite a bit of natural webbing in the wrapper leaf, as well as a good amount of smaller veins. The long body leads up to a beautiful, round double cap. The cigar is pretty heavy in weight and very tightly packed. It has almost no give as I squeeze it between my fingers except a very small area under the band. The band itself is similar to the rebrand of the Oktoberfest packaging that we saw a few years ago. It’s blue checkered (like Oktoberfest should be) with a gold Quesada crest, German flag, and the words “Quesada Oktoberfest”, “Blended in the Dominican Republic”, and “Since 2011” on the front. This year a secondary band accompanies the first with the words “2015 Edition” across the front.

The wrapper gives off a very strong musky aroma mixed with spice and tobacco while the foot of the cigar is heavier on the spice and pepper aromas. The cap cut clean and easily using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produces some great pepper, spice, plum, and musk flavors.

First Third:

The Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock stars out with a decent black pepper blast which quickly fades out after the first few puffs leaving behind some great musk and oak, brown sugar, plum and spice. I was a bit worried about the draw since this cigar is packed so tightly but it flows like a dream. Every little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke while the cigar lets loose a good amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. You can actually see the oils burn off the wrapper as it rests. The burn line started out pretty wavy but started to correct itself about midway through the first third and is rocking dead solid now leaving behind a trail of medium and light gray ash which held on for an inch and a half before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

As I venture into the second third of the Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock the oakiness has really taken over paired with the musk. The backing flavors remain brown sugar, spice, and a great black tea type flavor as the plum has diminished. The body has really started to ramp up at this point. The retrohale coats my nasal passage with a strong cedar and spice. The burn line is still flawless and sharp while I feel almost nothing in the nicotine department as I close out the second third.

Finish:

The final third is where the Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock really begins to shine. The flavors have continued to ramp up as the cigar progresses and the cigar is now in the Full-Body area leading with tons of musk and oak with lots of spice, some soft black pepper, brown sugar, and the plum as returned. It took me almost two hours to take the Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock down to the nub and I enjoyed every minute of it. I close out the cigar with absolutely no harshness, no added heat, and almost nothing in the nicotine department. I never once had to reach for my torch to touch up or relight the cigar.

Overview:

Let’s just say it’s still early in the cigar year and I can already tell my “Best of 2015” list is going to be a tough one. The Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock will be fighting for a spot, that’s for sure. The departure from the Dominican Republic was a success with the Double Bock blend. The cigar was complex, yet relaxed and made for a full body experience without being too overpowering. The price is perfect for the cigar and in my opinion, may even be less than I’d expect to pay for it. This is a perfect cigar for a novice looking for some great work without breaking the bank, and of course us seasoned cigar smokers looking for a great full-bodied cigar that won’t knock us on our ass will love it. Box worthy for sure.

Pairing:

Of course I’m going to pair this cigar with an Oktoberfest, and one that is finally making it’s debut here on Casas Fumando. I have always been a big fan of Erdinger and their offerings, in fact, their heffeweissen is probably my favorite out there. Brewed at the Erdinger Weissbräu in Germany this 5.7% Marzen/Heffe Hybrid leads with sweetness, malt, some slight citrus and spice with a very, very light mouthfeel before finishing clean and crisp with more malt and citrus and slight oakiness. While this was a great pairing for the Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock, I could think of a few alternatives with more body that would match up well with the cigar. Like, a double bock for instance (go figure), or a smooth porter. The Marzen was the easy choice, but the cigar easily dominated the experience putting the beer on it’s heels.