Cigar Review- Alec Bradley Nica Puro Bajito

Alec Bradley’s latest creation, the habano-wrapped Nica Puro is the company’s first cigar comprised of all Nicaraguan tobaccos (hence, the name.) We received our first shipment of this new blend a few weeks ago, but I wanted to give it a chance to rest a bit more before breaking one out for review. Today I could wait no longer and finally pulled out a sample of the short and stout Bajito (4 1/8 x 52) vitola.

The Nica Puro had a clean look with a nearly flawless wrapper marked with just a few light veins. Construction looked and felt to be exemplary, as I’ve come to expect from the Alec Bradley brand. Pre-light draws gave off a slightly sweet tobacco taste.

After an easy light the cigar opened to creamy smoke with a loud bang of peppery spice. Within an inch the pepper calmed down quite a bit, letting more subtle woody tobacco flavors take the lead. The draw was wide open and copious amounts of dense smoke erupted with each puff. Another half-inch in the flavors began to really open up with vivid notes of roasted nuts and toasted bread. Nice.

Going into the 2^ndthird the pepper made a slight return as the cigar’s profile also gained a new sweet and buttery dimension, before taking a turn towards darker flavors of leather and cocoa. With half of the stick down the hatch, I still hadn’t ashed once.The final portion of the Bajito conveyed a relentlessly full-flavored leathery taste with a lightly spicy finish. The burn remained straight and clean until I had finally achieved full nub status.