The Black Sheep of cigars

A cigar needs to adhere to one simple rule for me to try it out: it needs to be medium to full bodied. Outside of that, I am relatively flexible when it comes to sampling a cigar at least once.

I am slightly more judgmental when it comes to who is recommending. The reality is that, in most tobacconists in the country, the person behind the counter selling the cigars is generally not really knowledgeable about cigars and often does not even smoke them. If they actually take the time to learn about cigars and brands, the recommendations are theoretical; otherwise, their job is often simply to open and close the humidor.

While it is still very niche, I wish more effort would be put into improving the knowledge of cigar salespeople. It does wonders for building goodwill around the business. There are cigars I still smoke to this day, like the Rocky Patel Decade Robusto, that were recommendations of the manager of a tobacconist in Sandton, who took the time to understand both the cigars on sale and his customers’ palates. When he left, it took one interaction with his replacement to discourage me from going back, and I haven’t been back since.

On the trip to Geneva that I wrote about previously, I walked into Rhein Cigars with the intention of picking up Cavalier Cigars, and left with more, namely Black Label Trading Company Cigars’ Last Rites and their Black Works Studio NBK, purely on the recommendation of the person in the shop.

Founded in 2015 by James and Angela Brown, Black Label Trading Co operates out of their Nicaragua-based boutique Oveja Negra (translated to Black Sheep in English) cigar factory. They produce small-batch premium cigars for various clients, in addition to their own lines, namely Black Label Trading Co, Black Works Studio, Dissident and Emelio.

Last Rites

The Last Rites Robusto is a medium-to-full bodied cigar with an Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper, aged Honduran binder and a filler that is a blend of aged Honduran and Nicaraguan long filler. On first draw, there is an abundance of earth, leather and white pepper notes with sweet hints of dark chocolate. I did find that, after the first couple of pulls on it, it does calm down a bit, with the pepper and spicy flavours becoming a bit more subtle. Going into the second and last third, I got hints of almonds and leather and wood notes. There was a pleasant oiliness throughout the smoke. According to Oveja Negra, it has “mouth-watering flavours of earth, espresso, white pepper and hits of citrus zest.”

It is a relatively stable and consistent smoke, which I enjoyed. It has a black mid-band with a skull in a silvery white and a smaller band at the end with Late Rites written on it, which both fit the slightly sombre and dark maduro wrapper, and appeal to my fascination with skulls. Would I smoke it again given the chance? Yes, but to be honest, only occasionally.

Black Works Studio NBK

The NBK ‘Natural Born Killer’ is a box-pressed maduro cigar that has a Nicaraguan binder and filler, wrapped with Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro tobacco. Oscuro is a process in which leaves usually taken from the top of the tobacco plant are treated, ie, longer in the sun, shorter in fermentation, making them darker in colour. The NBK is a dark, chocolatey colour and comes in either a 5” length by 50 ring gauge robusto or 6” by 46 Larga Corona vitola.

Full bodied, the NBK is creamy with a range of flavours as you go through it, from dark chocolate, black pepper and spice to earth, and coffee with a hint of sweetness. I really liked cigar. It had me standing outside a bar braving early Swiss winter not once but twice. I also like the relative simplicity of the black band with yellowish gold writing and patterns.

First chance I get, I am definitely stocking on a box or two of the NBK and, having sampled these two Oveja Negra brands, I am very curious to explore the rest of their offerings.