Well folks, some of you that know me personally know I have a fondness for the CAO 450 Spark plug. It’s a little smoke that really seems to satisfy me when nothing else does. I tried to work with CAO but its a huge corporation at this point with no real person to connect with, so I set out to make something similar, but better. That’s how we came to the Fast Eddie. Named after Paul Newman’s character in “The Color of Money”, Eddie was a pool shark and tournament champion. He had a quality about him that I cannot quite put into words. He was good, he was bad and in the end he got it right. Sort of the underdog. That’s how I look at this cigar for some reason. It’s on the smaller side, comes with a printed ribbon instead of a band which I actually like. Has a pig tail foot which you almost never see and a great soft box press. The wrapper is Mexican San Andres, the binder is Indonesian Sumatra and the fillers are both Dominican and Nicaraguan. Its a 4 3/4×50. The pig tail foot and ribbon look beautiful. BlackBird Cigar is a cult cigar. Enjoy them while they last.
Tasting Notes: The body is leathery and smoky in a luxurious way. The foot smells like beef jerky. The cold draw is firm because the foot is closed but when I twist the pig tail off the draw becomes perfect with a ton of smokiness and some serious pepper, especially on the lips. Immediately upon lighting I am met with a pepper blast and I get heavy bread notes, spices, some floral notes, that smokiness and an herbal note. I also get sweet cedar, roasted cacao beans, bitter espresso and a raisin paste like note, call it a plum or raisin. I get espresso, charred sugar like a burned marshmallow and an overall umami taste, which basically means it is extremely satisfying and full in flavor. In the second third I get a clean detergent kind of taste, which I would describe to be dryer sheet. It’s more floral than that, but it definitely reminds of me a clean dryer sheet. As the 2nd third comes to an end, there’s more dark leather and black pepper, but I also get charcoal and semi sweet chocolate. Again, very satisfying to the palate. In the final third I get a ton of floral notes, dark chocolate, leather, black tea leaves, mineral earthiness and bitter espresso.
Pairing Notes: After or during a barbecue. STEAK, Onions, honey mustard. Any red meat or lamb. After a burger and fries. I also feel like anything strawberry or strawberry flavored is going to be really enjoyable with this. Also, caramel and vanilla flavors. Sprite or apple soda. Apple cider. Strawberry Abita beer. Any amber lager. Wheat bourbon. Jack Daniels. Scotch of any kind. Dark chocolates.
