Review: Brickhouse

Wednesday's review this week is a highly talked about cigar on the web.  The Brickhouse from J.C. Newman Cigars was released in 2009 at a shockingly low price point compared to most recently released, premium brand cigars. This reason alone was good enough for most cigar reviewers to give it a try early on, but now that the cigar has been on the shelves for awhile and positive reviews have been written, it seems everyone is looking to get their hands on this stick. To know the long history of the name of this line of cigars, please visit this link

Specifics (taken from Toasted foot)

Vitola: Corona Larga
Length: 6.25
Ring Gauge: 46
Wrapper: Dominican Habano (’98)
Filler: Dominican
Binder: Dominican Criollo (’98)
MSRP: I'm not sure what the MSRP is but at my local shop they are $5.22
Smoking Location: House of Cigar, Columbus, Ohio
Beverage: Diet Pepsi 

Pre-Light

 

The Brickhouse is a decent looking cigar. The Habano wrapper gives it a nice milk chocolate color and a slightly oily sheen. My cigar did have two pretty prominent veins that could have been smoothed out more but nothing that was too distracting from the overall appearance. The cigar gave off a sweet tobacco aroma when un-lit and also had a sweet flavor on the slightly tight cold draw.

First Third

  

Once the foot was torched evenly and the cigar started producing smoke, the Brickhouse instantly gave off a zing of spice that lingered awhile on my palette. After the first few puffs, a rich earthy flavor also started to set in that was enjoyable but slightly harsh on the finish. The burn line on the cigar was razor sharp and needed absolutely no touch ups or maintenance.The body of the cigar started out as a nice medium, but that harsh flavored finish stopped me from completely enjoying the experience thus far.

Second Third

  

The second third of my Brickhouse still had that nice earthy flavor to it but also developed a very strong leather taste that, again, lasted long on the finish. The difference between the spice from the first third to the leather on the second was that the leather flavors were very smooth, not at all like the previously harsh finish. The burn line was still razor sharp and the smoke was relaxing into a medium body without any bitter tastes. 

Final Third and Final thoughts

 

The final third of this cigar was dominated by the leather taste that had come through in the second third.  The only difference I picked up from the second third to the final were cedar notes and the cigar's smoke seemed to become a bit more creamy. All of the harsh flavors from the start of the cigar were gone and smoking this slow burning stick was now a really nice experience.

The Brickhouse by J.C. Newman Cigars is a good cigar. Although it might not be all that complex in the flavor profile, it is definitely a good "bang-for-your-buck" kind of stick. A word to the wise, however. If you smoke this cigar, take it sloooow.  I noticed that after I increased my time between draws, some of the harshness I experienced went away. The cigar does not produce a ton of resting smoke, so don't let that fool you into puffing away on it like a mad man. I never had any issues with this cigar going out on me, so just take your time and enjoy your Brickhouse.

Would I buy it again? At this price, I will most certainly pick up a few more and keep them laying around my humidor for simple occasions.

Would I buy a box? I don't think I'd buy a full box of these because I tend to like cigars that have lots of changes in the flavor profile. However, if you prefer a single-note, simple profile cigar, this is a good one.

Dan