Today we will be taking a look at an offering from My Father Cigars, the My Father Lounge Exclusive! Over the years among the most popular this to do with a cigar brand is create exclusive lounges at various high volume retailers. The first My Father Lounge was at Mojito Cigar Bar which opened on Oct. 25, 2010.

Since then there has been two more lounges opened, one at the Tobacco Barn in Lake Forest, Calif. this past June  and one at Federal Cigar in Plaistow, N.H.

The opening of the My Father Lounge at Federal Cigar in New Hampshire is special to me because I have frequented the shop and have gotten to know the owners and customers quite well. I can honestly say there isn’t a better option for a lounge in New England and Rick Gadway owner of Federal Cigar, is your quintessential cigar geek and runs a solid boutique style shop that is tough to find these days, especially in this market.

When most shops just want to get you out of the door with as many bundle cigars as they can Federal Cigar has a closer relationship with their customers, creating loyalty based on the fact that they you can trust their judgment and their boutique style of doing business. This is why they are the first and at this moment the only My Father Lounge on the east coast.

You might be asking yourself, “what is the big deal about being a member of the lounge?” Well, for starters you get exclusive lounge only cigars, frequent visits from the García family including Jaime, Janny and Pepín, trips to the My Father Cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua and many other great surprises. You can also bet that they will have most of the newer releases before many of the other retailers.

One of the first things I was wondered when I heard about this cigar was the blend was, “is it the same as the My Father line just a different size?”

“It’s a completely different cigar brother,” said José Ortega, vice-president of sales for My Father Cigars, Inc. “I can’t tell you what’s in it because Jaime won’t reveal the blend. It has more balls than the MF regular but not as strong as the LeBijou”

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  • Cigar Reviewed: My Father Lounge Exclusive
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 5 3/4 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 50
  • Vitola: Robusto Extra
  • MSRP: $10 (Boxes of 23, $230)
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Release Date: October 2010
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Review3

*Federal Cigar has their cigars at $10 a single, Mojito Cigar Lounge in Arizona has the cigars priced at $10.99.

My initial impression is that this is very similar to the regular My Father blend. It has a milk chocolate wrapper with a soft, velvety look to it, minimal veins and a nice tight pack. It smells of earth, chocolate, touch of leather and some pepper. The pre-light draw was sweet, lots of straight tobacco, hay and earth.

Starting off in the first third, the My Father Lounge Exclusive hits me with a blast of spice and pepper, initial flavors are earthy to the core with a some leather, coffee bean and a very light cocoa. The aroma is fantastic, filled with spice and wood. The finish is peppery and full of sweet tobacco and earth. The draw is wonderful, putting off a ton of smoke.

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Coming into the second third the cigar mellows out, the spice and pepper are still present but definitely faded a bit. The Lounge Exclusive warms up and some darker flavors take hold, a little of espresso, chocolate, wood and leather. There is a nice roasted coffee bean flavor on the finish now that is long and flavorful. It is medium-full and has a nice little kick of nicotine.

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Finishing up in the final third the My Father Lounge Exclusive ends with great with a lot of flavor and mellow notes. A lot of sweetness comes out in the end, it’s a creamy sweetness, like caramel, and there is also a lot of earth, leather, coffee bean and just a touch of spice and pepper, all in all very balanced and easy to smoke.

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Final Notes

  • This was a good cigar, but I didn’t find it to be that much different from the regular My Father line, it didn’t seem stronger, any more flavorful or complex either. This is not a bad thing, the My Father line is a great smoke but I’m just not sure what makes this cigar so exclusive.
  • I love the look of the cigar, I am always impressed with the look of the secondary bands that My Father Cigars uses, they are elegant and tasteful and I love the warm colors they use. I know this is a minor detail but at the end of the day it shows a cigar that had some thought put into it.
  • If you guys are interested in this cigar, please call up Federal Cigar at 877.424.4270 and tell them we sent you!
  • Final Smoking time was one hour and five minutes.
86 Overall Score

This was a very enjoyable cigar and it was definitely My Father all the way. It had a slight more to it than the regular line, but not enough for me to take that much of a notice. If I had to guess, I would say this is the same blend as the regular line, possibly slightly different, but who knows. Personally I think they should have either done something completely different blend wise or done a very unique vitola, I just think an exclusive lounge cigar warrants something truly exclusive, all of that aside it’s a very good cigar and is worth checking out.

Steve Valle

Steve Valle wrote for Smoking Stogie, a precursor to halfwheel, from 2010-2011.