Cigar Golf Club The Driver

While an announcement of sorts was posted on Cigar Golf Club’s Instagram page last June, along with plenty of photos of banded cigars throughout the year, it wasn’t until the end of the year that the brand formally launched. Headed up by Alexandra Plasencia, the aim was to share their passion of both golf and cigars with this brand. Plasencia had this to say about it:

Our focus is to ‘Share our Passion’ of golf and enjoy the taste of a premium handmade with the fellow golfers. Golf is not only a competitive playing sport to challenge yourself on the course, but it’s also the comradery, friendships and business relationships you build on and after a gold round while enjoying a handmade exclusive premium cigar.

There are five different blends, all coming in the same 6 x 50 toro size:

• Cigar Golf Club Eighteen (6 x 50) – $15 (Boxes of 10, $145 or Boxes of 20, $275)
• Cigar Golf Club The Green (6 x 50) – $12 (Sampler Box of all 5 cigars, $40)
• Cigar Golf Club The Driver (6 x 50) – $9 (Sampler Box of all 5 cigars, $40)
• Cigar Golf Club The Fairway (6 x 50) – $9 (Sampler Box of all 5 cigars, $40)
• Cigar Golf Club The Wedge (6 x 50) – $9 (Boxes of 10, $85 or Boxes of 20, $165)

• Cigar Reviewed: Cigar Golf Club The Driver
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
• Filler: Nicaragua (Condega, Estelí & Ometepe)
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $9 (Sampler Box of 5 Cigars, $40)
• Release Date: December 2016
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Driver is a great looking cigar with a medium brown wrapper that is soft and oily to the touch. There are a couple of soft spots when squeezed, though nothing that worries me overly much. The aroma coming off the cigar is very potent, one that I start smelling before I even get the cigar close to my nose. Specific flavors of earth, cocoa and leather come off the wrapper, while the cold draw produces a rich mix of flavors that includes cinnamon, raisins, cocoa and a nuttiness that reminds me exactly of Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut chocolate bar.

Starting into the first third, I’m slightly disappointed that the candy bar-like cold draw didn’t translate into the lit profile, however spice, almonds, cinnamon and a light cocoa sweetness does make for an enjoyable taste. The burn is a little ragged starting out, but it seems to be trying to even itself up. Though the ash appears to be flaky and about to fall off at any moment, it surprises me by sticking around to almost an inch. There is plenty of smoke production with each draw as it’s right in the middle of ideal, allowing the flavors of the profile to envelop the area with a nice aroma. The spice has grown and the light cocoa note has faded, while the almonds, cinnamon and sweetness remain about the same.

Moving into the second third there is only a slight change with the profile, adding a bit of earth and pepper alongside the cinnamon and almonds, while the spice note continues to lead. The burn has cooperated mostly up until this point, one section has left a significant spike of unburnt wrapper, requiring a touch up to get it even again. Earth has grown to join the spice up front, leaving the pepper, cinnamon and a more generic nutty note instead of almonds. The light sweetness has also faded, leaving the profile slightly unbalanced.

Moving into the final third of the Driver everything has seemed to level out with the earth and spice continuing up front, followed by black pepper, cinnamon, a light nuttiness and a touch of charred cedar. With about an inch and a half remaining about half the cigar stops burning, requiring a pretty hefty touch up. Interestingly enough, after the touch-up, the cocoa from the very beginning makes a reappearance, rounding the profile out and ending the cigar on a pleasant note.

Final Notes

• I don’t think I can stress how rich the aroma from the cigar was before I lit it. Just taking it out of the cellophane and being within a couple of feet of the cigar allowed me to really catch wafts of it.
• Cigar Golf Club will have traditional distribution to stores, though in addition they are offering the cigars for sale on its website.
• In addition to just buying the cigars outright, they are offering a monthly membership club that includes the sampler box of all five cigars each month, along with golf related swag and other benefits yet to be announced.
• The 6 x 50 toro is a great size for a golf course, as its length allows for it to last the majority of a round and the ring gauge to allow longer times between draws, which makes sense that they would use a toro for all five cigars.
• Though they didn’t officially launch until the end of the year, the first clear picture of one of the bands on its Instagram page was posted way back on July 30.
• Yes, Alexandra Plasencia is part of the Plasencia family that has tobacco operations in both Nicaragua and Honduras and makes cigars for quite a number of companies.
• If you’d like to see some photography from around Plasencia Cigars S.A. and read more about it, Brooks Whittington took a trip down there back in 2013 which you can read about here.
• Cigars for this review were sent to halfwheel by Cigar Golf Club.
• Final smoking time averaged right around two hours.