Dissident HOME (Prerelease)

In June, Dissident Cigars announced a new release that would be officially launched at the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. Dubbed HOME, the cigar is a 6 x 54 toro that is composed of Honduran corojo for both the wrapper and binder, along with some pelo de oro and corojo from Honduras in the filler.

Co-owner Gorden Crippen (aka Gweedo C) explained the genesis of the blend in a press release:

I was flying home from a long trip away from my friends and family. I looked out the window. Way down below us were lots of little houses all lit up in the night time, and the lights were coming out of every window, and it made me realize how important HOME was. Fast forward to this latest trip, where we found a tiny factory in Honduras, where we fell in love with the aesthetics and feel of the place. While we had wanted to do this project for as long as we have been making cigars, this was the first time it just ‘felt’ right. So, we decided to approach the guys at the factory and try to use my horribly broken Spanish to explain the concept. Fortunately, it worked out and we have a cigar on the way!

According to Crippen, HOME is being limited to 2,000 total cigars packaged in boxes of 10 and will ship “in the fall.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Dissident HOME
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: n/a
• Wrapper: Honduras
• Binder: Honduras
• Filler: Honduras
• Size: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: n/a
• Release Date: 2015
• Number of Cigars Released: 200 Boxes of 10 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3

Covered in a mocha brown wrapper, the Dissident HOME is silky smooth to the touch, with very few veins and some obvious oil present. There is an obvious oval box-press to the cigar, and it is just a bit spongy when squeezed. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of almonds, cinnamon, manure, sweet marzipan and dark chocolate while the cold draw brings flavors of creamy nuts, vanilla sweetness, leather and barnyard.

Starting out, the Dissident HOME features a dominant creamy almond flavor, with lesser notes of oak, leather, bitter espresso, toast and a touch of floral. There is an interesting note on the finish from the start, almost reminding me of jalapeño without the heat, while the retrohale features some nice black pepper and a touch of vanilla bean sweetness. Both the burn and draw are excellent so far, and the smoke production is massive from the foot. Strength-wise, the HOME is light to start, but ramps up noticeably, hitting a point close to medium by the end of the first third.

A citrus note takes over the profile in the second third of the Dissident HOME, easily becoming the dominant flavor yet interspersed with other notes of floral, cocoa, bitter espresso, oak, oats and cinnamon. The profile is still quite creamy overall, and while the jalapeño note from the first third is long gone by the halfway point, it is replaced with more of the vanilla bean sweetness on the finish and retrohale.  The construction overall continues to impress, and the smoke production shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. What does slow down is the strength, which hits the medium mark early on, but stalls out there, remaining somewhat stagnant by the time the second third comes to an end.

The sweetness shifts from a vanilla bean note to more of a graham cracker flavor during the final third of the Dissident HOME, and it is still present on both the retrohale and the finish. The profile remains nicely creamy, with a combination almond/oak flavor that is dominant. Other notes of espresso beans, dark chocolate, leather, cinnamon, hay and raisons flit in and out, while there is still a great amount of pepper on the retrohale. Construction-wise, the draw is still excellent, and while the burn has begun to waver a bit, it is not bad enough to have to correct. The smoke production continues to be massive from the foot, and the overall strength does increase noticeably, ending up close to full by the time I put the cigar down with about an inch left.

Final Notes

• You can ready my coverage of the Dissident Cigars booth at the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show here.
• I really love the fact that this release holds so much personal meaning to the guys at Dissident. They are unafraid to be who they are, and I think that is something that is sorely missed in the cigar business these days.
• Yes, the name of the cigar is all in caps.
• The wrapper on this release is exceedingly smooth to the touch, something I noticed every time I picked it up.
• The samples smoked for this review were given to halfwheel by Dissident Cigars at the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
• The final smoking time for all three samples averaged just above two hours.