My Father La Opulencia Petite

During the 2017 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, My Father Cigars showed off a brand new box-pressed extension to the company’s core My Father line. The regular production line is named La Opulencia—Spanish for the opulent—and is an old Cuban trademark that the Garcias revived specifically for this release.

Blend-wise, the My Father La Opulencia incorporates a Mexican rosado oscuro wrapper covering a dual Nicaraguan binder featuring both criollo and corojo leaves, along with Nicaraguan tobacco in the filler. The regular production release is packaged in boxes of 20 and is being rolled at My Father S.A. factory in Nicaragua.

The La Opulencia line launched with six different vitolas, all packaged in boxes of 20.

• My Father La Opulencia Petite (4 1/2 x 48) — $7.10 (Boxes of 20, $142)
• My Father La Opulencia Corona (5 x 46) — $8.90 (Boxes of 20, $178)
• My Father La Opulencia Robusto (5 1/4 x 52) — $10.10 (Boxes of 20, $202)
• My Father La Opulencia Toro (6 x 54) — $11.80 (Boxes of 20, $236)
• My Father La Opulencia Toro Gordo (7 x 56) — $12.40 (Boxes of 20, $248)
• My Father La Opulencia Super Toro (6 x 60) — $12.54 (Boxes of 20, $250.80)

• Cigar Reviewed: My Father La Opulencia Petite
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Mexico (Rosado Oscuro)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Corojo & Criollo)
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 4 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Vitola: Rothschild
• MSRP: $7.10 (Boxes of 20, $142)
• Release Date: Sept. 22, 2017
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The My Father La Opulence Petite does not really live up to its vitola name, and is not exactly that petite in my hand, although the large amount of real estate taken up by the three bands does make it difficult to see anything about the actual cigar. However, once I remove the foot band, a dark espresso brown wrapper is reveled that has a bit of tooth to it as well as a hint of oil. Although far from extreme, the cigar is very obviously box-pressed, and has some nice give when squeezed. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of strong dark cocoa, oak, leather, manure, hay, peanuts, generic sweetness and black pepper, while the cold draw brings flavors of cinnamon, earth, graham cracker sweetness and a touch of varnish.

Starting out, the My Father La Opulencia features a distinct core of both leather and earth, followed by other flavors of creamy cedar, bitter espresso beans, baker’s spices, straw and a touch of citrus. There is a nice amount of vanilla bean sweetness noticeable as well as just a bit of spice on my tongue, but I am a bit surprised by the lack of black pepper that I am tasting. Construction-wise, the draw is excellent so far after a simple straight cut, and while the burn is nowhere close to razor sharp, it is also not close to needing a correction just yet. The smoke production is massive off of the foot and the strength ends up at a point between the mild and medium marks by the time the second third begins.

Coming into the second third of the My Father La Opulencia, and while the earthy core that was so prevalent in the first third continues to dominate, a cinnamon note that was present in the cold draw is gaining ground. Other notes of leather, creamy oak, brewed coffee grounds, lime and a touch of floral flit in and out, while the vanilla bean sweetness has receded quite a bit, as has the spice that was present on my tongue. The draw continues to impress, and while the burn was touched up once, it was never close to getting out of hand. The overall strength easily hits the medium mark by the halfway point, but seems to stall out there, while the smoke production shows no signs of decreasing anytime soon.

Thankfully, the final third of the My Father La Opulencia starts out quite similar to the first third, but soon takes a turn, with the dominant earth and leather notes morphing into more of a creamy oak, followed closely by hay , dried tea leaves, dark cocoa, barnyard and anise. The vanilla bean sweetness has increased as well, close to the levels of the first third and while the black pepper on the retrohale remains noticeable, the spice on my tongue is long gone. The burn has evened up nicely and the draw is as good as ever, while the smoke production continues to be well above average. The overall strength has increased noticeably from the second third, and I put the nub down with less than an inch left with it solidly between the medium and full range.

Final Notes

• I don’t consider anything with a 48 ring gauge to be petite, but the box-pressing does make the overall size seem smaller than it really is.
• While the La Opulencia cigars were originally scheduled to ship earlier in September, the shipments were slightly delayed due to Hurricane Irma.
• There is a very noticeable decrease in complexity during the second third of this blend in this specific size, something that was consistent on all three samples I smoked. Having said that, the flavors pick back up nicely during the final third third.
• Including the green ribbon foot band, the three bands take up more than three-quarters of the entire cigar in this specific vitola, although larger sizes are obviously impacted less.
• Overall, the construction overall was extremely good, with only two samples needing one touchup each: one in the second third, and one in the final third. In addition, the draw was close to perfect regardless on whether I used a straight cut or v-cut.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• The final smoking time for all three samples averaged just under one hour at 56 minutes..
• If you would like to purchase any of the My Father La Opulencia cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar, Corona Cigar Co., Elite Cigar Cafe (972.661.9136), JR Cigar, Payless Cigars & Pipes and STOGIES World Class Cigars have them in stock.