Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023

If there’s a word about words that I really love, it’s portmanteau. Not only is it kind of fun to say, but it also reminds me that languages are living, breathing, evolving things that adapt to the needs, wants and realities of their speakers and their world.

It’s also the word that was the first thing that came to mind when thinking about this cigar, as a portmanteau is the combination of two other words to create a new one, many of which have become so common that they stop being seen as unique. For instance, motel is a combination of motor and hotel, and brunch is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch.

In the case of this cigar, J.C. Newman created a portmanteau from one of its cigar lines (Brick House) and an annual fall festival (Oktoberfest) to create the Bricktoberfest, an offshoot limited edition line with roots that go back to 2017 when the company ran a sales promotion that gave customers a branded beer stein if they purchased seven Brick House cigars at participating retailers.

In 2022, a new cigar was launched called the Brick House Bricktoberfest, a 6 x 52 toro with a pigtail cap and an all-Nicaraguan blend, notably a wrapper from Jalapa and dual binders from Estelí and Condega. This marked a departure from the regular Brick House blend, which uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler.

For its second release, the company kept the 6 x 52 toro and its pigtail cap, but used an Ecuadorian habano rosado wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler. It’s a blend that the company says is designed to be paired with the märzen-style beer that is commonly consumed during Oktoberfest.

Production numbers were not disclosed, but the cigars are offered in boxes of 10, with each cigar having an MSRP of $10.

 

“My grandfather, J.C. Newman, was born in the only house made out of brick in a small village in Austria-Hungary,” said Eric Newman in a press release. “He lived with his family on the second floor while the first floor was the local tavern and general store. The ‘Brick House’ cigar label depicts his family’s home. My ancestors gathered in the original ‘brick house’ to relax and celebrate with beer and cigars 150 years ago, and Bricktoberfest is the perfect way to celebrate the season with beer and Brick House cigars today.”

The company also kept the beer stein promotion going, with customers receiving a Brick House-branded stein if they purchased five of the Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023 cigars from participating retailers.

• Cigar Reviewed: Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: J.C. Newman PENSA
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano Rosado)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $10 (Box of 10 Cigars, $100)
• Release Date: September 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

One of the first things I notice about the Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023 is the lack of a secondary band, which previous editions had. I bring that up for two reasons: first, I was looking at the article about the cigar to make sure I had the right one and immediately noticed the band’s absence; second, the lack of a secondary band makes the cigar look like any other Brick House, a bit of a disappointment and one of those reasons I like to keep some blank bands on hand. The cigars are all fairly firm, though the delicate wrapper suggests I shouldn’t squeeze any of them too hard during my inspection. Those leaves are dry and matte with no oiliness, giving them a fine texture on my fingers. There are no notable issues with how the cigars are rolled, as the seams are flat and the heads are well-constructed. My only gripe might be the relative fragility of the fan cap, as each of the three sent to me from our office seems to have chipped a bit. The foot has a bread-laden aroma, mainly wheat, but some other varietals on either side of that descriptor. One cigar has a much drier aroma that leads me to crackers, dry tobacco, and a bit of pepper, all of which tingle my nose fairly vigorously. The cold draw on two cigars is smooth with a texture that makes me want to call it slightly oily, even though it doesn’t taste anything along those lines. Glossy is another word that comes to mind, yet that feels a bit off as well, leading me to the kind of slickness I’d find on a Jolly Rancher or some similar kind of candy. The third is a bit more run-of-the-mill, coming in just on the firm side of average. It takes a second or two for the flavor to come out, and when they do, I get a surprising sensation reminiscent of red chili pepper, followed by a bit of black pepper, then whatever bread or cracker flavor I found in the aroma.

The Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023 starts off with a lot of toast and light pepper in a light-bodied smoke, with a first retrohale adding even more pepper seemingly to make sure nostrils were sufficiently stimulated. About half an inch in, some creaminess starts to rise up and join the profile, giving the cigar another layer of flavor as well as giving the smoke some additional body. That addition gets the cigar in a great place at the one-inch mark when the ash starts to signal it’s time to get tapped off, and things really get going once I take a retrohale of the cigar, which delivers some clean, nostril-tingling black pepper. After a few puffs of this new profile, some light wood and mixed nuts join the profile, while just a touch of earth gives the previously light body a bit more weight than it has offered thus far. One cigar—the one with the firmest draw—adds a bit of burn matchstick at the very end of this section, seemingly showing how this cigar falters when construction isn’t ideal. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium, and strength is fairly mild thus far. Construction is very good, with a smooth draw, plenty of smoke, and an even burn line.

The second third starts on much the same foot as the first third, though I find more detail and nuance in the retrohales. There is still plenty of pepper, but the wheat bread is toasted and I can almost feel the little crunches of the bread as I exhale the smoke. Likewise, a bit of peanut shines in certain puffs, as does creaminess in one cigar, where it is one of the lead contributors to the profile. There is still a lot of pepper present, as my nostrils tingle with each retrohale, almost to the point where I wonder if I’ll need to refrain from doing so for a bit. It’s certainly not overkill from the cigar, but given that the Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023 hasn’t let up with pepper through the nose, it is becoming a bit much. As the second half of the cigar gets underway, the flavors seem to be mellowing just a bit, meshing together and, in the process, losing some of their individual identities that defined the first half. The pepper also hits my nostrils with some new sensations, delivering the more engulfing heat and tingling sensation I associate with ligero tobaccos. The change shifts the balance of intensity back to retrohales, as my tastebuds get a bit less intensity as the flavor continues to lose some definition from the individual components. Flavor finishes around medium, but retrohales can push it to medium-full, while body is medium-plus and strength is medium-minus. Construction is still very good, as none of the three cigars have any inherent problems, though the combustion rate feels like it’s changing and beginning to require more frequent puffs.

Just a bit of the stronger, ligero-like flavor I was picking up in the retrohales has made its way to the taste buds as the Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023 gets into its final third. I find myself both puzzled and fascinated by how the flavor has changed, condensing with just a bit of firewood and wheat bread standing out, leaving the pepper to deliver most of the recognizable flavor sensations. That said, the flavor still coats my taste buds with a creamy texture to the smoke, though there’s not much creaminess in the flavor at the moment. Each puff in the final third produces a thick cloud of dense smoke, and it seems the cigars are now on a bit different puffing schedule, going out a bit quicker and necessitating some relights after otherwise burning near flawlessly. The final puffs bring about an even fuller flavor, though with far less detail than before, as if all the flavors have been condensed and stewed together for so long that it’s impossible to pick out the individual components. There is still some pepper that is immediately noticeable, as it tingles the front of my tongue, while retrohales offer some stimulation for my nostrils, albeit with a bit less vigor than earlier. Flavor is medium-full, body is full, and strength feels like it’s increasing, though I don’t feel anything hitting me as I put the cigar down besides my lips tingling from the heat and one last peppery puff. Construction remains very good now that I have started smoking the cigar a bit quicker, with the burn line and smoke production still very good.

Final Notes

• I didn’t get the chance to smoke one of these with a märzen beer, so I can’t comment on just how well that pairing works.
• I also haven’t smoked a regular production Brick House in a while, so I can’t provide an opinion on just how this differs from that blend.
• Brooks Whittington reviewed the Brick House Bricktoberfest 2022, which is a different blend than the Bricktoberfest 2023.
• Given my other career in baseball, one of my other favorite portmanteaus is Rocktober, which is what the Colorado Rockies call it when they make the playoffs. Unfortunately for Rockies fans, it’s been a few years since they’ve gotten to use it, as the Rockies last made the playoffs in 2018.
• It’s a bit frustrating to see the promotional materials for the Bricktoberfest featuring the secondary bands, yet the cigars showed up without them. I really believe that special releases like this deserve that extra band denoting what the cigar is.
• The boxes still say Bricktoberfest on them, yet there is no year indicated from what I could tell, as I haven’t had one in my hands.
• J.C. Newman Cigar Co.’s advertising campaign for Brick House when it was released still sticks with me, promoting the idea that an enjoyable time could be had with just $5 to purchase a Brick House cigar and a comfortable chair in which to enjoy it.

• I have to give J.C. Newman credit for using the back of the band to further engage with the person smoking the cigar.
• While I didn’t pick up any appreciable nicotine strength from the Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023 while smoking it, once I put the first cigar down I could feel some lingering effects. Not outright wooziness, but enough lightheadedness that I ended up having about half a teaspoon of white sugar to try and neutralize the effect. The other two cigars didn’t hit me with that same strength.
• J.C. Newman advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 15 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Corona Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop carry the Brick House Bricktoberfest 2023.