Powstanie SBC 20

Through the years, there have been an untold number of cigars that were either named after, inspired by or meant to honor specific people, or even an entire group of people. For example, Davidoff’s AVO brand was inspired by Avo Uvezian, My Father released a cigar named Garcia & Garcia after the company’s owners, and the names of the original six vitolas in Tatuaje’s Brown Label line spell out H-U-N-T-E-R, a reference to one of company founder Pete Johnson’s dogs.

Another cigar creation in that vein is the Powstanie SBC Series—or, Surrounded by Champions—which debuted in 2016 with the appropriately named Powstanie SBC 16. At the time, it was the brand’s first limited edition creation that brothers Greg and Mike Szczepankewicz stated was a tribute to those who helped them establish the Powstanie brand.

The first release set the tone for the series in a number of ways, including the vitola—which has not changed from a 5 1/2 x 46 corona gorda—and the total production numbers, which have remained the same across all three SBC additions so far. In addition, each of the SBC cigars has been barber pole cigars—albeit made with different blends—that have been rolled at Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A. located in Estili, Nicaragua.

That initial release was followed by the SBC 18 in 2018 but it took four years for Powstanie to begin shipping the newest addition named SBC 20, a 5 1/2 x 46 barber pole cigar made up of Ecuadorian habano as the primary wrapper with Brazilian mata fina as the accenting wrapper. Internally, both the binder and filler tobaccos were grown in Nicaragua.

 

“It’s important to recognize that great accomplishments require the team to be successful,” said the company in a press release. “Too often we see success only as a face of a single man. Surrounded by Champions is a cigar that pays homage to the people that made Powstanie possible. The main ingredient of greatness is the rest of the team.”

There have been three releases so far in Powstanie SBC Series.

The SBC 20 has an MSRP of $18 each and according to Mike Szczepankewicz, all of the cigars were rolled in July 2021.

• Cigar Reviewed: Powstanie SBC 20
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A.
• Wrapper: Brazil (Mata Fina) & Ecuador (Habano)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 46
• Vitola: Corona Gorda
• MSRP: $18 (Box of 20, $360)
• Release Date: January 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 250 Boxes of 20 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

While the contrasting blue and red colors of the band are hard to miss, the rustic, pale milk chocolate brown wrapper is attractive in its own way, even with the multitude of protruding veins and small bumps running up and down its length. The stripes of tobacco are not as noticeable as I would have expected—and certainly not as noticeable as they were on the previous two releases—and the cigar is extremely firm when squeezed. Notes of generic wood, leather, sweet hay, barnyard and nuts greet me as I bring the wrapper to my nose, all of which are relatively light. The foot is another matter altogether, with very distant aromas of apple juice sweetness followed by cedar, leather tack, black pepper and espresso beans. I decide to straight cut the cigars, leading to a cold draw full of sweet apple cider, creamy cedar, cocoa nibs, cashews, leather and earth.

The foot of the Powstanie SBC 20 is exceedingly easy to light, and the flavors are almost as easy to place: peanut shells and an aggressive spice start the profile on its journey, and while the former note remains on top of the profile for the entire first third, the spice begins the wane almost immediately. Secondary flavors of cocoa nibs, nutmeg, dry hay, coffee beans and a floral note make themselves known at various points, while two of the samples include a slight vegetal note that reminds me of cucumber on the finish, albeit never for very long. The retrohale features both black pepper and a small amount of brown sugar, both of which seem to be increasing as the first third burns down. Flavor ends the first third just under medium, while the body is at mild plus and the strength is close to medium and rising. Each part of the construction—burn, draw and smoke production—are working in harmony so far with nary an issue for any of the cigars so far.

There is a major change in the profile during the second third as the main flavor shifts from peanut shells to a full note of charred meat. Additional notes of mesquite wood, leather, plain rice, cinnamon, espresso beans and bitter dark chocolate fight for space as well, while the combination of black pepper and brown sugar sweetness on the retrohale has increased in strength slightly. Flavor hits a solid medium and is still increasing, body is under medium and the strength stalls out at medium. Construction-wise, one of the samples runs into a large enough problem to need attention from my lighter—although it is fine after that, and the other two cigars have not issues whatsoever—while both the draw and smoke production continue along they excellent path.

Charred meat remains the main flavor in the profile during the final third—and stays that way until the end of the cigar—with notes of espresso beans, creamy hay, cloves, leather, citrus peel and earth following close behind. There is also a significant change on the retrohale, where the brown sugar sweetness easily overwhelms the black pepper to become a major player in the profile. Flavor ends the cigar at medium plus, body hits a solid medium and the strength barely passes the medium mark before stalling out. In terms of construction, the cigar that ran into issues with the burn evens up nicely, but unfortunately, the other two samples take its place leading to minor corrections for both, while the draw and smoke production have no issues whatsoever until I put the nub down with less than an inch remaining.

Final Notes

• In addition to the Powstanie cigar brand, the Szczepankewicz brothers also happen to own the Deltona, Fla.-based retailer Cigar Hustler as well as the distribution company Pospiech, Inc.
• The Powstanie SBC 16 won 10th place in halfwheel’s 2016 Packaging Awards while the Powstanie SBC 18 took 12th place in halfwheel’s Top 25 of 2018.
• I have to say, I love the combination of colors used for the bands on the three releases so far. If I had to guess, I would think that yellow would be on deck for the next incarnation, if there is one.
• Mike Szczepankewicz did not commit to whether there would be an SBC 22 release.
• For those who might be wondering, I did not notice a substantial difference in the overall profile when the burn line hit the darker tobacco stripes.
• If the Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A. factory sounds familiar, it may be because that is where all of the RoMa Craft Tobac cigars are produced.
• Construction was quite good overall: the draw on all three samples were fantastic after simple straight cuts, there was plenty of smoke product and while each sample needed a correction with my lighter, they were all extremely minor in nature.
• Cigar Hustler advertises of halfwheel.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time averaged one hour and 39 minutes for all three samples.