Quesada Oktoberfest Das Brauhaus

At the 2015 IPCPR Convention and Trade Show, Quesada introduced not one, but two brand new vitolas in the Oktoberfest line, which originally debuted back in 2011: the Double Bock, a 7 x 47 churchill and the Das Brauhaus, a 4 1/2 x 60 double perfecto with a clean cut foot and a pigtail.

However, the Oktoberfest name is about the only thing that these two new sizes have in common with the rest of the line, as they replace an all Dominican blend from the original cigars with an all-Nicaraguan blend. In addition, the two new cigars are produced at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua as opposed to the rest of the line, which is produced at Quesada Cigars factory in the Dominican Republic.

While the Double Bock is limited to 10,000 cigars packaged in boxes in boxes of 10, the Das Brauhaus is packaged in boxes of 24 that are built to look like houses. Pricing for the Das Brauhaus is $7.50 and it will be limited to 500 boxes while the suggested retail price of the Double Bock is $8.95.

With the addition of the Double Bock and the Das Brauhaus, there are now 13 different vitolas in the Oktoberfest line.

• Oktoberfest Über (6 x 65) — $8.95 (Boxes of 20, $179.00) — 2011 — 1,000 Boxes of 20 Cigars (20,000 Total Cigars)*
• Oktoberfest Bavarian (5 1/2 x 52) — $7.95 (Boxes of 20, $159.00) — 2011 — 1,000 Boxes of 20 Cigars (20,000 Total Cigars)*
• Oktoberfest Das Boot (6 x 52) — $8.50 (Boxes of 20, $170.00) — 2012 — 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)*
• Oktoberfest Kaiser Ludwig (6 x 49) — $9.50 (Boxes of 20, $190.00) —2012 — 750 Boxes of 20 Cigars (15,000 Total Cigars)*
• Oktoberfest Kurz (4 x 50) — $7.25 (Boxes of 20, $145.00) — 2012 — 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)*
• Quesada Oktoberfest Krone (5 x 43) — $7.25 (Boxes of 20, $145.00) — 2013 — 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Oktoberfest Event Cigar (2013) (5 1/2 x 56) — 2013 — Event Only*
• Quesada Oktoberfest Mircroblend Series Dunkel (6 x 54) — $8.95 (Boxes of 20, $134.25) — 2013 — 750 Boxes of 15 Cigars (11,250 Total Cigars)*
• Quesada Oktoberfest Lancero (7 x 38) — n/a — 2013 — 10 Boxes of 20 Cigars (200 Total Cigars)*
• Quesada Oktoberfest Salomon Press (6 3/4 x 50/33) — n/a — 2014 — Event Only
• Quesada Oktoberfest Präsident (7 x 50) — $7.50 (Boxes of 10, $74.95) — 2015 — 500 boxes of 10 cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Oktoberfest Das Brauhaus (4 1/2 x 60) — $7.50 (Boxes of 24, $180) — 2015 — 500 Boxes of 24 Cigars (12,000 Total Cigars)
• Oktoberfest Double Bock (7 x 47) — $8.75 (Boxes of 10, $87.50) — 2015 — 1,000 Boxes of 10 (10,000 Total Cigars)

• Cigar Reviewed: Quesada Oktoberfest Das Brauhaus
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 4 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 60
• Vitola: Double Perfecto
• MSRP: $7.50 (Boxes of 24, $180)
• Release Date: August 2015
• Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 24 Cigars (12,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Oktoberfest Das Brauhaus is covered in a dark mocha brown wrapper that has a bit of tooth to it, along with a slight sheen of oil. It is extremely dense and features coiled pigtail on the cap along with a cut foot. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of manure, barnyard, hay, dark chocolate and leather, while the cold draw brings flavors of wood, spice, leather, earth, dark chocolate and bitter coffee.

After taking a while to get lit, the cigar starts out with a very creamy earthy core interspersed with fragrant oak, leather, popcorn, grass, dark cocoa and espresso beans. There is some significant pepper on the retrohale for the first 15 puffs or so, but it recedes quickly after that, leaving just a ghost behind. I am noticing some generic sweetness on both the palate and retrohale, but it is not overly strong as of yet and I can’t really place what it reminds me of. The draw starts off a bit tight, but opens up nicely after about 20 minutes and the burn is fine without being razor sharp. Smoke production is moderate, and the overall strength hits a point just below medium by the end of the first third.

The sweetness in the blend takes a step forward in the second third of the Quesada, reminding me strongly of vanilla beans, while the creamy earthy core remains. Following close behind are flavors of cashews, oak, leather, wheat, coffee and chocolate. There is a noticeable increase in the black pepper on the retrohale, as well as a new touch of spice on my tongue, and the smoke production has bumped up a bit as well. Construction-wise, the draw is still quite good, while the burn is a bit wavy, albeit not bad enough to have to touch up at any point. The overall strength is starts out the third below the medium mark, but finally goes over by the end of the second third.

The final third of the Das Brauhaus mirrors the second third in many ways, including the dominant creamy, earthy note interspersed with flavors of oak, espresso beans, dark cocoa, leather, hay and anise. The vanilla bean sweetness is still present on the retrohale, as is some black pepper, but both are noticeably reduced from the second third, albeit still a significant part of the profile. The spice on my tongue is long gone, and the smoke production remains fairly consistent. Both the burn and draw give me no issues at all, but the strength seems to stall at a point just slightly higher than medium by the time I put the nub down with less than an inch left.

Final Notes:

• The first thing I thought of when I saw this vitola was that it bears a striking resemblance to the Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Flying Pig and Liga Privada Feral Flying Pig. The Quesada is 4 1/2 inches, while the Flying Pig is 4 1/8 versus the Feral Pig’s 5 3/8 inches.
• Putting cigars in boxes built to look like buildings is nothing new: in fact, La Flor Dominicana released a box modeled after a tobacco curing barn in 2011.
• While I am not a big fan of pairing cigars and beer, I smoked one of these with an Paulaner Oktoberfest and I have to say, they go very well together with the beer bringing out a bit more of the sweetness in profile of the cigar.
• On the vast majority of cigars that have a pigtail like this, I simply pull the pigtail off and start smoking, and that worked great for two out of the three samples I smoked. However, with one of the samples the draw was a bit tight after utilizing this method, forcing me to actually cut the cap which gave me the resistance I was looking for.
• The final smoking time for all three samples averaged one hour and 45 minutes.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Quesada Cigars is an advertiser on halfwheel.
• Site sponsors  Atlantic Cigar, JR Cigars and Serious Cigars all have the Oktoberfest Das Brauhaus in stock.