Quesada Oktoberfest Triple Bock

Six years ago, Quesada had two pretty radical ideas. First was the Casa Magna Domus Magnus, which debuted in some radical sizes. The other was the Quesada Oktoberfest, which debuted in two sizes, though most people only remember a 6 x 65 parejo known as The Über.

At the time, the popularity of 7 x 70s was still a couple years away and as such the massive 6 x 65 size was seen by many, yours truly included, as just too big. Now in its sixth year, the Quesada Oktoberfest has 18 different vitolas made in two different countries and technically three different locations as the line was originally produced at Quesada’s old factory before the company moved in 2012.

This year the company added two new sizes to the line, including the Triple Bock, a 6 x 56 version of the Double Bock which debuted last year. The cigars are Nicaraguan puros packaged in 24-count boxes that are made to look like older German houses. There are a lot of ways to tell the cigars apart, including the secondary bands, the size and the roof of the box, which is blue for 2016 instead of black.

• 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 Über (6 x 65) — $8.95 (Boxes of 20, $179.00) — 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 Obskur (6 3/4 x 56) — $7.75 (Boxes of 10, $77.50) — 2014 — n/a*
• Quesada Oktoberfest Perfekto (5 3/4 x 52) — $9.35 (Boxes of 20, $187) — 2014 — n/a*
• Quesada Oktoberfest Double Bock (7 x 47) — $8.75 (Boxes of 10, $87.50) — 2015 — 1,000 Boxes of 10 (10,000 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)
• 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 The Marshall (9 x 60) — $19.95 (Boxes of 10, $199.50) — 2015 — 10 Boxes of 10 Cigars (100 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Oktoberfest The Kugel (5 x 38/58/44) — $7.50 (Boxes of 10, $75) — 2016 — 1,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Oktoberfest Triple Bock (6 x 56) — $9.50 (Boxes of 24, $228) — 2016 — 500 Boxes of 24 Cigars (12,000 Total Cigars)

*Not pictured.

• Cigar Reviewed: Quesada Oktoberfest Triple Bock
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 56
• Vitola: Toro Gordo
• MSRP: $9.50 (Boxes of 24, $228)
• Release Date: July 28, 2016
• Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 24 Cigars (12,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

I rather like the red secondary band on this release; perhaps it’s just the switch from the sea of blue, but I think it accentuates the dark, veiny wrapper pretty well. Aroma off the Nicaraguan wrapper has lots of chocolate gelato and some slight hints of manure. The foot is unique, smelling like a bourbon barrel-aged milk chocolate stout with notes of oak barrels, chocolate and lactose. There’s another oak flavor that separates from the larger beer note, which creates an odd sensation. The cold draw has cocoa, orange peel, chocolate bar and black licorice, all around the medium level.

All three Triple Bocks begin with the same open draw, which isn’t ideal. Flavor-wise, there’s toastiness and a mild earthiness—and that’s it. Unfortunately, the draw seems to be affecting the smoke production, which is odd given there is a full on campfire of smoke coming from the foot of the cigar. Fortunately, the flavor profile gets much better with pecan ice cream, burnt butter, a smooth toastiness and a watered down hot chocolate note. One cigar has some soggy french fries, though all three cigars have a bold toastiness. Flavor is medium-plus, strength is medium and body is medium-plus.

A spice emerges on the lips of this Nicaraguan-born Oktoberfest, but the bigger trend is the earthiness which is now front, center and whatever space on the map of my palate is left. There’s a red and green pepper mixture on the tip of the tongue, but it’s contained and mild. On the finish, a big creaminess emerges with some sawdust, though it’s not enough to overtake the earthiness. Strength has picked up to medium-full, but otherwise things remain the same, including the very loose draw.

I’m a bit surprised taking retrohales in the final third of the Quesada Oktoberfest Triple Bock. All of a sudden, the cigar becomes substantially more intense. It’s more overpowering than harsh and delivers some detailed flavors of grapefruit and bitter bread. In one way, it’s a break from the earth party that’s continuing in my mouth; on the other hand, I can’t take more than a handful of retrohales in the final third. In addition to said earthiness is some smooth cinnamon, Ritz crackers, white pepper and a distinct finish of latte coffee.

Final Notes

• Bock is a style of German beer, triple bock would be a higher ABV version of the base bock.
• Samuel Adams produced a beer called Triple Bock in the mid-1990s. It was an extremely strong beer at 17.5 percent ABV. Brian Burt reviewed a bottle two years ago when we launched our beer site, Tenemu. It tasted awful.
• Interestingly, Samuel Adams said the beer was more port wine than beer, plus it came corked. Samuel Adams produces a beer called Utopia, which retails for $200 and has an ABV generally in the 27-30 percent range, i.e., almost as strong as your typical hard liquor.
• I went to the Munich Oktoberfest in 2013, I was thoroughly disappointed though I did get to watch Borussia Dortmund win at the Allianz Arena—albeit against 1860 Munich.
• If the goal is to pair this with Oktoberfest, err Märzen, beer, then mission accomplished. The Oktoberfest has a ton of flavor, enough to stand up to just about any beer that Germany or any other country puts out. Though, like just about every cigar, I’d shy away from pairing this with a sour or gose.
• Due to FDA regulations, select retailers were shipped future versions of the Oktoberfest with 2017 and other bands.
• While the profile isn’t my cup of tea, I give the Quesadas and Plasencias a lot of credit. Despite the fact that this blend is a Nicaraguan puro, it tastes very similar to the Dominican-made version, which contains no Nicaraguan tobacco.
• Smoke production is gigantic, but the draw was just too loose for me.
• In the final third, full retrohales deliver a very intense flavor. Almost too taxing, though the flavors it delivers are very nice.

• I managed to make it through the first two thirds of the final sample with only a slight touch-up and then I looked down and saw something bizarre. A circle, less than a half-inch in diameter, had burned through below the burn line. I am not sure exactly how that happened, other than the obvious explanation that the wrapper was not burning in tune with the rest of the cigar.
• Quesada advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 25 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Cigar.com list the Quesada Oktoberfest Triple Bock in stock. Corona Cigar Co. carries the Triple Bock, but is out of stock at the time of this review.