I first learned about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) through cigars. It was 2010 and the cigar blogosphere was very different. A few years before, Jerry Cruz, one of the founders of Stogie Review, lost his son JJ to the disease. In celebration of his birthday, July 22, Barry Stein of A Cigar Smoker organized a fundraiser that involved smoking the Don Pepín García Serie JJ. Eventually, My Father Cigars, Inc. got involved and created a special cigar that would raise money for two different SIDS-focused charities.

A few months ago, I was reminded of SIDS and cigars during a phone call with Sanj Patel, who owns Sanj’s Smoke Shop, a retail store in Bloomfield, N.J., as well as the SP1014 brand. 

One of the new SP1014s for 2024 is a cigar created to commemorate what would have been the 20th birthday of his daughter, who was also lost to SIDS. That cigar is the Antra, a 7 x 43 lonsdale-like size that is made by Tabacalera Díaz Cabrera, using seven different types of tobacco, some of which is more than a decade old though none of the varietals were disclosed.

Patel said that he is donating all of his profits from the sale of Antra to SIDS-related charities.

  • Cigar Reviewed: SP1014 Antra
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: Tabacalera Díaz Cabrera
  • Wrapper: Undisclosed
  • Binder: Undisclosed
  • Filler: Undisclosed
  • Length: 7 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 43
  • Shape: Round
  • MSRP: $14 (Box of 10, $140)
  • Release Date: May 2024
  • Number of Cigars Released: 2,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (25,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

These are not the three prettiest cigars. Despite not having all that much surface area, there are gnarly-looking veins on two of the three cigars, including one that is located just to the side of the main band. Moments like this are a reminder that cigar factories typically train their workers to put the best-looking part of the cigar on the center plane, something that might have happened with that one cigar, though that probably was an impossible task given how rough that particular cut of wrapper looks. The aromas from the wrappers are pretty mild—the third cigar is medium—with a wintergreen gum smell, an aroma that reminds me a bit of tarter sauce and a very distinct dill smell, though again, the aromas are pretty mild. The covered feet remind me more or less of the wrapper, though two cigars have a bit of a barbecue potato chip smell. Cold draws are all over the place. The first cigar has multiple knots, including what feels like two distinct ones in the area where the bands are applied, and therefore a tight draw with chocolate, leather, orange, woodiness and some black pepper, around medium-full. The second cigar is also quite tight, but flavor-wise is smoother with sweet woods leading a chocolate ice cream and some barnyard, again around medium-full. The third cigar has the best draw. The first cold draw has a very sharp white pepper, though it’s not present on any subsequent attempts, instead, those have a dry raisin bagel flavor with a sweet cinnamon, dry earthiness and a touch of nuttiness.

I notice the covered foot and adjust my lighting ritual to be five or so seconds longer than when I normally would have stopped to help make sure I get through the wrapper and ignite the filler. With the first cigar, I don’t do that long enough and while I’m able to get a crisp earthiness, sweet cocoa and some pepper, I quickly realize that I need to pick up my lighter again. For the second and third cigars, I spend much longer and am able to get the cigars fully lit on the first attempt. Flavor-wise, the second cigar has lots of campfire woodiness with saltiness and white pepper, though, like the first cigar, the draw is very tight. The third cigar has a good draw and I’m able to get some dry earth over dry chocolate powder, red pepper, sourness and leather. Only a handful of minutes into the first and second cigars, I’m able to tell that things are not only problematic but also unlikely to get better. The various knots that are scattered throughout the cigars have produced draws that are plugged. Yes, there’s plenty of smoke coming off the foot. Yes, I’m able to get cigars through the other end of the cigars. No, I’m not really enjoying any of this. Flavor-wise, those cigars have lots of woodiness with metallic and sour flavors that are sometimes barely present but oftentimes wreck the flavor profile. The third cigar avoids those issues and shows lots of grain flavors over some creaminess, sugary sweetness, dry cocoa and leather. It finishes with brown rice, earthiness, dry crackers and a mild amount of bubble gum sweetness. At times, that cigar has a creamy element, but it’s not present all that much. Retrohaling the first cigar doesn’t do much to shake the metallic and sour elements, though the second cigar is able to have a toasty profile with some dry rice and leather breaking through. On the third cigar, it’s a sweet bark and leather sensation before finishing with a tartar sauce-like creaminess and a defined pepper flavor, though it too is still harsher than I’d like it to be. Flavor is close to full, body is medium and strength is medium-full on the first two cigars, though not even medium on the final cigar. Beyond the draw issues, the first two cigars struggle with combustion and need regular touch-ups to prevent them from going out, the third cigar avoids all of those issues and is performing quite well.

During the first hour and 45 minutes of the first cigar, there were just a few burn issues. Unfortunately, the hour and 45 minutes is how long it takes to get through the first third of the first cigar. The second cigar is burning slightly quicker, though it’s still a mess. Flavor-wise, the bunching issues have rendered this cigar overly harsh with a touch of sourness. The less clawing flavors include woodiness, wheat bread. black pepper and some sweetness, but none of those sensations are able to escape the harsh and sour aspects. Fortunately, the third SP1014 Antra I smoke avoids those issues. It has a dry and salty earthiness that edges out the grain flavors, with some creaminess and minuteness underneath. During the finish, saltiness picks up, though there’s also a sweeter nuttiness along with leather, earthiness and a reduced amount of pepper. Retrohaling the second cigar is pleasant: nuttiness and leather with brown rice and creaminess mixed in. The third cigar is better: leather, dry earthiness and sawdust—all much crisper than the other two cigars. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength varies between medium-full and full. The two cigars with bad draws are the stronger of the two, more on that below. Construction-wise, all three cigars require at least a couple of touch-ups, though the second cigar needs assistance from the lighter every 10 or so minutes.

While the second cigar doesn’t improve in the final third, it’s a much better experience than the first cigar’s closing stage. The draw gets much worse, presumably due to the location of the knots and the flavor profile ends up even harsher and more sour. The final third is each cigar’s worse section, though like before, the third cigar is doing a lot better. Dry hay, leather and dry earthiness leading some sweetness and a milder pepper. The touch-ups have taken their toll and a toastiness is beginning to mute the complexities. During the finish, there’s some sweetness before the dry toastiness, pepper burn and nuttiness come in. Retrohales are all over the place: the first cigar tastes like the flavors in the mouth, the second cigar has some floral flavors and nuttiness, and the third cigar has deep meatiness joining the sawdust. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is full, though its impact varies. With the first two cigars, I’ve had more nicotine than I’d like, while the third cigar isn’t making me sick. All three cigars need more touch-ups to get to the end and the draws don’t noticeably improve.

Final Notes

  • The colors used for the band are colors used by SIDS charities and advocacy groups.
  • The worst part of reviewing cigars is having to review bad cigars. As I’ve written before: I don’t want to smoke a bad cigar and I certainly don’t want to smoke a bad cigar and then smoke another bad cigar from the same box the next day. I also don’t want to write about smoking bad cigars or dealing with the fallout from reviews like this.
  • This is exponentially worse when the cigar is named after someone’s deceased child.
  • In this case, the issues were pretty clear: bunching and quality control. A simple inspection of the cylinders of the first and second third would have easily found that these cigars had at least three knots each, and in the case of the first cigar, two different knots near the bands. The cigars should have been rejected.
  • We don’t pick the specific cigars that get reviewed. Typically, Brooks will photograph the box and then select a few. Unless there’s any obvious visible damage, these are more or less random cigars.
  • I’m not sure it would have mattered here. After I finished smoking the cigars, I inspected the remaining cigars in the box. Six of the seven had knots in the area of the bands. None of them seemed as bad as the first cigar, though the second cigar wasn’t as bad as the first cigar.
  • I have found a correlation between cigars that are plugged and me feeling nicotine sick at the end of a cigar. There are lots of potential reasons why this happens—more puffs, greater nicotine extraction due to temperature, the air ratio of the smoke—but these three cigars showed the issue. I felt the effects after the first two cigars but didn’t have an ounce of that reaction after the final cigar.
  • Given Eladio Díaz’s reputation during his time at Davidoff, I’m surprised by the quality control issues I’ve found in some, but not all, of the cigars that I’ve smoked from Tabacalera Díaz Cabrera.

  • Which leads to the above. The cigars are marketed as 7 x 43. Given the pigtails, I’m willing to have some grace for the length variances. However, these cigars aren’t consistent in any aspect. Of note, the third cigar—the thinnest and lightest—was the one that didn’t have the bunching issues.
  • After taking more than 90 minutes to get through the first third of the first cigar, the final smoking time ended at three hours and 10 minutes. That was more or less the same time for the second cigar, but the not-plugged third cigar took only two hours and 30 minutes.
74 Overall Score

This is a great but unfortunate example of construction issues destroying a cigar’s chance at shining. While I’m not sure there’s a definitive definition of “plugged,” the first and second cigars would meet any version of that description that didn’t require the cigars to be unsmokeable. Multiple obvious knots on both of those cigars created very unpleasant experiences. The third cigar was much better, but it wasn’t without more than a half dozen touch-ups, largely to deal with dwindling smoke production, though the burn lines could get uneven at times. The end result is very simple: I don’t know what this blend was supposed to taste like, but it probably wasn't what I got.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.