Alec Bradley Tempus

I have been spending a lot of time on twitter lately and today’s suggestion comes from a regular reader of acigarsmoker.com via suggestion from the social networking platform. I was surprised to see that I had not done a review of this very hyped smoke that has scored big in magazines around the globe. The word Tempus means time which is important when creating a fine cigar.

Cigar: Alec Bradley Tempus
Origin: Honduras
Size: Nova Terra 5×50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Honduras Criollo 98
Binder: Honduras Criollo 98
Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua

Appearance & Construction (20/20): For me this is where a band on a cigar is important. I have been smoking these cigars before I was aware of the reviews because I was attracted to the band. It is a little big, but the gold and purple is eye catching. When we get down to the wrapper of cigar you can tell this is a high end premium cigar. The triple cap and flawless roll draw your eye to this chocolate colored wrapper that has a touch of reddish hues.  The cigar has plenty of oils and upon close inspection there is a silkiness about the wrapper. The wrapper is nearly flawless with only a minimal amount of veins.

Flavor & Notes (28/30): The criollo wrapper for me has a very distinct richness about it, and most of the time that is enjoyable. This is one of those cigars where it is enjoyable. The 1st third of the smoke features a very rich earth note with some wood and nuts in the background.  As we get to the 2nd third of the smoke I beginning to pick up some cocoa with faint spices as wood becomes the dominant note. We finish the smoke with notes of earth, spices and some nuts. I am not a huge fan of cigars that have so much earth in the flavor, but with this cigar it really works for me.

Burn/Ash/Draw (22/25): When I smoke a cigar for review I tend to smoke 2 cigars unless it is so rare I try to get away with smoking just one. In the past I never had a draw issue with the Tempus, but both smokes were a little tight on the draw. It was annoying, but I was able to get through it. The ash was a medium gray that held on tightly and I only lost the ash when I made the decision to loose it. The first third of the cigar I had a little bit of a burn issue, but a quick touch up corrected it and I was fine til the nub of this smoke.

Overall (23/25): When I geared up for this review I was asked if I felt the cigar was over-hyped. I feel it was, and the 94 that Aficionado was a little bit crazy. But when I sat down and crunched the numbers I guess they weren’t that far off after all. Despite all the hype and industry buzz this cigar is very good and it is worth keeping a few on hand

Rating: 93
Price: $9.00