Micky Pegg is somewhat of a guy who is starting over from the bottom. After many years in the business, he took an exit only to get back in and start his own brand: All Saints Cigars. But he is making good strides as he builds his empire. Last year, All Saints finished at number two (or the Ricky Bobby award if you ask Micky) on our 2021 Cigar of the Year list behind fellow Nicaraguan cigar Undercrown 10 Toro from Drew Estate with the St. Francis Robusto. At TPE we saw the Dedicacion Habano collection in its final form and since then, the Dedicacion Habano has been one of our favorites this year. The Habano is an addition to the existing Dedicacion line which uses a San Andreas Mexican Maduro wrapper.
Like it’s San Andreas counterpart, the Habano is available in the following sizes:
-
Vesper – 4 1/2 x 44
-
Berkey – 5 1/2/ x 50
-
Mitre – 5 x 54
-
Commandant – 6 1/2 x 52
-
Huge – 6 x 60
-
Coach – 7 x 48
The Mitre size was already available in the original Dedicacion blend. At the 2022 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show and Convention, we saw the debut of that size and a new size, Vesper, to all of the lines from All Saints.
-
Cigar: All Saints Dedicacion Habano Huge
-
Origin: Nicaragua
-
Factory: Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A (TAVICUSA)
-
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
-
Binder: Nicaragua
-
Filler: Nicaragua
-
Vitola: 6 x 60 HUGE
-
MSRP: $12.66 / Box Price: $152 – 12 Count
The Dedicacion Habano Huge comes wrapped in a beautiful light brown habano wrapper with a smooth look to it and a few very fine veins. The seems are flat and the cap is put on well. The wrapper has aromas of mild barnyard and fig sweetness. While the foot still has the sweetness, there is also feint pepper tickle in the nostrils. The cold draw had some mild mustiness, sweetness, and a minor pepper tickle in the back of the throat.
On light up there are notes of strong black pepper, mild cashew, and some lingering cedar. As the first third develops the profile feels balanced with the main flavors of pepper, fruity sweetness, cashew, with some mild wood in the background. The stimulation on the palate is on the tip of the tongue and lightly into the back of the tongue. The retrohale is smooth and adds a roundness with more nuttiness and sweetness with mild wood. The first third ends with consistent dark fruity sweetness and nuttiness in the forefront of the profile, while the pepper and wood fall slightly into the background balancing out the profile and tongue stimulation. Medium strength, medium body, medium flavor profile.
The start of second third slightly ramps up the profile and the fruit sweetness is much more rich and syrupy reminding me of a stewed dark fruit. The wood takes on a bit of a dank wet note that is not overwhelming, and it is all balanced out with the pepper. The profile stays consistent until around the end of the second third with a slight decline in the sweetness. Retrohale is still smooth with sweetness, mild pepper, and wood. Medium-Medium+ strength, Medium Body, Medium-Medium+ flavor profile.
Last third opened up again with dark fruity sweetness after the slight drop off right before, alongside it there is rich dank wood, and pepper. A mild leather note starts to appear bringing in some bitterness that makes the entire profile remind me of a lightly sweetened cherry jam. As the final third comes to a close the strength and body ramp up and the sweetness drops off into the background while the pepper and wood come up front with a mild roasted nuttiness. The burn line was straight for most of the cigar and only required minor touch ups, and no relights. Thick and plentiful smoke production. The draw fell very close to exactly where I like it with just a touch of resistance for the perfect balance.
In terms of the profiles of the cigar, I would call this a medium to medium plus in both strength and in flavor profile. The body of the cigar is a solid medium and has plenty of complexity and nuance when retrohaling. This gives the Habano Huge a nice balance and a solid middle of the road experience where it isn’t too mild but won’t overpower you either. The cigar has a great balance of transition and consistency. Each third offered a relatively consistent flavor profile upfront but the background flavor notes transitioned keeping the experience intriguing
Overall: The All Saints Dedicacion Habano Huge really impressed me with the balance of pepper, nuttiness, and sweetness along with the background flavor notes of wood, and leather. It kept me interested through the entire experience and kept me wanting to puff more. The retrohale was smooth and added lots to the flavor profile. I found myself retrohaling much more than usual because of how easy and enjoyable it was. It lost a few points due to being slightly too pepper forward at times and lost a few points in the final third due to the temp of the cigar increasing a bit too much even when taking my time and puffing slowly. I will come back to this cigar when I want a slightly longer smoke that provides great medium pepper and sweetness profile. This cigar is certainly in contention for the 2022 Cigar of the Year.
-
Average Smoking Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
-
Cigars Smoked for Review: 3
-
SCORE: 91
Mitchell Santaga started his journey into tobacco in 2011 by trying different flavored and machine-made cigars while enjoying a handle of Jack Daniels. Shortly after that he yearned for a more premium experience and dove headfirst into pipe tobacco that his local tobacconist blended. The tobacconist introduced Mitchell to Cuban cigars and for special occasions he would light up a Cuban cigar. Next, he stumbled into new world cigars and fell in love with the bold flavors and great consistency and construction. Ever since then he has been entrenched in exploring as much of the new world cigars and finding his favorites to keep in the humidor.
