Powstanie Wojtek

It's almost midnight. I wiped out and ended up napping all afternoon, and I'm just getting back up, my sleep cycle all messed up.

Wojtek enjoyed beer and cigarettes with his Army buddies!

But, it's around 10am in Poland, which is perfect, because I want to finally do a review of one of my favorite smokes— the Powstanie Wojtek.

If I understand correctly (it's not a language I actually speak), “Powstanie” is Polish for “uprising” or “rebellion,” (a nod to the Polish Resistance during World War II), and “Wojtek” (“Joyful Soldier”) pays homage to Wojtek, the Syrian brown bear purchased by the Polish II Corps, who was enlisted into the Polish Army, fought at the Battle of Monte Cassino, and attained the rank of Corporal.

Cigar: Powstanie Wojtek

Vitola: Toro (6” x 52)

Price: $13/stick

Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Ecuador Habano with a stripe of Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Body: Medium-To-Full

Rating (out of 10): 10

Appearance:
If you've been a reader of mine for a while, or you know me personally, you'll already know I love history. The dual bands on the Wojtek feature plenty of it— the band features the Polish flag with silver filigree and a stylized “Kotwica” (Polish for “anchor”, the symbol of the Polish Resistance, with combines the letters P and W. Originally, it stood for “Pomścimy Wawer” (“We shall avenge Wawer;” Wawer being one of the first massacres of Polish civilians by occupying German forces; the Germans rounded up 120 Poles and shot 114 of them, only 7 of whom survived), but eventually came to mean, “Polska Walcząca” (“Fighting Poland”). The second band, solid red bordered in silver, features a roaring bear, a reference to Wojtek.

A lot to unpack there, and that's just the bands. The wrapper is a milk-chocolate-brown Habano, with a narrow stripe of darker Mexican San Andrés. It's mildly veined, with a light but slick coating of oil.

Construction:
The stick is perfectly made, no cracks, seams, or creases, and a neatly-placed cap that cuts perfectly.

Aroma:
The barrel of this stick smells distinctly of wood and leather, with a faintly musky undertone. One can almost imagine Wojtek out in the forest with his comrades.

The foot is very sweet, smelling strongly of chocolate.

First Third:
The cold draw tastes rich and chocolatety, with sweet sugary notes underneath (but not the kind of overly-sugary sweet taste you get from artificially sweetened cigars— this flavor is completely natural).

Right after lighting, the taste is similar, but a bit more “doughy;” it's like smoking a chocolate chip cookie.

Sidetracking: Is there a movie about Wojtek? There ought to be.

There's some subtle notes of coffee peeking through, also.

Coffee? No... not coffee. Tea. That's it. It's like cookies and tea. Unusual in a cigar, but I like unusual.

Occasionally, I'll get the faintest zip of salt on the tip of the tongue.

The burn is mostly even; there's a slight angle to it, but it's all remaining constant. The ash column is sturdy and white.

Sidetracking again: I'm watching a short video about Wojtek on Youtube as I smoke this. And I just learned something fascinating: Syrian brown bears have light brown fur, but the fur between their shoulderblades is often somewhat darker, and often appears as a dark “stripe.” That makes this San Andrés stripe even more perfect! (The video can be viewed here.)

Second Third:
The second third starts off tasting more tea-like, but those cookie notes are still present.

Retrohale is perfect. That's where the cookies went!

The burn has lost its angle, and is still perfect at the half. Everything about this stick is perfection so far, actually.

The smoke itself is a chewy, medium body, leaning more towards full bodied, but the flavor— the flavor is absolutely dense. This stick is packed with it.

Wojtek is smoking nice and cool, easy to enjoy all the nuances of both flavor and retrohale.

Final Third:
The start of the last third is where the burn finally becomes uneven.

Even as I make note of the uneven burn, though, it immediately corrects itself without a touchup or a relight.

Circling back to the cookies on the flavor profile here, now with notably diminished chocolate notes. The chocolate is still present, just not as strong anymore.

Ooohhh, look at me, speaking too soon again. Just found all that chocolate, it's in the aftertaste now!

Still cool and smoking down to the very end. Got it down to about a half inch nub.

Closing Thoughts:
Wojtek is hands down one of my all time favorite cigars; it appeals to both my love of bold and unique flavor, and my love of history. And smoking it for review led me to do a lot of research into the history it honors at the same time, so I actually learned quite a bit tonight!

It very nearly took a scoring hit in the last third due to the burn, but it corrected itself effortlessly, and finished with a perfect score!