Fast Eddie LCA Exclusive by Blackbird Cigar Co.
I’ve got another LCA Exclusive by Blackbird lined up for tonight, one that follows up on last night’s review pretty nicely.
Fast Eddie is named after Paul Newman’s character in the movie The Color Of Money, directed by Martin Scorcese. Fast Eddie was Vince’s mentor in the film, and the cigar shows a lot of similarities to the cigar named for that character, so I anticipate a lot of commonalities between the two. I’ll be paying attention for the differences, though! Fast Eddie does feature a Sumatra binder instead of Nicaraguan, so I do expect something a little less peppery this time; but there’s stll plenty of Nicaraguan filler leaf, so we’ll see if I’m right or not!
Cigar: Fast Eddie by Blackbird Cigar Co.
Vitola: Corona Gorda (4 3/4” x 50)
Price: ~$10.00 (part of a 4-stick sampler that cost $40)
Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Indonesian Sumatra
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Body: Medium-Full
Rating (out of 10): 9.7
Appearance:
Fast Eddie is, in terms of appearance, a shorter Vince: a milk-chocolate brown, toothy, lightly-veined wrapper, softly box pressed, with a closed, pigtail-capped foot. I’ve seen images online of a gold-on-green silk ribbon at the foot, but the Fast Eddie included in the sampler I received from Privada is unbanded.
Construction:
As expected, perfect construction. It’s another 50-gauge stick, so proportionally, the wrapper/binder/filler ratio is identical; it’s just a shorter length, so it will have a shorter smoking time.
Aroma:
I get a very similar cedar and black pepper aroma from the barrel, which is really not surprising. It smells like the same wrapper leaf, because it is the same wrapper leaf. Despite the foot being closed, I once again get something sweet and berry-like.
First Third:
The pigtail foot remained perfectly intact as I smoked the Vince last night; I’m going to light Fast Eddie without cutting the foot again. I would anyway, but these tight little pigtails impress the hell out of me.
Cold draw offers up notes of apricot, berries, and dark chocolate, which catches me off guard, in the best of ways. Faintest touch of salt lingers on the lips afterward, too. I like it.
I didn’t mention the challenge coins I had made recently while I was reviewing last night. I took a “Skull and Crossbones” concept, and replaces the crossbones with a pair of crossed cigars. The first version has a white “Dixie Cup” Navy uniform cover; eventually, when I end up making Chief Petty Officer, I’m sure I’ll get a new version made with a Chief’s cover, but for now, I’m a fan of the classic white cover.
I do think I’m going to have future versions done as cigar cutters, though, where the bottom jaw slides down and the cutter blades are in the teeth.
There’s a faint bit of leather hiding beneath the apricot flavor in this one.
Well… this pigtail, while tight and neat, was not nearly as strong as last night’s… it just dropped right off onto my keyboard. Oh, well.
There’s some very faint cracked pepper… I expected less spice due to the Sumatra binder rather than a Nicaraguan, but I still expected a bit more kick from the filler than what I’m actually getting. That’s not a complaint, by any means; just an observation. It is still pretty early into the smoke, though!
The burn is not quite even, and I have to give it a re-touch before the first third is up.
Second Third:
There’s that Nicaraguan filler! Rolling into the second third, I definitely get that cedar and pepper coming through more noticeably; it’s a bit more of a black pepper in this smoke.
The burn is doing much better after an early hiccup; we’re still going to see a high-scoring smoke, for sure!
Even when it comes in stronger, the peppery spice in this blend is still much more subdued than in the Vince, allowing the sweeter, fruitier notes to really shine that much more.
Final Third:
There’s a kind of sweet cream aftertaste to this, that’s quite pleasant, if somewhat surprising, given the hits of black pepper. But Fast Eddie is just full of surprises, so I guess I should just stop anticipating, and let it take me where it will!
The spice holds out to the end in this one, without overpowering everything else. Expertly blended.
Closing Thoughts:
Fantastic smoke tonight; I expected differences, but it still managed to surprise me!