Straight From Jamaica

Jamaica is not well known for exporting cigars. This wasn’t always the case. During WW II many cigar makers left Cuba for the British colony of Jamaica as the Brits would not expend currency outside of the “Empire”. Jamaican cigar production took off. At the end of the war the Cubans left Jamaica but the quality cigar making infrastructure remained. The US embargo of Cuba invigorated Jamaica’s cigar industry again, especially exports to the US, until a series of hurricanes and island issues encouraged the cigar industry to migrate to other tropical countries in that region. By 2000, the Jamaican industry fell to less than 700,000 exported cigars. However, Barrington Adams bought and breathed new life into a dying Jamaican cigar manufacturer and formed Barrington House Premium Jamaican Cigars. Barrington states that he reinvests 100% of the profits into the Jamaican operations. I met Barrington at the 2013 IPCPR and he gave me one of his Montalvo brand Stratfords to review.

The Montalvo Stratford is 6 X 50, toro shaped with aged Jamaican tobacco for filler, Mexican binder and Connecticut shade wrapper, all hand rolled in Jamaica. The construction was good and the appearance average. The first draws were slightly difficult and the taste of black pepper was quite strong. This moderated a bit later and the flavor included black coffee and some nuts. The last third was much mellower with a taste of coffee. Smoke volume was low and not creamy. The ash was even throughout, well-shaped and a nice shade of grey.

I spent 1 hour and 10 minutes smoking the Stratford and found it to be pleasant overall but about average for a premium cigar. The SRP is about $9.80 and comes in boxes of 25 or tubes of 10. I rate the Stratford a 3.5 out of 5.