A Threesome from Blue Mountain Cigars

One of the most sought after products from Jamaica is its Blue Mountain Coffee, world famous for its mild flavor and lack of bitterness. Besides making coffee, these beans are also used as the flavor base for Tia Maria coffee liquor. It is logical then that a Jamaican business man, Marvin Wright, uses the well-known Blue Mountain moniker for his cigars although the sticks are made in Esteli, Nicaragua. Marvin started his business in 1995 and put his Jamaican/Cuban background and experience into his cigar brand.

I first met Marvin at the 2013 IPCPR and I reviewed his “Swinger After Dark” (4.0 out of 5) I met Marvin again at the 2014 IPCPR where he introduced me to his new “threesome” cigar – Etnia – a cigar with 3 different wrappers providing 3 different flavor profiles. The foot wrapper is a Maduro, the middle is Habano and the cap area wrapper is Connecticut. The binder is a Nicaraguan/Honduran blend and the filler is Nicaraguan.

The Etnia is a 6 X 60 whose colorful wrapper is very distinctive. The Etnia was firm without any hard spots. The draw was almost easy and the smoke volume was good. The first third was the Maduro section. There was a small hint of sweetness but the predominant flavor was cedar, and the strength was surprisingly mild. The second section was Habano and the taste was stronger and changed to leather and light pepper. The smoke volume also declined slightly. The final section was Connecticut and it was about the same strength as the middle but the taste was nutty.

The ash for the Etnia was well formed but a mottled gray in color and the aftertaste is mild. It took an hour and 15 minutes to smoke and the cigar was well constructed. The SRP is $10.40 each ($250 for a bundle of 24), a little high-end for this unusual, mild to medium bodied cigar and I rate it a 3.5 out of 5.