Best in Jamaica – Blue Mountain

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 met Marvin at the 2013 IPCPR and I immediately understood that Marvin is a true marketeer.  He used the IPCPR to introduce a new cigar line for Blue Mountain with catchy cigar names – Blue Mountain Swinger and Swinger After Dark. These sticks are a handful at 7 X 60 but not much information about them is available commercially. They have a Habano wrapper with Nicaraguan filler and binder.  The After Dark version uses a dark wrapper. Marvin’s company is family owned and operated and for the Swinger line uses a 4 year aging process. He gave me an After Dark to test.

I prefer the larger ring gauges and when combined with a 7” cigar you really have a handful. The cigar was attractive and the black label covers/protects about 60% of the cigar.  The pre-smoke aroma was woodsy. After lighting, the taste started as light cedar with mild spice and a hint of nuts.  About 2” later the taste evolved into sweetness and nuts and remained this way for the rest of the smoke. It took me an hour and 35 minutes to smoke the After Dark and it was delicious with a mild taste and no hot burn.  The draw was tough at times but not too much.  The MSRP is about $9 but I have seen them on line for a couple of dollars less. I like the size, the taste and the price (the one under $9). I give it a 4.0 out of 5.