The Russians Are Here!!! Glasnost and Perestroika for cigars!

In 2011, a pair of Russians on rented Harley Davidsons were touring in the US Southwest and they decided to found a US expansion of their Russian cigar business, thankfully using primarily Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos and not their “local” seed. Maxim Privezentsev and Vladimir Roshchen paired up with local Texans in Amarillo and launched the Total Flame brand.

Their attachment to motorcycling as a way of life, on Harley motorcycles of course, is apparent in the cigar band logo.  The label appears to have motorcycle cylinder heads on either side of the name Total Flame – reminiscent of the famous Harley twin cylinder engine design. Then is the cigar band motto “life’s short, do it hard.”  If that is not enough, at the 2013 IPCPR Total Flame launched the FTW series (as in “Forever Two Wheels”). Capping off the motorcycle motif, Total Flame names its cigar sizes after motorcycles such as “8 ball” and “bobber”.

I visited Total Flame’s booth at the July 2013 IPCPR and received a few of their latest cigar offerings to review, although not the FTW launch.  This review is their Custom line, a 6 X 47 Churchill. This stick had a Connecticut wrapper, and was a little less than firm. The binder is Nicaragua/Mexican and the filler is Nicaraguan/Dominican.

The Custom had a mild taste of cedar with a sweet aftertaste. This stick is very mild and can be smoked at any time of day. The draw was fine and took about 45 minutes to smoke. I give this cigar an overall rating of 4 even though I could not find a price for it in the US (and my Russian was not good enough to tell if the internet Ruble price was for a box or not – and who knows about the shipping and handling). If you do find this cigar, I would not pay more than $5 for one. If you ride two wheels only – go for it!