Initial Thoughts
I know what you all are thinking, here we go with another Alec Bradley review. Another chance for Eric to rag on the AB brand. Well honestly I’m here to give the line another fair shot at making me a fan. I love their marketing and I love the packaging of their sticks. I just want to love one of their cigars! I picked up the Alec Bradley Tempus on a whim. I was going to one of my local B&M’s to pick up some Xikar butane for my new lighter and I figured I might as well see what he had that peaked my interest. I came across the Tempus sitting in a corner feeling all alone and I figured it needed a friend. So I picked one up, along with a Camacho Triple Maduro which I’m also really excited about!
This stick looks pretty overbearing when I picked it up. I couldn’t find much about this release on the AB site, except that has Honduran wrapper, binder and filler with some Nicaraguan thrown into the filler as well. So lets get into this review and see if I break my curse of bad Alec Bradley smokes!
Looks
I’m just hitting home runs with packaging lately. This Alec Bradley Tempus is another beautifully packaged cigar. The box is a work of art with the golden paper inlays and gold lettering on the outside of the box its hard not to pick up a whole box of these sticks just based on the box. The band on this stick is big, bold, and gold! The focal point is the AB logo with a nice purple background that fades into a gold oval shape. There is some intricate floral work done around the oval and it is all brought together by a set of wings below the oval that don’t really dominate the band but serve as a nice subtlety that you have to kinda look for to find.
From afar the band looks absolutely stunning, but when I look closely I’m a little let down that this band is flat instead of embossed. I’m sure it costs more to get the bands embossed but with such a beautiful design I think embossing this band just brings it up a whole other level. The wrapper on the Alec Bradley Tempus is a dark brown. It’s a beautiful wrapper the edges of the wrapper are dark and very defined. It’s a very chocolate-esque looking wrapper, I was somewhat tempted to eat it but I decided it would be better if I just smoked it. Right?… I think I made the best decision.
Function
One of the first things I noticed about the Alec Bradley Tempus is how heavy it is! I mean I feel like I should do barbell curls with this thing. Ok its not that heavy I mean I do need at least 150 lb barbells to do curls… Back on point, this cigar feels very full. Almost like the cigar contains a lot of moisture. I sure hope that’s not the problem because I know it’ll cause burn issues and thats the last thing I want to have happen.
I didn’t bother feeling for soft spots on this stick because I just tested it out two days ago when I picked it up at the shop. It’s not spongy whatsoever. In fact the cigar is very firm and I think thats what leads to a lot of the weight in the cigar. This thing is packed to the brim! This is a rather large cigar, I got the Magnus which is 6″ x 58 rg. So I decided to V cut this big boy to help throttle down some of the smoke that I’m anticipating with this dark wrapper. Here goes nothing, it’s the moment of truth testing the dry draw to see how it’s gonna pull… Ahhhh effortlessly! It was so easy to get a nice draw on this Alec Bradley Tempus it wipes away all the bad memories that I have from my previous experience with the Black Market. So far I’m a big fan of this cigar, I don’t want to get ahead of myself but the first few tests are looking good. Lets get it smoking!
Smoking
Like I said above I got a new Xikar lighter so I figured why not test it out on this stick. I’m very partial to my matches and I always will be, but sometimes you just have to use a lighter. I toasted the foot and got this Alec Bradley Tempus going on a nice even burn from the get go which always helps it burn even the rest of the way.
The ash on this cigar was very similar to the Flor de Las Antillas that I reviewed previously. It does the similar rolled edges thing (the ash looks like the rolls on a sharpei). I don’t know if I’ve just never noticed that before or if it happens on a great smoking cigar. This stick held the ash for quite awhile and it was firm and tightly rolled when I had to knock it off after about 1 1/2 inches. It didn’t flake or turn into dust in the ashtray it held it’s form quite well. However once that first ash was knocked off the rest of the ash began to fray a little. Oh well not a big deal it just doesn’t look as cool! This Alec Bradley Tempus burned fairly even all the way down. I only had to touch it up a couple times. Once was about mid way through the cigar it started canoeing on me a bit. No biggie though the new torch lighter I had was like doing microscopic surgery on this wrapper. A quick zap with the lighter and I corrected its course.
The smoke rolling off this stick wasn’t quite as heavy as I thought it would be judging by the wrapper and how tightly packed it was. I was expecting more a deep blue smoke but it was fairly white. It was something thick, but typical of a good premium cigar. I’m just really happy by how easily this cigar is to smoke. Like I said between the Black Market at the Prensado, I just haven’t had good luck with the Alec Bradley line. Luckily the Tempus is making up for it!
Flavor
But Siz, how does it taste? How the heck should I know!… Wait a minute hopefully that’s why you’re reading this right? Unless you’re my mom of course, she’s reading because she loves me (Hi Mom!). Well the Alec Bradley Tempus to me is nice medium bodied cigar. I was expecting more of a nicotine punch especially considering the size of this cigar. However, it delivered a smooth creamy and somewhat sweet flavor to my palate.
Nosing the foot of the cigar I picked up on a strong note of molasses and a little chocolate. I got the same notes when I tested the dry draw, the molasses really intensified and became the dominate note. Once I lit it up the molasses dissipated into a nice smooth creaminess that you could just bask in. I couldn’t pick up on any strong changes throughout the Alec Bradley Tempus from beginning to end it stayed very consistent and smooth. The retrohale left a strong lingering of spice in my nostril and even made me sneeze a little. My guess is that pepper was the culprit on that one. However, when I licked my lips I picked up a good bit of sweetness, similar to chocolate but not as sweet and rich. Its odd that I smoked this cigar right after the Flor de Las Antillas because to me they were very similar cigars. Between the smoothness and the creaminess in the blends you might think they were from the same plants.
Would I Buy It Again?
Yes! Finally an Alec Bradley that I would buy again! It must be a miracle. At around $10 a stick these are a little pricey, but definitely worth checking out!
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
Not in this particular size. Considering it took me almost two hours to smoke I don’t believe I could carve that much time out everyday to enjoy this cigar.
Would I Buy a Box?
I think it’s a great idea. Just from a packaging perspective it’s a beautiful piece that you can use as storage once the cigars are gone. A box of 20 will only run you $160 at Famous.
Conclusion
The curse has been broken. I finally enjoyed an Alec Bradley cigar, the Tempus was wonderful. Everything from the packaging, to the wrapper, to the bands this cigar was awesome. I’m glad I finally got a great cigar from the AB family now I can see why they have so much hype and push behind their brand. I knew they could create some great cigars.
