Editor’s Note: Each week, our friends at the Smooth Draws Radio Show, based in Atlanta, GA, do a review of ‘The Cigar of the Week’ on their radio show, which can be heard Saturday mornings on AM1230 ESPN the Fan 2 (WFOM radio) from 10AM to Noon. That review is printed (in its entirety) here on Cigarweekly.com, usually on the Monday following its broadcast.

The Smooth Draws Radio Show Pick of the Week

THE CIGAR

For the ‘Premium Cigars of Georgia’ cigar review of the week, we’re going to look at a cigar that was guest-blended by José Blanco for Tre J Cigars – the Invictis.

BACK STORY

At the 2015 IPCPR Trade Show and Convention, the Tre J Cigar Company (located in southern Ohio) released the Invictis.

Tre J’s name alludes to the firm’s three founders, Jay Clark, John Johnson and Jerry Garrett. The three ‘J’s’, known for their Vicarias cigar brand, enlisted the help of famed master blender José Blanco, of Las Cumbres Tabaco, to blend a powerhouse of flavor called Invictis.

The Invictis was intended to represent the unconquered spirit, and was inspired by a poem by William Ernest Henley, in which the last two lines read: “I am the Master of my fate, I am the Captain of my soul.” This spirit is an eternal driving force for success in any of life’s endeavors, and Invictis was to be the cigar to accompany you on that journey.

THE CONSTRUCTION

The Invictis is produced at the Tabacalera La Palma factory (which also produces Blanco's Señorial brand) in the Dominican Republic. Invictis consists of a dark chocolatey Ecuadorian Habano wrapper surrounding a Dominican binder and a Dominican filler blend of Criollo '98 and Pilot Cubano.

Construction is impeccable. The cigar is available in three sizes – Corona, Robusto and Toro. It is presented in boxes of 20 cigars. And talk about the bold boxes! They were designed by Emma Viktorsson (also of Las Cumbres Tobacco), the blender of the Freyja cigar and the wife of José Blanco.

THE DRAW

The Invictis had an easy and smooth draw that produced an incredible tasty smoke, and made our note tasting easy.

THE CIGAR TASTE PROFILE

The Invictis proved a full-bodied cigar. (In fact, many individuals have already described it as perhaps the most full-bodied cigar to ever be blended by José Blanco.) It was complex, balanced and definitely a powerhouse flavor bomb.

We tasted a woody note of cedar along with the spiciness of black and red pepper. A sweet cream flavor emerged as the essence of Angus beef and an earthiness played with our senses.

DOES IT GET A BUY RECOMMENDATION?