May 22nd, 2017

A bit of history from the 7-20-4 website:

“Quality still impels its growth.” R.G. Sullivan understood this when he created the famed 7-20-4 cigar and built it into one of the largest cigar manufacturers in the world. From its beginning in 1874, until the Cuban Embargo in 1963, Roger G. Sullivan manufactured the 7-20-4 in Manchester, NH with the principle of making a cigar of the finest quality.

Kurt A. Kendall always had a fascination for old cigar memorabilia, and collected anything he could get his hands on. After years in the industry, he had the idea to bring back the 7-20-4 line.

Following his acquisition of the defunct trademark, Kurt got to work reproducing this fine cigar, making it from one of the finest blends available. Long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico and Columbia, and a Costa Rican binder, make K.A. Kendall’s 7-20-4s smooth and flavorful cigars. A Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper ensures an even burn on this medium-bodied smoke.

Here are my thoughts on two cigars in the 7-20-4 line...

7-20-4 Maduro Figurado

A hint to those unfamiliar with my likes and dislikes... I love Figurados. So there will be a slight ‘bias’ to this review. (Seriously though, despite the fact I do love Figurados, I will be as fair and unbiased as I can.)

I sensed a very light fragrance of tobacco and leather from the wrapper. The foot, which was almost closed, gave off little in the way of aroma. The head of the cigar was somewhat ‘unfinished’, and opened as I was testing the bunch, which was pleasingly firm with a fairly easy draw.

Initial draws elicited strong Maduro/Ligero flavors with a good volume of smoke. The presence of almond/hazelnut was barely discernible.

A medium to dark grey ash sat firmly atop an almost perfect burn at this point – add points for construction. The Maduro wrapper deposited some sweetness on the lips, although this sweetness wasn’t as strong as that of an Oscuro.

I paired the cigar with (yes, again!) a Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout. Even though there wasn’t any cocoa in the Figurado to this point, the cigar-stout match still proved a good pairing.
The flavors were somewhat mild compared to what I would have expected from this cigar – not a bad thing, but just an observation for mild-to-medium fans who shy away from dark wrappers.

About one-third of the way in (just past the foot taper), the cigar remained pleasant and cool. There wasn’t much change to the favor profile, however. The smoke was thick enough to be smoke-ring capable. The coal of the cigar was flat, and the burn remained even.

The flavor profile, while increasing moderately in strength, remained fairly consistent – perhaps a bit one-dimensional, yet still quite pleasant. I picked up notes of tobacco, leather and nuts.

A bit of cedar crept into the flavor around the two-thirds mark (just approaching the head taper) – not much, and definitely not enough to qualify the cigar as ‘complex’. Nevertheless, the smoke remained cool and pleasant.

The Figurado became too hot to hold at about one inch – a pretty standard occurrence for most cigars. Overall, this was a pleasant smoke that earned 8/10, based solely on its relative lack of complexity.

7-20-4 Hustler (Barber Pole PC)

This sample displayed a rich wrapper aroma along with a perfect bunch and cold draw.

There were leather notes in the smoke as well as pepper in the nose and a sweetness on the lips. A solid ash and even draw were evident.

I chose to pair this smooth, cool smoke with a Vanilla Porter.

The pepper characteristic smoothed out over the first third of the session.

The mild-to-medium smoke exhibited a smooth leather and tobacco flavor with another flavor lurking in the background that I had trouble identifying – maybe a subtle base of coffee.

The vanilla bean flavor of the Porter incorporated nicely with the smoke, making me think I was right about those coffee notes.

I found the flavors to be much better when exhaled through the nose. At the two-thirds point, the smoke was still smooth with nice complexities. That sweetness remained on the lips.

This one would be a great morning cigar with coffee. As with most PCs, heat became an issue at about 1 inch.

Overall, the 7-20-4 Hustler remained smooth to the end. This is a nice, complex cigar with an attractive Maduro/Colorado wrapper. It shows perfect construction, too. I give it a respectable 8.5/10.

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Jeff Slatton (jefslat) resides in the San Antonio, TX area. Jeff is a longtime member of and contributor to Cigar Weekly.