In November, 2019, we started a project that centers on taking personally selected Maduro wrapped cigars and aging them on-site in charred Bourbon casks. Then, the COVID pandemic came and all of our worlds descended into chaos and our project got put on hold.
Three and a half years later, we finally got back on track and began tweaking our exclusive process, carefully loading “naked” cigars into special charred white oak Bourbon casks.
Forty-five days later, we cracked open one of the sealed casks and the Woodford Reserve aroma immediately filled the room. While that initial aroma was heavenly, what we were really anxious to do is see what the cask aging had done to the cigars as they slept soundly in the humidor.
As we lifted each cigar out of the fragrant darkness of the cask, it was immediately clear we had hit the nail on the head!
After we cut our cigars, I encouraged everyone to draw air through the unlit cigar (cold draw.) The Bourbon had definitely infused its magical presence throughout all the tobacco — wrapper, binder and filler.
Now, in my experience, most cigars that are billed as barrel aged, have no noticeable lingering essence from the beverage used. Typically, the only barrel aged cigars that carry any of the flavor and aroma come sealed in glass tubes, which add quite a bit to the final price of each cigar.
We’ve eliminated the two biggest impediments to you buying a truly well infused cigar that will actually give you the taste and smell of the Bourbon we use — time and air exposure — without expensive glass packaging. Here at Chesapeake, you will personally lift each cigar freshly out of the aging cask and place it in a ziplock-style cigar bag for you. That bag won’t hold the taste and aroma forever, but it will definitely linger much longer than factory infused cigars.
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