ADVentura is a cooperation that began in 2016 between Marcel Knobel, a Swiss retailer, tobacconist, marketer, and sommelier and the youngest master blender in the industry, Henderson Ventura. I have has several cigars from ADVentura and I really enjoyed The Queens Pearls and The Conqueror. They both had a good amount of complexity and bold flavors. The Blue Eyed Jacks’ Revenge is a follow up of the 2022 release of Barbarroja’s Invasion which had a box that played a clever audio clip once opened. The Blue Eyed Jacks’ Revenge does the same.
OVERVIEW
VITOLA: Toro
SIZE: 6″ x 54
ORIGIN: Domincan Republic
FACTORY: Tabacalera Mina Del Rey
WRAPPER: Mexican San Andrés Colorado
BINDER: Dominican
FILLER: Dominican
STRENGTH: Mild to Medium
SOURCE:
Manufacturer
ENVIRONMENT
WHERE:
Outside
WHEN:
July 30 @ 2 P.M.
DRINKS:
None
WEATHER:
Sunny and hot
HOW MANY CIGARS SMOKED:
3
PRODUCTION
RELEASE TYPE Regular Production
ORIGINALLY RELEASE DATE July 2024
TOTAL PRODUCTION
Typical Box Size: Boxes of 20
Production Totals: UNK
VITOLA BREAKDOWN
o Toro (6″ x 54)
o Robusto (5″ x 52)
o Corona (6″ x 44)
BAND DESIGN
ADVentura makes all their bands essentially the same. The only thing that changes is the color scheme. You have a big ADV logo front and center with the name of the cigar on the right side and the company name on the left side. These are super easy to identify in a big humidor. In this particular cigar, the logo gets lost with the imagery in the background, there’s a skull with a harpoon that is a bit transparent. There is not a lot of depth in the design, it is just kind of flat. A minimal approach would be nice to see here because I am a fan of the ADVentura logo.
PRE-LIGHT OBSERVATIONS
CONSTRUCTION
The cigar holds a uniform color and has just a little bit of oil and tooth on the wrapper. The seams are visible, but not the tightest and you can see the edge coming up a little bit, but the other samples did not have this issue so no big deal. It is fairly hard when squeezed and has very little give. You can see some imperfections in the body of the cigar where thicker stems are bulging underneath the wrapper. Overall, it is still a nice-looking cigar with a single cap.
AROMA
The aroma of this stick is very approachable. It smells like strong cedar with a little bit of barnyard in the background and also some chocolate sweetness. The foot of the cigar smells a little more musty, like damp earth mixed with cardboard but still maintains the background chocolate sweetness experienced on the body of the cigar. I’m not getting a lot of spice off of the body or foot.
COLD DRAW
The cold draw is surprisingly not restrictive at all despite the firmness of the cigar. There are some very weird flavors, coming off of the cold draw and they’re very vegetative. It reminds me of a raw vegetable, there’s also some cedar in the background, but my attention continually gets drawn to that raw vegetable note. There’s not too much I noticed outside of that except a little hint of vanilla that is barely noticeable.
SMOKING EXPERIENCE
LIGHT & DRAW
Cut: Straight
Fire: Torch
There is a very nice easy-going draw right off a light up. There is not a ton of smoke output and I notice a nice creaminess to the cigar along with just a touch of cashew. The retro and finish has a slight black pepper sting to it. It reminds me of plain white bread that finishes with just a little bit of raisin. Cream definitely dominates the palate.
SMOKE
The smoke output is not what you would want it to be upfront. I know with the previous samples the more you get into the cigar the smoke gets a little more hefty and it is pretty good.
FIRST THIRD
>> coffee, cream, pepper
The burn is not the straightest but it is super sharp. Smoke output continues to improve and there are no flakes falling off of the ash. It’s bright white in most places with some gray scattered throughout. Cream continues as the main flavor of the cigar. There are lots of peppery notes coming through, more pepper than the initial light up on the retro. The finish gives off notes of creamy light roast coffee with sweet tobacco in the background. There is a small variation on the finish where you get a wave of spice with just a little bit of sweetness it kind of reminds me of a bitter root beer.
SECOND THIRD
>> coffee, cream, hazelnut
The burn of the Blue Eyed Jacks’ Revenge is not the straightest but it needed no touch-ups thus far. There are now big plumes of smoke that come out in the second third and it’s great. The draw is perfect and offers mild to medium strength. The ash holds on for over an inch. The main flavor of the cigar is coffee with a ton of cream. Imagine a whole cup of cream and adding the tiniest pour of coffee to it. I only say that there is coffee in there cause I can taste just a little bit of bitterness. On the retro, you still get a very tame black pepper with a touch of cinnamon on the back end. On the finish, it’s like biting down on a coffee bean and getting all that bitterness in your mouth and then taking a cup of cream and drinking it immediately afterward. Towards the end of the second third, you start to see a change in the finish to include a little bit of semi-sweet chocolate and hazelnut. This is a welcomed change. One thing I like about the cigar is how strong the ash is without any flaking.
FINAL THIRD
>> cream, toast, almonds
I feel like the smoke output in the last third really gets kicked up a notch. It starts pouring off the foot and you get even bigger plumes of smoke with each draw. I did notice there were some small cracks behind the band in this sample, but it seems like the cigar is just gonna burn right through them. The burn gets a little wavy, but no issues. The dominant flavor of the cigar is still cream. Not that it’s a bad thing if you’re in that type of mood, but I find myself wanting some shift in flavor. On the retro, you get some small changes with cream, big surprise, and a little bit of pepper with some almonds. On the finish, there is a nice toasty bread with a bitter Nutella and some dark coffee. The flavors really stick with you right up until the next draw.
RATING & FINAL THOUGHTS
FLAVOR PROGRESSION
While I enjoyed the foundation of cream that this cigar had to offer, I found myself wanting a little more from it and that just might be the mood that I am in lately. This cigar had more cream than some Connecticuts that I’ve smoked, and it had just enough differentiation in each third to keep me interested. You will have to wait until the last third to get some kind of sweetness out of the cigar and I’m happy that it actually appeared, but I think that if it came through earlier, I would like this cigar much more. The Blue Eyed Jacks’ Revenge was dominated by a very plain cream and edges between being a one dimensional stick and a nice easy going cigar for anyone to enjoy.
BURN EXPERIENCE
ADVentura really excels in their construction of the cigars that they put out. Every cigar that I pick up from the, it’s usually a Toro, has almost flawless construction every time. They are very consistent in the burn and the ash always holds up for a good amount of time without even trying. All samples performed well and left me with no doubt that I would have a carefree experience when it came to the burn.
RATING BREAKDOWN
0.67 / 0.80 … Craft & Aesthetic
0.42 / 0.50 … Pre-Light Characteristics
0.50 / 0.50 … Lighting Process
5.99 / 7.70 … Smoking Experience
0.35 / 0.50 … Personal Enjoyment
COMPLIMENTS & CRITIQUES
- Nice strong construction
- Flavors consistent between all samples
- Lacking in complexity
- Busy band design
Do you want a little bit of coffee with your cream?
The reliability of ADVentura cigars brings me back to this brand and they have some really good flavors coming out of every single line that is released. The Blue Eyed Jacks’ Revenge gives you the flavor of creaminess with the inclusion of some other interesting and bold flavors, but those flavors definitely take it backseat to the creaminess. I have enjoyed smoking the cigar, and I view it as something that I would like to revisit maybe every other month, especially with a cup of coffee. If cream is what ADVentura was aiming for in the cigar, they really nailed it.
