ADVentura Cigars, officially ADV & McKay Cigars Co. S.R.L. has been around since 2016. The company was started by Hednerson Ventura, of Tabacalera William Ventura in the Dominican Republic, and Marcel Knobel, owner of Cubo d’Oro cigars in Switzerland. I am a little late to the party with trying their cigars. I have been meaning to try them for awhile now, I just hadn’t gotten around to it until now because I have not seen singles available at places I shop until recently. I grabbed this Royal Return King’s Gold on a recommendation when I was working on the Whiskey & Whitetails Intro Sampler.
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera William Ventura
Wrapper: U.S.A Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Mexican San Andres
Filler: Dominican Republic, U.S.A, and Nicaragua
Vitola: 5 x 52 Robusto
MSRP: $13.60 MSRP
Release Date: August 2020
Company Website: www.adventuracigars.com
Expectations
Based on the blend information I am expecting a lot of diversity in flavor. It’s hard not to anticipate full flavor and body with darker notes like earth, dark fruits, dark chocolate along with some woodiness, pepper, and maybe some brighter sweetness. With a 5 country blend, the profile could be really dynamic or it could be a muddled mess. My expectation and hope is for the former.
Prelight Characteristics
This cigar is very firm and dense. The wrapper is dark, toothy, and surprisingly clean for broadleaf. I like the color and look of the band and the raised emblem. The cigar smells like chocolate and barnyard. The cold draw is cedar and dark fruit. Overall, the prelight is promising.
First Third
First light brings medium-full flavor, full body smoke with flavors of earth, creamy leather, and some pepper spice. Settling in there’s a slight tannic note, some minerality, earth, and subtle dark sweetness on the draw. On the retrohale there’s some baker's chocolate, oak, and an unidentifiable sweetness. The smoke thoroughly coats the mouth. The draw is great and performance is good besides a very small wrapper touch up an inch in. Approaching the end of the first third it’s medium in flavor and has shifted towards a black cherry up front then creamy cedar with some minerality on the finish. The retrohale is easy going and brightens the cherry note and adds a subtle pepper component.
Second Third
Moving into the second third the ash dropped and shortly after it needed a small touch up. The flavor has come up to full. There’s some citrus that replaced the cherry note. The tannins are back in a bit. There’s still some cedar on the finish with the addition of slight char. The smoke is still quite oily. At halfway some cocoa is coming in on the draw. The flavors hold true throughout the remainder of this third. The draw is still great and the performance is good.
Final Third
The final third is remaining unchanged to start. The smoke is still quite oily and the flavors remain cocoa, cedar, a bit of cream, and some citrus. There are no tannins, however. Hitting the band the flavors have changed up to earth, pepper, some cocoa still, a bit of dark fruit, and some charred wood. It’s more traditional broadleaf flavors here. It is definitely up to full flavor and body and maybe medium in strength. The dark fruit is creeping up a bit more. Coming to an end the strength crept to medium-full. All the good broadleaf flavors of earth, pepper, cocoa, dark fruit and some charred wood are in full force. There’s even a little cinnamon that poked its head in on the finish. The smoke is still super oily. The draw and performance have been great this third.
Overall Experience
The first half of the cigar was decent. I didn't care for the minerality I got at times in the first third and there were moments the tannic note was a bit much. However, there was a good depth of flavor. The Second half was better with the final third being the highlight for me. I think that some of that may be because when I want a cigar with this look and type of blend, I want a fuller experience. I think this would be a good cigar for someone that typically prefers medium flavor, lower strength, nuanced cigars, but wants to experience an overall darker, richer flavor profile. All in all, there’s not enough there for me to return to it at the price point, but it did enough to make me want to grab some singles of the other cigars in their portfolio next time I see them. The final smoke time was about one hour and 25 minutes
Try the cigar yourself at Small Batch Cigars and let me know what you think! Use code “Whiskey” to get 10% off your entire order. Plus, sign up and begin earning 5% back in rewards points with each purchase.
Feel free to reach out to me with questions, concerns, criticisms, or just to talk at @guitarsandcigarsfarm on Instagram, or via email at trevor@whiskeyandwhitetails.com.