Amendola Family Cigar Co., owned and operated by Jeffrey Amendola and Christopher Monaco, was founded in 2017 by Jeffrey Amendola. The influence of Italian culture on the company is apparent and is a reflection of the roots’ of its owners. Though this cigar company was founded in 2017, it really began over a decade ago when Jeffrey took a passion for cigars a step further and pursued an education in blending and rolling under the eye of Odelma Matos. He used this knowledge and skill to open a small factory and tobacco shop in North Carolina before making the logical leap to creating a cigar company.
The Signature Series Cannoli is an example of how Amendola Family Cigar Co. honors Italian culture, both in the name of the line and in presentation. This line carries three blends - the Red, Green, and White - which make up the Flag of Italy.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: La Zona Cigar Factory
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed
Vitola: 5 ½ x 42 Corona
Price: $10.00 MSRP
Release Date: May 2021
Company Website: www.amendolafamilycigars.com
Expectations
I have no prior experience with any Amendola Family Cigar Co. cigars, however, I have some experience with cigars out of La Zona. I look for this cigar to perform well and bring medium-full bodied smoke and flavor. I am anticipating notes like sweet cream, nuts, grass, pepper, and earth. I also have heard this cigar is in the mild-medium strength range, so I don’t look for any noticeable strength really.
Prelight Characteristics
I like the band color combination against this shade wrapper. However, I think the band is a bit busy for me. The cigar is pretty lightweight and slightly spongy. The wrapper is very clean and has super tight seams. The cigar smells of sweet tobacco with some floral aromas. The cold draw is like paint fumes. That is not a knock on the cigar, and it’s not off putting since the cold draw doesn’t usually mean much once you set fire to the cigar.
First Third
This cigar kicks off with loads of full body smoke with a very full flavored toast note that is so prominent it is hard to pick up any other flavors. Some tannic wood and pepper are breaking through a few puffs in. The retrohale has a ton of citrus followed by some earth and wood. About a half inch in, the flavor has dialed back to a medium-full level still holding that toast note, less tannic wood, and introducing some cream. The draw has a perfect level of resistance. The burn is straight, however, the cigar is acting like it wants to go out if I am not puffing frequently. Approaching the end of the first third the flavors are unchanged. There is a bit of a canoe in the burn, so I dropped the ash to see if it helps it correct itself.
Second Third
The canoe self corrects quite quickly into the second after dropping the ash. The profile is still showing some toast and wood, now with some earthy coffee in there.This profile holds until about halfway where there is a nice bump in the cream and an addition of some citrus. The retrohale is especially creamy and citrusy with a nice balancing toast note. This flavor profile holds up through the remainder of this third with the only change being a toasted nuttiness on the finish of the draw. I should note that the performance was great throughout this third.
Final Third
Quickly into the final third the profile had a significant shift to a very coffee forward profile. It is still holding onto some toastiness though and there are the first hints at any grassiness appearing now. The burn had started to run a little bit and needed to be touched up. Hitting the band point the profile dramatically shifted again to wood and baking spices. The glue on the band was stuck to the wrapper and caused a tear when I pulled off the band, but it’s not too bad. Passing the band point the flavor and body are back up to full. Coming to an abrupt end the cigar spontaneously went out with only fractions of an inch of smokable cigar left, so I called it. The profile ended with wood, baking spices, some cinnamon heat, and a bit of a resurgence in nuttiness.
Overall Experience
With a whopping smoke time of an hour and 40 minutes out of a corona, there was a lot to enjoy about this cigar. Something I found quite unique and enjoyable about this blend was that I would not have pegged this cigar for a Connecticut Shade cigar had I been blind folded. This cigar had all the flavor characteristics of a solid Ecuadorian Habano cigar with the elegance of a Connecticut Shade cigar. Overall, this is a cigar that I would recommend to any smoker. The strength was negligible, the flavors were on the fuller side but not overpowering, and the cigar had balance, nuance, and some nice transitions. This Signature Series Cannoli White was well done and was a nice introduction to the Amendola Family Cigar Co.
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.