From the Back of the Humidor — Veritas 412 Revisited

I dug deep into the humidor for my Friday evening smoke and came up with a Veritas 412 — a boutique cigar I used to enjoy regularly at Olde Towne Tobacconist at the Farm. I still had a couple tucked away in the back, sticks I picked up at the now-closed shop and had been aging for the past two years. It felt like the makings of a nostalgic evening.

The Veritas 412 is a 6 x 54 toro featuring a dark, slightly mottled Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro wrapper over a Mexican San Andrés binder and a blend of Pennsylvania and Nicaraguan (Estelí and Condega) filler tobaccos. The cigar is firm, smoothly rolled, and even after two years in the humidor, it retained a nice oily sheen. The “412” name is a nod to the Pittsburgh area code — home to founder Chris Weber.

The cigar opens with a pepper-forward profile, likely driven by the Broadleaf. Dark chocolate and cocoa notes quickly take center stage, becoming the dominant flavor. A subtle dark fruit sweetness and a hint of coffee round out the profile as the smoke progresses. It’s a bold, dense cigar that remains fairly consistent over its roughly 90-minute smoking time.

The cellophane had taken on a golden hue, a subtle indicator of its age. Despite the time in the humidor, performance was flawless. After the initial toast and light, I never needed to touch the flame again. Smoke production was thick and steady, the burn line even, and the ash held firm.

Smoking the Veritas 412 brought back memories of Friday nights at the brewery-based cigar lounge. The lounge at 1781 Brewery has been closed for nearly two years now, but those evenings still come to mind easily. Back then, the 412 was usually paired with a craft beer. This time, I went in a different direction and poured a glass of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.

This particular bottle was Batch A124, released in January 2024. At 119 proof, it’s still a bold pour — even if on the lower end for the series. The bourbon held its own alongside the cigar, offering rich notes of brown sugar and caramel up front, followed by charred oak and a cinnamon-laced finish. A few drops of water softened the spice and brought forward more sweetness, complementing the cigar nicely.

As for Veritas Cigars, their current status is something of a mystery. The brand, founded in 2011, rode the boutique cigar wave with a number of well-regarded blends, including the 412. Production at one point moved to Fábrica Oveja Negra in Estelí, a respected factory known for Black Label Trading Company releases. In recent years, however, the brand has gone quiet — its website offline and social media dormant.

Smoking the Veritas 412 was both nostalgic and a bit bittersweet. It made for a perfect spring evening on the porch — good cigar, good bourbon, and time to reflect. Finding these in the humidor brought back memories of the brewery lounge and the people who made those nights enjoyable. And as I smoked, it dawned on me that I may not come across these again anytime soon. For now, I think I’ll let the last one rest a while longer.

Cheers!

Weekend Road Trip

It was a beautiful weekend for football and tailgating. We headed down to Blacksburg for the first Virginia Tech home football game of the season and had a wonderful time. We started our weekend at the new home of J. H. Bards Spirit Company. Their new, expanded tasting room is located in downtown Blacksburg. The new location has more seating, indoors and out, as well as nearby food options for carry-in or delivery. 

We enjoyed a couple of the house special Smoked Old Fashioneds, as well as some pasta and pizza ordered from Not Your Momma's Pasta. The food was delivered quickly and was quite tasty. J. H. Bard's is a fairly regular stop for us when in the area, and since it's no longer so far out of town, we'll probably stop by even more often.

Friday evening continued enjoying the pleasant weather on the outside patio of our hotel. I had brought along a travel flask of Michter's US*1 Small Batch Bourbon, as well as a selection of cigars to enjoy.

The Perdomo 10th Anniversary Sun Grown is a medium bodied cigar. The flavor kicks off with sweet caramel and cedar from the thick and copious smoke. As the cigar warms, caramel, molasses, and coffee join the mix. The dark fruit, vanilla, oak, and pepper notes of the bourbon pair nicely.

Saturday morning threatened some light rain, but that soon passed. We headed over to our tailgate space early, to enjoy the afternoon before the 4:30 PM kickoff. Colleen had prepared a selection of delicious "brunch" foods and we enjoyed a nice meal to start off the festivities. For me, the main tailgate event is relaxing with a nice cigar while enjoying conversation with family.

We had picked up some Paulaner Oktoberfest Märzen to enjoy as well. I especially enjoy the selections of  malty Oktoberfest beers that hit the shelves this time of year, and the Paulaner is a classic, and one of my favorites. I selected a Veritas 412 to enjoy with the Märzen. This is a cigar that I find pairs nicely with a malty beer.

The Veritas 412 features a dark Pennsylvania Maduro wrapper, a San Andrés binder, and Nicaraguan Double Ligero and Pennsylvania fillers. It's a full flavored, yet smooth smoke with semi-sweet chocolate, black pepper, and roasted nuts in the profile. The Veritas 412 is bold and dark, but with a mild sweet toasted underpinning. The 6 x 54 Toro gave about an hour and 45 minutes of smoking pleasure.

Finally it was game time. And the Hokies win at home!

Cheers!

Cigar Lounge - Rinse and Repeat

Another Friday evening and I opted once again to have a cigar at the brewery cigar lounge. Though I have beer, cigars, and even whiskey at home, the change of pace and chance to chat with other beer and cigar fans prompted my visit.

Coincidently there was a Civil War reenactment event taking place this weekend at the brewery. There was a large and growing crowd of "blue and gray" participants milling about. The main events were to take place on Saturday and Sunday, but the reenactors were camping for the weekend. Many drank their beer from their tin cups, and I saw some even resorting to matches (outdoors!) to light cigars and pipes. Most were not so bound to avoiding those anachronisms.

I broke from my usual cigar-friendly porters and stouts to enjoy the 1781 Brewing Boogie Water Pale Ale. The 5.5% ABV ale has a juicy citrus profile that is both flavorful and refreshing. As I recall the brewery releases it each Spring, but I have never tried it. I did rather enjoy it.

I grabbed what's becoming a somewhat regular cigar for me when I visit the Olde Towne Tobacconist brewery lounge, the Veritas 412. I have some of these at home as well, but still gravitate to them when walking the humidor.

Maybe it's the dark Pennsylvania Maduro wrapper I see. Perhaps the San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan Double Ligero and Pennsylvania fillers that attracts. Whatever the reason, the full flavored smoke with semi-sweet chocolate, black pepper, and roasted nuts is a favorite.

As the sun set, I moved inside where the wood stove had been lit. I was feeling relaxed and enjoying conversation. The pleasant setting mandated a refill of my mug and another cigar. I lit up a Micallef A to carry me into the late evening. This is a "brick and mortar" only cigar, the company opting to cease selling via mail order houses. I hadn't had one for some four years. No pictures were taken so I'll save that tale for another day.

Cheers!

At the Cigar Lounge - Veritas 412 and 1781 Winter Bock

It's been quite some time since I enjoyed a cigar at one of my local cigar lounges. The effects of available time, travel, and a really good selection at home have all served to defer those visits. I finally got out to Olde Towne Tobacconist at the Farm (Facebook link) this past weekend. Online they had promoted having the wood stove going so I knew would be warmer than my deck and portable propane heater.

As usual, I first stopped inside the brewery to grab a glass cup of 1781 Brewing Winter Bock. I hadn't brought my mug club mug and was disappointed they were serving in plastic cups. But at least it showed off the bright caramel orange color of the beer. The lager had a slightly sweet caramel malt flavor with just a touch of hop bitterness. It went down smoothly, and quickly. 

I selected a Veritas 412 to go with my beer this evening. The 6 x 54 Toro has a dark Pennsylvania Maduro wrapper. There's a San Andrés binder that holds Nicaraguan Double Ligero and Pennsylvania fillers. The 412 is a full flavored smoke, yet it is quite smooth at the same time. There is semi-sweet chocolate, black pepper, and roasted nuts in the profile. It's bold and dark, but with a mild sweet toasted underpinning. This centers in on my favorite notes in a cigar. The flavor profiles of the beer and the cigar were excellent together.

I've enjoyed the other Veritas cigars I've tried. The Veritas 412 might be my favorite the bunch, though that impression could simply be a recency effect. However, the brand seems to not be widely available. Checking my usual online sources uncovers a very limited selection, with many of the options showing out of stock. The only place I've found them is at this particular lounge. Which reminds me, I need to pick up more "to go" on my next visit.

Cheers!

Gingerbread Stout, A Veritas Cigar, and The Sun

While completing some morning chores on a cloudy day, I would occasionally see the sun breaking through the clouds. Those sightings would give me hope for a later smoke on the porch. When the time came for that anticipated break, the temperature was in the mid-60°, and what I'll optimistically call partly sunny. That'll do.

I've had a Veritas Torch San Andrés in my humidor for a couple of months and decided it might make a good pairing with the beer I was planning to enjoy.

Around this time each year, Hardywood Park Brewing releases its Gingerbread Stout, along with several variations of the beer with different additions. We recently picked up a variety pack contain four of the many variations on the theme the brewery produces at different times. For this outing I was sipping the classic Gingerbread Stout.

The Imperial Milk Stout comes in at winter-perfect ABV of 9.2%. The beer is rich with flavors of milk chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. The initial sweetness and spice flavors give way to a roasted bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is creamy and the flavors lingers on the palate.

The Veritas Torch San Andrés smoked is a 6 x 50 Toro. The cap is finished with a tight pigtail twist. The cigar features a San Andrés (obviously) wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The smoke is creamy and copious, with notes of chocolate and nuts. 

I've smoked several cigars in the Vertias portfolio and have always found them to be flavorful, well-made, enjoyable smokes. And each time I smoke one I think I really should seek out more. So many cigars, so little time.

The Gingerbread Stout and Veritas Torch was an exceptional pairing. The flavors complimented each other quite successfully. I'm looking forward to more winter cigar and stout pairings in the coming months.

Cheers!

Veritas Three Blends and Horse Soldier Reserve Bourbon

I was looking for a high proof, full flavored bourbon to enjoy with a cigar after a long day of driving recently. A bottle of Horse Soldier Bourbon seemed the perfect choice. 

Horse Soldier Reserve is the distillery's barrel strength expression. The nose is strong with dark caramel, sweet maple, along with hints of vanilla and fruit. Even as the glass sat next to me on the table I could smell the bourbon goodness wafting up, the aromatics enhanced by the 124 proof. The flavor profile carries charred wood, dark fruit, molasses, and some cinnamon. I get a late fruit note in the finish. There is a bit of lingering heat that remains in balance. I should really pour this one more often, especially with a robust cigar. I posted more information about Horse Soldier bourbon in a previous post.

The cigar for the evening was the Veritas Three Blends. I was given one of these a couple years ago and enjoyed it. It's been a smoke I've been wanting to go back to. I found the Three Blends, as well as a couple others from Veritas, at the cigar lounge recently.

The cigar has a partial box pressed shape. The foot end of the Three Blends is box pressed, and the cigar transitions to a standard round shape towards the cap. The 6 x 54 cigar also grabs your attention due to the tri-colored wrapper. It is made of Sun Grown Ecuadorian Habano, Habano Maduro, and Connecticut leaves. The binder is Mexican San Andrés and the filler is a mix of tobaccos from Jalapa, Ometepe, Condega and Esteli. The roll is a little rough around the edges but the cigar is well filled and burned flawlessly. Given the unique shape and the complex wrapper, it must be a challenging cigar to create.

Three Blends is a full flavored cigar producing strong pepper right out of the gate. As the smoke progresses, the flavor mix adds espresso, wood, and nuts. The pepper remains but the other flavors claim equal billing. There's some vanilla sweetness that shows itself in time. I found this to be a flavorful and enjoyable smoke.

The robust flavors of both the bourbon and the cigar to played well together. The generous flavor array offered by the tobaccos were not overwhelmed one bit by the strong bourbon. It's a pairing I look forward to repeating.

Cheers!