Argyle Candela Staff Review
You don’t see green cigars, or Candelas, every day, but once upon a time, they were everywhere. I’m smoking an Argyle Candela, in a 7-by-50 Churchill, a perfect daily smoke you can casually enjoy for under eight bucks apiece. Most Candelas are very mild and approachable. The wrapper leaf imparts a distinctively grassy flavor and aroma. Let’s find out if Argyle Candela belongs on your list of breakfast cigars.
Argyle cigars have been around for several years. A large audience adores the brand, thanks to its consistency and affordable prices. Dedicated artisans, trained to roll cigars according to old-world Cuban traditions, carefully craft every Argyle cigar with patience and precision in the Dominican Republic. The portfolio includes eleven unique blends, featuring Connecticut Shade, Connecticut Broadleaf, and Cuban-seed wrappers.
Argyle Candela is drafted from a light-green Candela wrapper leaf and a mellow core of premium Dominican long-filler tobaccos, aged for maximum smoothness. Once I’ve chosen an enchanting specimen from a new box, the Churchill emanates with a fresh aroma of buttered toast, tobacco, and hay from head to foot. The cigar’s density is supple and consistent when I give it a gentle pinch.
One quality I appreciate about Argyle Candela is its natural sweetness. Delightful tasting notes of green tea, fresh bread, and fennel create an inviting ensemble in the first minutes of toasting the foot. Hints of caramel and spice blossom as the binder, filler, and wrapper gel with an effortless, steady burn. If you’re drawn to fresh aromas, such as pine, eucalyptus, or a plate of seasoned edamame, Candela is a style of cigar you should explore.
Subtle notes of honey and spice support a creamy profile of fresh-cut hay, coffee bean, and buttered toast as the cigar progresses. I prefer to smoke a longer format, such as a Churchill, when I’m smoking an Argyle Candela. The cigar’s gentle, soothing taste is a pleasure to savor for a long time because it contains less nicotine and less power. Luscious notes of cappuccino and green tea mingle with hints of pepper and lemon meringue pie in the second half.
Argyle Candela closes in on a delectable finish that lacks the intensity and bitterness you can experience from a stronger cigar. Peeling the band off and fully devouring the nub is an easy task when you’re smoking a high-quality Candela. I wouldn’t hesitate to add this lush and unusual smoke to your humidor if you haven’t had a Candela before.
Once referred to as “double claro” and “American Market Selection,” Candela cigars don’t receive the credibility they deserve, as their heyday was in the 1940s and ’50s, when luminaries like John F. Kennedy smoked them. Although Candela wrappers originated in Cuba, they can be grown anywhere because they are the result of a curing process, not a growing region or seed varietal.
Candela leaves are cut before they are fully mature, and the tobacco is slowly fire-cured at high temperatures before it’s cooled and rehydrated. The curing process is delicate but much quicker than for other wrappers. Argyle Candela offers an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with a delicious profile from yesteryear.
