La Antiguedad Staff Review
Today I’m firing up an overlooked blend from My Father Cigars, called La Antiguedad, and I’m smoking a box-pressed 5.25-by-52 Robusto. This full-bodied Nicaraguan smoke came out in 2014 as a stronger follow-up to the Garcia family’s first ‘Cigar of the Year’ titleholder, the 96-rated Flor de las Antillas. La Antiguedad is Spanish for “The Antiquity.”
A decade later, the My Father brand includes three total ‘Cigars of the Year’ with the 97-rated Le Bijou 1922, in 2015, and The Judge, Cigar Aficionado’s 98-rated reigning blend for 2024. José ‘Pepin’ Garcia, his son, Jaime, and daughter, Janny, have built My Father into one of today’s largest and most successful brands. With so many acclaimed cigars in their portfolio, it’s easy to miss My Father La Antiguedad. In 2019, the critics ranked La Antiguedad in their annual ‘Top 25’ list.
The Garcias blend La Antiguedad from an oily, reddish-brown Ecuador Habano Rosado wrapper leaf and three-and-a-half-year-old Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos cultivated in three regions: San Rafael, Las Quebradas, and San José. The cigar comes in a collection of box-pressed sizes, packaged in ornate bands and boxes that depict old-world Cuban art. When I open a fresh box to choose a Robusto, La Antiguedad cigars showcase all the quality hallmarks of a well-made smoke. The entire top row looks meticulously matched and color-sorted. It’s tough to choose a single cigar because they’re all quite tempting.
La Antiguedad opens with pronounced notes of cocoa, wood, and pepper in the cold draw, after clipping the cap with my guillotine cutter and taking a few cold puffs. The flavor complements the cigar’s rich aroma of leather, fresh tobacco, and earth nicely. The Robusto lights up marvelously, offering abundant clouds of creamy, white smoke while intricate notes of pepper and roasted coffee bean coat my palate as I toast the foot with my torch lighter.
My Father La Antiguedad starts noticeably more intense than the Flor de las Antillas Maduro I previously reviewed, but it’s less spicy than a Le Bijou 1922. A malty foundation of cedar and chestnut develops with a dark, toasty aftertaste. The Rosado wrapper brings in nuttiness with hints of raisin and smoked butterscotch throughout the first half of the Robusto.
A dense gray ash forms at the foot, and I’ve only knocked it off twice before I’m past the halfway point of the Robusto. The rollers at the My Father factory are trained to roll cigars in the Cuban entubado style, which involves rolling each leaf of tobacco into a tube to achieve optimal airflow. This labor-intensive method requires more time but results in a superior experience. Tasting notes of leather and baking spices introduce a brisk, peppery sensation in the nose, while a semi-sweet profile of dark fruit and English toffee keeps the cigar grounded.
After the band is off and I’m savoring the final five minutes of the nub, La Antiguedad serves up a muscular finish of hickory and spice that overwhelms the cigar’s subtler nuances before it’s done. I recommend smoking this traditional My Father blend after a big meal, preferably a filet. As the Garcias continue to expand their burgeoning My Father portfolio, there is no shortage of satisfying cigars to add to your humidor. La Antiguedad is another hidden gem worth exploring.
