Here is a description of Umbagog straight from Steve Saka and the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust website:
Umbagog is the name of one of the most pristine wilderness lakes in all of the United States. It is located on the border between Coös County, New Hampshire, and Oxford County, Maine. The origin of the word is from the Abenaki Indians meaning “shallow water” and I have been told the proper pronunciation is to the stress the second syllable as in “um-BAY-gog”, however I prefer to say it incorrectly as I always have as: “oom-BA-gog”. Just saying this word wrongly instantly makes me happy of heart. It is one of my favorite places in the entire world. The sky is marked with eagles and osprey, moose graze along her marshy shores and otters play friskily in wake. I love being on its quiet waters casting my line for the copious and voracious monster smallmouth bass it holds.
“Oom-BA-gog” is a perfect cigar for my time upon her waters. It is robust and durable, designed to endure the rigors of outside activity with its thick broadleaf capa and easy burning liga. This is a cigar that doesn’t pretend to be special or seek to elicit the “oohs or aahs” of the cigar snobs. It is an honest, hardworking cigar that is meant to be smoked, chewed upon and lit however many times you wish. For me, it is the perfect cigar for mowing the yard, hiking, four wheelin’ and of course, fishing!
Specifics
The cigars are all available as 10 count bundles in the following frontmarks / vitolas:
Corona Gorda (6.00 x 48), Robusto Plus (5.00 x 52), Toro Toro (6.00 x 52), Gordo Gordo (6.00 x 56), Short & Fat (4.75 x 56) and Churchill (7.00 x 50)
The wrapper is a US Connecticut Broadleaf surrounding a Nicaraguan Binder and Nicaraguan filler leaves.
The Experience
Appearance
The Maduro colored wrapper leaf has few veins and some visible veins. It’s not the prettiest looking cigar but, as you read above, it’s not supposed to be. The wrapper has a rich tobacco scent coming from it.
The cap is smooth and applied neatly. The finished foot looks good and has a sweet, hay like tobacco scent. What many people refer to as “barnyard” aroma.
For this review, I smoked the Churchill vitola. I received it as part of my monthly Stogiebird subscription.
Pre-light
This cigar had an average weight for its size and felt firm to the touch. I gave it a straight cut from my trusty guillotine and took a cold draw. It had more of that sweet hay, similar to the foot aroma and the draw itself was quite good.
I lit the cigar with a triple flame lighter I had recently rediscovered while organizing my various piles of unorganized “stuff”.
1st Third
The first third of this cigar has a short finish. But, it makes up for that with a rich, savory tobacco flavor that coats my palate. The retrohale had a medium strength sensation for me.
2nd Third
The second third of this cigar was pretty consistent with the first third. Although, I felt the retrohale increased in strength a little bit.
Final Third
Again, not much changes in the flavor profile. But, the one variable has consistently been the retrohale. It really moved up into a very strong sensation for the last minutes of my smoking experience.
Combustion
For a cigar that was made to basically be abused and chewed up while enjoying other activities, the Umbagog has an excellent even burn with a thin carbon ring. The ash is white with dark striations, firm and tight in appearance. The smoke volume was very good and enjoyable.
[su_box title=”Summary” style=”glass” box_color=”#e1dddd”]By design, this cigar is not very complex as far as flavors go. Although, it is enjoyable enough and the retrohale does make you stand up and take notice at the end. Even though I’m not the outdoorsy type that this cigar was made for (unless you count sitting outside by the pool outdoorsy), I enjoyed the cigar very much and would purchase more.
I consider this cigar medium to full in strength and medium in body.
Overall, I give the Umbagog a score of 90[/su_box]
Have you smoked an Umbagog before? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!