The Alec Bradley Tempus line is getting some strong reviews from smokers across the internet.  I couldn’t resist giving a few a try myself.  I had the chance to try the Creo, a 7 ½ x 41 Lonsdale, a Terra Novo 5 x 50 Robusto, and the Imperator, a 6 1/8 x 52 Torpedo shaped cigar.

All in all there are 7 cigars in the Tempus line, all wrapped in a Honduran Criollo 98 wrapper with Honduran and Nicaraguan filler, and Honduran and Indonesian binder.  Alec Bradley seems to fly under the radar, and always make good cigars.  Even when they try something funky, like those triangle pressed smokes of a few years back, they never skimp on the tobacco.  They make a lot of lines, including MAXX, Vice, Family Blend, Occidental Reserve, Trilogy (those are the ones that were triangle pressed a few years ago), Spirit of Cuba, and Special Cabinet Reserve, or “SCR”.

Tempus is Latin for “time”.  Alec Bradley wants to make sure one understands that time is one of the most important factors when creating a cigar.  Hard to argue with after all the sick periods folks have experienced with Cuban cigars.  Alec Bradley allows only 20% of the rollers at their Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras to roll the Tempus, assuring a top notch construction.  All cigars in the line are triple capped in the old Cuban tradition, and all cigars have a foot band as well.

The cigars have enjoyed some top notch ratings in that “other” magazine, including notation of flavors that include “mineral notes” and a “briny finish”.  Hmmm, wonder if I’ll taste anything that exotic?  The Tempus was also selected as the #2 cigar of the top 25 at Cigar Insider.

 
Starting with the Creo, I was at once impressed and disappointed.  The flavor was great, but the darn thing drew like a clogged drain.  I felt a stroke coming on trying to get the cigar started.  Thankfully this soon took care of itself when I plucked a decent size leaf vein from the cigar.  Real mixed emotions so far, as the flavor was good, but I am wondering if perhaps this cigar slipped to one of the rollers that were not in the top 20 percent in the factory.