This light-chocolate-colored, double-capped robusto announces itself out of the cellophane with a light scent of cocoa and cedar. The cigar does not feel heavy, but it does feel firm with no soft spots or easy give. The foot exhibits a solid pack. One vein is fairly prominent near the head, but it mostly disappears beyond the band. Seams are all but invisible. Dragging a fingernail along the wrapper leaf, I can detect a bit of tooth, but to outward appearances the cigar is shiny—a lovely cigar, I must say.
The standard punch I carry on my keychain removed a perfect little plug without doing any violence to the cap, and gave me an ideal draw. Cold-draw notes are mainly just sweet tobacco with a touch of sugar cookie.
A single four-inch wood match was way more than enough to warm the foot and liberate sufficient oils to produce a generously blazing light-up, without the match’s flame ever touching leaf. First taste is graham cracker and toast—a genteel greeting that welcomed retrohaling with no penalty on the sinuses. United Cigars markets the Red Anchor as a medium-full smoke, or at least something a notch above medium, but early puffs are producing somewhat lighter fare than that. (All of the Red Anchor vitolas use the same blend.) We’ll see how things seem an hour from now.
At 15 minutes, cinnamon and nutmeg are making brief segues in and out—and I have a lovely, rectangular white ash adorning a burn line that has remained distinctively straight and true from the start. Smoke output is plentiful.
The Red Anchor Captain produces a lingering finish on the palate that is sweet but not too sweet, and not at all in conflict with my iced tea. (But let’s face it, most cigars pair well with iced tea.) At 30 minutes the ash is over an inch-and-a-half long…and sensing that I am tempting fate, I tap it into my ashtray, revealing a nice, glowing cherry. No issues. And no trouble removing the band, which pops right off.
At 40 minutes I am starting to notice some flavors of black coffee and a little red pepper, and even a little sweet potato pie. (Maybe it’s the mix of baking spices conjuring a childhood memory.) At any rate, it all seems to be a very well-integrated package—no dissonance or off-key notes. That is to say, the Captain is a mannerly smoke that treats the customer well. The ash is solid with no flakes flying. The smoke is cool and rich; the burn is dependable on its own recognizance. I don’t have to think about this cigar. It just tools along. You can tell that Red Anchor is blended and constructed by real pro’s who know what they are doing.
At one hour I again tap the ash, which is again a prodigious, solid chunk. Interestingly, the finish seems at one with the flavor of the iced tea, as if the two flavors have somehow discovered each other and joined in matrimony. Not sure I have ever experienced this before. (I like it.) Notably, the nub still feels firm, which again bespeaks solid construction. The burn line remains unfailingly superlative. Nearing the end, I’d rate this a medium smoke, in strength and body.
At one hour, 15 minutes the nub is getting too warm for comfort, so I set it down to relish the delicious aftertaste. This is, to put it simply, an excellent cigar, and my hat is off to United Cigar Group and the Kelner Boutique Factory in Santiago for producing a real champion. Now…does it rate the $20 asking price? If it’s a week when I’m feeling flush, yes, it does. If I’m running light in the wallet…well, there are a lot of other satisfying robustos for half the price that could probably do as well—and undoubtedly United Cigars sells those, too. So, the answer is, the Red Anchor Captain is a reliable option if you’re a 20-dollar-a-smoke kind of customer. In that case, buy this one by the box in the certain knowledge you are stocking up on a refined product you can proudly share with friends.
United Cigars Red Anchor Captain
5 inches x 50 ring gauge
- Wrapper: Ecuador Habano 2000
- Binder: Dominican Monte Plata (Kelner Family Farm)
- Filler: Dominican San Vicente, Dominican Habano ’92, Pennsylvanian
- MSRP: $500 per box, available in 25-count boxes
- Smoking time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Release date: 7 July 2023
- Made at the Kelner Boutique Factory in Santiago, D.R.
– Photos and review by William C. Nelson. Samples provided by United Cigars.
This story first appeared in PCA The Magazine, Volume 3, 2023. To receive a copy of this magazine, you must be a current member of PCA.