September Cigar of the Month: Above & Beyond Classic Heroes

Above and beyond is not a phrase you use about yourself. It is what somebody else says about you afterward.

September's Plunder is Above & Beyond: Classic Heroes, from Blanco Cigars. Seven inches by 54, box-pressed torpedo, and we are the first shop in the bay to carry it. Not the only one. First.

Habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder, with Honduran and Nicaraguan filler. Medium body. Cedar, pepper and toasted nuts, with leather and hay coming off the foot. An hour and then some if you let it take its time.

The torpedo is worth a word. It tapers to a point instead of a flat cap, so where you cut it is a decision rather than a formality. Cut shallow for a tighter draw and the pepper up front. Cut deeper and it opens up, bringing the nuts and cedar forward. Same stick, two different evenings. Ask the crew where to put the blade.

One box of 21 is the whole allocation for the month. In the humidor now.

Pair it with The Long Watch, September's Coffee of the Month. Nuts and caramel on one side, cedar and dark earth on the other.