If you have never thought about buying a cigar sampler, then you are missing out. A sampler is a superb way to weave your way through a particular brand and determine what you like.Learning aside, some cigar samplers are simply a steal. Rarely will you find a cigar sampler featuring top-shelf cigars each with its own accolades. In most cases, cigar companies bundle spectacular stogies with their little-known totally average cousin in a sampler pack. But not AJ Fernandez.

A Little AJ Fernandez History

AJ Fernandez is a household name in the stogie world. If there ever was anyone who could literally spin tobacco into gold it would be this guy. Raised in a tobacco background, AJ Fernandez has become synonymous with premium Nicaraguan tobacco and stogies that knock aficionados' socks off! And if you like heart strings, AJ Fernandez combined efforts with his father, Ismael, to create blends for the New World line and the Enclave. These collaboration cigar lines have really hit home with both cigar veterans and greenhorns.

The AJ Fernandez Fresh Pack Sampler features mainly father-son cigars plus the San Lotano Requiem. The San Lotano is a whole other can of sentimental considering its AJ Fernandez’s first cigar brand to carry his name. I am positive that your interest is piqued. Great! Let’s explore a little more about this AJ Fernandez Fresh Pack Sampler.

The AJ Fernandez Fresh Pack Sampler

The AJ Fernandez Fresh Pack Sampler is a combination of five of AJ Fernandez’s premium smokes. This sampler pack features exquisite picks prominently appearing in Cigar Aficionado with 90+ ratings.
The AJ Fernandez Fresh Pack Sampler contains:

• New World Puro Especial (Toro 6.5x54)
• San Lotano Requiem Ecuadorian Connecticut (Toro 6x52)
• Enclave (Toro 6x52)
• New World Cameroon Selection (Toro 6x50)
• Last Call Habano Pequenos (Pequeno 5x46)

As you can see, this is simply a must-have sampler pack. But just to give you a peek-preview, here are the tasting notes for each of these babies.

1.New World Puro Especial

This bad boy was released in 2017 at the IPCPR convention. It is a Nicaraguan Puro consisting of the finest Nicaraguan blends delicately aged for 3-5 years. New World Puro Especial is a fusion of tobaccos from an array of different AJF farms.

The San Diego farms are known for their exotic minerals, La Soledad farm famous for biting flavours, La Providencia farm loved for the enticing aromas, and the San Jose farm for nurturing a decadent Criollo ’98 seed that forms the wrapper. You can expect a full-flavoured, full-bodied smoking experience delicately surrounded by smoky, creamy notes on a bed of wood, leather, earth, and pepper zing.
As usual, it is not a proper AJ Fernandez stogie if it doesn’t punch you in the nose with sweet pepper and spice flavors right from the first draw. This bad boy got a 93 rating and the number 12 cigar of 2017 from Cigar Aficionado.

2.San Lotano Requiem Ecuadorian Connecticut

San Lotano is AJ Fernandez’s own baby; and it shows in the pristine blend. It carries Dominican and Honduran premium long fillers cloaked in a Nicaraguan binder and swathed in an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper.

The San Lotano line was the first cigar line to bear the AJ Fernandez name. It didn’t disappoint either because the San Lotano Requiem Ecuadorian Connecticut bore a 92 rating. You can expect implicit chocolate hazelnut sweetness comingled with hay, cedar, and oak on the front of the palate. Leather, earth, and an improbable saltiness hold down the fort. Leave it to AJ Fernandez to blend flavours that would normally never work together into a delicious symphony.

3.The Enclave

The Enclave is another father-son blending project. This baby is so well done that cigar connoisseurs, myself included, still get positively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the prospect of sitting down with one of these.

The Enclave is an amalgamation of AJF Select Nicaraguan long fillers plus AJF Nicaraguan Piloto Cubano long fillers. The binder is a delectable African Cameroon leaf draped in an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper.
This baby presents with delicious dark cocoa notes married to cedar, toasted nuts, figs, and aggressive red pepper flakes. It later settles into a palatable mix of earth, nutmeg, hints of espresso, cinnamon, caramel, and smooth mouth-watering tobacco notes with a touch of salty contrast. The Enclave reeled in a 92 rating and made the number 20 cigar in the top 25 cigars of 2016.

4.New World Cameroon Selection

The New World Cameroon Selection is a newer addition to the New World line only released in 2018. Don’t let that fool you though, this bad boy has been getting lots of stellar reviews.
New World Cameroon Selection is a pioneer in its own right; it is the first ever cigar in the AJ Fernandez arsenal to carry an African Cameroon wrapper. Inside the wrapper are all Nicaraguan blends.

Expect sweet tobacco flavours combined with caramel, wood, spice, and a whole lot of black pepper. The New World Cameroon Selection falls in line with all the other New World cigars. This means that it goes finesse over force focusing on a great smoking experience rather than brute strength.

5.Last Call Habano Pequenos

The Last Call cigar is a kind of funny story. You see, this stogie was really just something delicious that AJ Fernandez would smoke with his friends as the last cigar of the night. Later, AJF started handing these out to lucky visitors staying at the company’s Casa Blanca house. These would be given out during the last quarter of NFL Games.

The reviews were so overwhelmingly positive that AJ Fernandez decided to roll these out to the public as part of the New Portfolio Series. Last Call Habano is a melding of Nicaraguan fillers and binder wrapped in an Ecuadorian Habano leaf. You will love the decadent toasty notes fused with earth, pepper, cedar, and leathery nuances.

Perhaps the most memorable aspect of this stogie is the long nutty, toasty finish swimming in zesty cayenne heat. This baby got a 93 rating in Cigar Aficionado.

Overall Review of the AJ Fernandez Fresh Pack Sampler

The AJ Fernandez Fresh Pack Sampler is the perfect way to smoke yourself through some of AJ Fernandez’s best blends. Not to mention the fact that it comes in a humidified zip lock pack that you can take with you everywhere.

These make the perfect gift for any cigar lover. You can never go wrong with AJ Fernandez. Pick up one for yourself and perhaps a few more for your friends. You will be glad you did.