“Never underestimate the power of friendship and a great cigar!”
~Yours Truly
What Makes It Special
#NeverAsh Italian Stallions Tom Grilli and Steve Rotondi have created a global social media phenomenon, and community of never ashers. Since 2018, cigar enthusiasts worldwide have been posting photographs of their long cigar ash, in honor of these Frankfort Illinois Paisans, and their “NeverAsh” family tradition. Tom said “it started with a catch phrase amongst family and friends enjoying cigars and good conversation. The proper etiquette of cigar smoking is to: ‘NeverAsh’, and people started sharing their cigar ash with us from all over the globe.”
Tom and Steve have made big strides and many friends in the cigar community, in a very short period of time. To honor these new and continuing relationships, they named their latest cigar, Amici, which translates to “friends” in Italian. Its Ecuadorian-grown Cameroon wrapper will provide a rich and sweet flavor, with a touch of spice. Its mild and aromatic Sumatra binder, which migrated from the Indonesian Sumatra Island where it is known as ‘black tobacco,’ is typically earthy and sweet. The cigar’s multi-layer blend of Dominican Corojo, Nicaraguan, and Pennsylvania fillers should provide the perfect balance of spice, sweetness, and boldness.
Tom mentioned the blend, which is hand rolled in Tamboril, Dominican Republic, at William Ventura’s El Maestro Cigar Factory, “complemented our current line-up the best.”
AMICI
Brand: NeverAsh
Vitola: 6×52 Toro
Filler: Dominican Corojo, Nicaragua, Pennsylvania
Wrapper: Ecuadorian-Grown Cameroon
Binder: Indonesian-Grown Sumatra
Body: Medium Boldness
Price: $12
Visual / Pre-light Draw
The medium brown Cameroon wrapper has bold toothy veins. It is rough to the touch with just the right amount of oil. The side sniff is refreshing with nice floral hints of hay. The dry foot odor is chocolaty and minty at the same time, with fresh hay on the finish. Sniffing the foot literally made the inside of my nose cold and opened up my sinus, almost mirroring the effects of eucalyptus sauna spray. .
The off-white primary band has a nice shiny copper colored border, and displays “NEVERASH” over Italy’s famous Coliseum, St. Peter’s Church, and Amaseno, the town where Tom and Steve’s family are from. The secondary band simply displays the cigar’s name, AMICI. There is no spice on the palate when prepping the head for my favorite Colibri V-cut. The dry draw has delicious notes of bold raisin bran cereal.
First Third
Immediately there is a noticeable balance of sweet vanilla, saltiness, and char. The draw is incredible with more balanced sweet char and little to no spice on the retro-hale, which reminds Brandi Wheat (@hercigarcloset) of anise, or a plant-based licorice note. The soft vanilla notes become creamier as the char settles down. The foot smoke odor is like creamy butter cake baking in the oven. So far the cigar has great creamy and buttery flavor, perfectly balanced by the crazy blend of tobaccos, and of course a perfect postworthy never ash!
Second Third
I’m getting a perfectly toasted, almond flavored, and buttery Italian biscotti flavor. The cigar’s very slow burn is perfect and I am positive this biscotti stick would pair excellently with some Italian caffè. But we’re here for whisky! So let’s introduce this friendly and very balanced cigar with a very friendly and lightly-peated Adnamurchan Small Batch Single Malt Scotch. This pairing is like your Italian Nonna’s fresh-baked Italian cookies, absolutely deliziosa!
Now let’s add my good friend and favorite German-Italian Sloth Acid DJ, Sacha Robotti’s new track called “Power.” This is his latest Third Culture collaboration with Dj Sian, under the Octopus Recordings Label, and it bumps! We are on level as we are in Sacha and Sian’s underworld. The cookie party is officially over as these power beats take us and the pairing to the next level. This intense and dark banger is exactly what this pairing needed. Now I’m up and the sky’s the limit. I’m fully enjoying and feeling the pairing on a whole new level.
Soprendente!
Final Third
The cigar’s “perfect body” and burn slows even more, as more delicious Italian cookie notes hit the palate. The burn remains perfect and the cigar’s second chapter of ash remains solid. The cigar becomes a vanilla soft-serve cream bomb, which I love. There is a perfect charred aftertaste, balanced perfectly by the interwoven calming beats of this amazing Third Culture “Power” track. That amazing never ash finally falls off with dignity, as the cigar’s amazing flavors peak, to the creamiest final third I’ve ever experienced.
This part of the pairing is like sweet and lightly toasted Italian cookies. Through the light layer of peat and cigar smoke, Sacha and Sian rise, confidently in their realm, entirely driven on channeling their repetitive upbeat rage and power to the smoker.
The Pairing
Adnamurchan Small Batch AD/Highland Single Malt whisky comes in at 46.8% ABV, is non-age stated, and retails for only $69.99. The distillery, whose name translates in Gaelic to ‘Headland of the Great Seas,’ is located just north of The Isle of Mull and south of The Isle of Skye. The distillery is newer, as it opened its doors and began distilling in 2014.
This tropical, fruity, and nutty Small Batch core expression features 35% Sherry and 65% ex-bourbon cask aged whisky. It recently made Whisky Advocate Magazine’s list of top 20 whiskies. It also features a unique 50/50 split of peated and unpeated whiskies, which should balance out the sweetness of this Amici cigar.
Cigar to the whisky:
This is a candy cane dipped in peat. There is a lot going on here as the cigar’s flavors become sweeter. The sweet char of the cigar is mellowed, overlaid with the perfect kiss of sweet banana-infused peat on the finish. The darkness of the peat is then enhanced by Sacha and Sian’s “Power” track, taking the pairing to a very ominous but safe place. I could stay at this party all day, and night!
Whisky to the cigar:
The cigar’s dessert-like sweetness becomes slightly charred, like a sweet crème brûlée, with an explosion of vanilla cream on the finish. This part of the pairing is like sweet and lightly toasted Italian cookies. Through the light layer of peat and cigar smoke, Sacha and Sian rise, confidently in their realm, entirely driven on channeling their repetitive upbeat rage and power to the smoker. Degno di nota!
Overall, with this intense and impressive Italian dessert-like pairing, I am breathless! The pairing, coupled with this amazing new Third Culture “Power” track, emphasizes that we can never underestimate the power of friendship!
Visit NEVERASH.COM to explore all of their amazing cigars.
Also, be sure to NeverAsh, post your ash, and tag Tom and Steve @neverashco.
Acknowledgment, NeverAsh Philosophy, & Live Pairing
Thank you Sian and Sacha Robotti for this incredibly dark banger “Power” track, and channeling your genius music to the world.
Thank you Tom Grilli and Steve Rotondi for this amazing “Amici” cigar, and for reminding us all how to fully enjoy our cigars:
“A long ash can help the cigar burn cooler. It can also provide key characteristics of the background of where your cigar was grown. Our hand rolled cigars produce a long and tight ash when smoked right. Don’t think of a cigar as a short term event. Get together with family and friends and enjoy the smoke to the fullest. Wait for the ash to drop off on its own terms. Keep your puffs slow and avoid too much movement with the cigar itself besides a slight rotation.”
Check out our amazing live pairing on The Great Cigar & Pipe Show, featuring our friends, Brandi Wheat @hercigarcloset, ImPex Beverages’ Joshua Hatton, Tom Grilli, and the amazing Sacha Robotti, here:
Photography by: James Archie
