At 2018’s IPCPR convention, where each year manufacturers gather to introduce new cigars, Oscar presented to the world the Altar Q. Not only as a call out to the Honduran tobacco used in the cigar or Oscar’s Honduran roots, the #AltarQ is named after an actual Stone carved alter located at a Mayan monument illustrating several Mayan rulers. The Mayan king Yax Pac is also depicted on the cigar’s long secondary band while the primary just has the Alter Q naming. With most of the cigar wrapper covered by the bands, it’s hard to see the details but the artwork alone will catch your eye and force you to pick one up.
The Altar has a medium sandy brown outer wrapper with minimal veins and is quite smooth to the touch. Twisting off the pigtail and punch cutting it the rest of the way, I took a dry pull and noticed that the ventilation is flawless. After getting it well lit and taking a few pulls, I began to pick up flavors of almond, cream, and light tobacco. The first two flavors of almond and cream make the start of this cigar smooth and relaxing. The tobacco keeps it from being too sweet and gives the stick body.
It’s a surprisingly quick burn, going much faster than I expected. However, it still has great flavor. The cigar starts the second portion increasing its creaminess. There is a little cedarwood on the tail of the tobacco from the first 3rd. There’s not too much transition overall, and the dominant flavor is still that rich almond. The retro is floral with various baking spices and white pepper. I left the cigar for a while, and it was still burning well; maybe due to high priming leaves in the filler.
The baking spices present in the retro are now noticeable in the actual pull. The flavor is of nutmeg, allspice, and milk coffee on the tongue. A sweetness of honey roasted peanuts comes in midway through this last portion. The cigar finishes with a little cedar, sweet almond, and peanut, as well as hazelnut coffee. This is a great 10 am-4 pm cigar. It’s medium bodied and perfect with a cup of coffee or early mezcal cocktail.
