Made by Nestor Plasencia for Rocky Patel’s Indian Tabac in Honduras, Fire is a bargain bundle smoke with “triple fermented” tobaccos. (Though it looks like they’re now available in boxes.) Both the wrapper and the filler are “triple fermented,” but the band is just silly. It looks like it should be the cover art for a Bollywood DVD.

5 x 52

Wrapper: Costa Rica

Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf

Filler: Honduras and Nicaragua

The foot reveals a swirl of different colored tobaccos, and the wrapper is rough but slightly oily. Connecticut Broadleaf is an interesting choice as a binder since in most cases this would serve as the wrapper in a maduro.

But for me the star of the Fire Maduro is the Costa Rican wrapper. It burns unevenly, but with an aroma like this the burn is a minor fault. Toffee is the closest I can come to describing it. The Fire line is on the heavy side of medium bodied smokes, and there is a hint of harshness that comes and goes. With a name like “Fire” a nice bite should be expected. It’s a little one dimensional, but that one dimension is pretty good.

The ash is a mottled gray that held for two inches even while I chased the dogs around the back yard. The roll on all three samples I tried was solid and the draw was firm with plenty of smoke. I smoked about two thirds before the taste began to turn, which in my case made it a 30 minute cigar.

Bottom line: at 2 bucks a pop, you can’t go wrong. Though in the future I will probably opt for the petite corona — they offer a whole lot of flavor in a short smoke.