The Black Angus FSG was arguably one of the most challenging for Steve Saka to develop.

One of its key ingredients is a Cuban Corojo ‘99 seed tobacco grown by Jeff Borysiewicz on his tobacco farm in Clermont, Florida. Dubbed “Florida Sun Grown” this is a flavorful, rich leaf with a very unique flavor that I can best describe as having a distinct, almost tart “twang”. While it is beloved by many, this particular flavor note never suited my personal palate. It actually became a bit of a running joke between Jeff and Saka. Jeff kept gifting Saka new cigars made by the best of makers and factories to sample and I kept saying, “Good cigar, just not good for me mi amigo.”

One time over much bourbon and smoking yet another FSG, somehow the idea came up about Saka trying to blend a FSG cigar. So, Saka visited the farm to inspect the tobacco and while sorting through his very healthy crop, Saka noticed a few hundred pounds of super thick, extra oily Corona leaves from the apex of the plant. Jeff told Saka that most people don’t like those as they are difficult to work and quite potent. Well, Saka being Saka said, “I’ll take these, let’s see if I can take the strongest, most FSG of FSG tobaccos and create something that will satisfy my own palate…” Talk about a challenge.

It took them well over a year to figure out how to best ferment this very thick ligero and then another year of Saka blending, but finally I got there. A robust, very satisfying blend that incorporates Jeff’s tobacco and also suits Saka’s personal palate. Now, Saka could have cheated and used very little of it or overworked the leaf to make it neutral, but that would have been cheating. It was very important to to make something different, something that would appeal to non-FSG folks like Saka himself, but also retain that distinct “twang” that FSG smokers crave and love – essentially a “Goldilock’s Blend”.

Dubbed “Black Angus” in honor of Jeff’s cattle farm and its robust blend, this is an extremely limited production 6 ¼” x 54 soft pressed vitola that provides an ultra-rich profile with decadent notes of dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans and exotic, savory spices with that signature “twang”. Smoked quickly, it may prove too potent for some, smoked at a leisurely pace the strength will gradually build to quite a rewarding crescendo.