Wrapper: Candela, Connecticut, Habano, Maduro (multi-wrapper barber pole)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: 5 X 58 (Figurado)
Strength: Medium to Full
Price: ~$4.50–$8
Blender: Raymond Pages
Factory: Nicaragua (undisclosed)
Release Date: 2023 (Limited Edition Shofar)
Experience Rating: 92?
Notice I have a question mark after the experience rating. The reason is that I’m not entirely sure how to rate it in a way that applies to all the cigars in the line. It would be easy if each cigar were consistently constructed. But look at the picture below:
The barber pole pattern is different on every cigar. That means the way the wrappers burn—and how they show up over time—is different from stick to stick.
So there isn’t a single progression to follow. There isn’t even a consistent one.
What you’re smoking depends on how that particular cigar was rolled, which makes a traditional review difficult. There’s no guarantee the next one will behave the same way.
The only constants are the binder and filler. It’s the same core as the Megilla, and it shows. This cigar has weight. There’s body behind it. It’s not just a novelty wrapped in different leaves. That core keeps pushing through. That’s what makes it work. No matter how the wrappers shift, there’s always something underneath holding it together.
I’ve smoked a couple of these before sitting down to write this, and despite the unpredictability from cigar to cigar, I enjoyed each one.
A large part of my enjoyment comes down to the humor behind it.
Raymond Pages already showed that side with Your Mom. That one wears it on the surface, with its backhanded reference to My Father and La Aroma de Cuba. The joke is obvious.
With the Shofar, the humor isn’t in the name. It’s in the way the cigar behaves. You light it up expecting it to settle into something you can follow, and it just… doesn’t. It shifts, interrupts itself, lines up for a moment, then shifts again.
Your Mom laughs with you.
The Shofar fucks with you.
I can appreciate that. My read is that Pages is thumbing his nose at us aficionados and issuing a tongue-in-cheek challenge:
So, how do you deal with an entire system that never stays in place?
My response is simple:
Just go with it.
I just realized that the figurado shape is part of the joke. That kind of roll takes skill. It signals seriousness, precision, and control. But the way the cigar actually smokes says something else entirely.
Don’t take yourself too seriously.
To be honest, like the Megilla Miami, I fully expected to hate this cigar based on the different wrapper patterns from stick to stick. But as I mentioned above, I liked each one I’ve smoked so far, despite those reservations.
For me, it comes down to the core. It’s the engine for the whole experience and the only thing that keeps the cigar stable. Everything happening with the wrappers is an interruption.
It kind of feels like riding in a bumper car. You’re moving forward, then you get knocked off course, straighten out, then get pushed in a different direction. You can’t help but laugh.
It’s just plain fun.
Buy these at Cigar Page. A 5-pack normally goes for $39.99, but they have a special for a 10-pack at $45.00.
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