I could kick myself for not following my own rules. How many times do I have to waste my money before I learn a lesson. For years, I have followed one simple rule when choosing a cigar: Stay Away From Fancy Bands! Period! The only time this rule has failed is with some Gurkha and the Fuente Fuente Opus X cigars. When I see a metallic-like band with shiny colors and a steep price tag (over $8), I tend to walk away. I have been disappointed so may times when I fall for over priced marketing gimmicks. More times than not, these marketing packages fail to live up to my expectations. Usually these marketing ploys compound the allure by having distinctive names for each size. This is a dead give away to buy something else. So, please don't waste your money on over priced, pretty marketing packages trying to pass themselves off as premium cigars. Stick to the dull band with no thrills; you will not go wrong.

I must admit that I am a big Fan of Alec Bradley. I love his Spirit of Cuba and MAXX line of cigars. I have rated them pretty high on CigarMonkey in the past, but the Alec Bradley Tempus fails in so many ways.

Yesterday, I paid a visit to Ralph's on Taylor and purchased a Centuria (churchill size) Tempus measuring 7 x 49. It had a pretty metallic-like band with dazzling colors and looked very attractive. The Alec Bradley Tempus Centuria is blended with Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. It has an Indonesian binder and finished with a Honduran wrapper. The Tempus Centuria lit easily and I quickly tasted the woody notes. The even burn started to run in the first five minutes of the smoke with some effort I got it to even out. Another five minutes passed and I had another runner. This time it required extra effort to even out. By this time, I was unable to get a decent size ash going so the burn rate started to increase. Half way through the smoke, I finally had an inch ask to drop in the tray. When I gently tapped it, the ash took some of the filler with it. I now had a hallow stick burning. With all this said, The Tempus Centuria was poorly constructed and a waste of my time and money. The only thing going for this smoke was it's woody flavor and hints of cocoa. A box of 20 runs for about $148. 

Will I smoke another Tempus? No! The Alec Bradley Tempus Centuria has my vote for one of the worst cigars in 2008. Sorry, feel free to disagree. Will I ever fire up another Alec Bradley creation? Absolutely!


MonkeyDan Rating: 78