Fokuscigarr: Freyja Valhalla Robusto Vitola: Robusto Längd: 5 1/2" (140 mm) Ring: 50 (20 mm) Täckblad: Dominican Criollo '98 Omlaga: Mexican San Andreas Inlaga: Dominican Piloto Cubano, Dominican Criollo '98, Nicaraguan Esteli

Den här gången har vi en fokuscigarr signerad vår egen Emma Viktorsson, en fokuscigarr som nog måste vara den mest omtalade cigarren i svensk social media 2015. Eftersom vi har tillgång till skaparen och hon dessutom är bra på att skriva så finns det ingen anledning att inte lämna över ordet till henne själv. Mina damer och herrar, Emmas egna ord om Freyja, henne själv och historian om Emma & José i korthet...

My history As you probably know by now, I grew up in this industry with my dad being in Swedish Match´s International Management Team and being Area Manager and onwards for different Continents ever since I was 8 years old.

After I finished University (in Paris) I went straight to work with cigars too. Between 2005 and 2010 I worked for Swedish Match exclusively for their Premium Cigars (GCC). I grew to become Marketing Area Manager, Premium Cigars, Eastern Europe and CIS-countries – I had over 10 countries. Of course I still assisted with other OTP products when necessary.

I had a lot of training, first theoretically and then in detail and intensely in the factory of General Cigar, Santiago, DR – working/training in the factory from processing to bunching and rolling. It was Daniel Nueñez and Modesta Fondeur themselves who invited me for the proper full training J

I left in 2010 to join Jose Blanco on a personal level, but I stayed active working behind the scenes even when he was VP of JDN, and I was always with him during blending, learning, and I was a part of the tasting panel of CyB and hence present during blending.

When Jose left JDN, we moved back to the DR and we opened Las Cumbres Tabaco together and I did and still do the marketing and designs for Señorial. Again, I keep training myself at the factory and fields, Tabacalera Palma this time, and I am present during their blendings and being a part of Jose´s tasting panel.

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To make my own blend and brand Throughout the years I have been asked a couple of times if I want to be the face of a brand or such, and my answer was always showing my confusion “Why me? Who am I for that? So No thanks.”

I have now been professionally involved in the Premium Cigar industry for 10 years+ and not until now did I feel ready to make my brand under our company Las Cumbres Tabaco.

I made my own blend and I worked on it hands on with Tabacalera Palma´s production manager. Until it was time to smoke, I did not include Jose or his cousin Jochy in my blend for a few reasons: I did not want a brand in my name to be a “Jose Blanco” or a “Jochy Blanco” -blend,” but most of all I now felt ready to blend and want to see what would “Emma´s blend” be?

With my original blend, the production manager and I tweaked it a good 10 times before I reached the exact final one.

The blending I wanted a Dominican wrapper… not because they are my favorite but some of them are SOME of my favorites (other favorites include: Habano Ecuador: Señorial has it, and Cameroon: hard to get….) and Jochy Blanco, owner of Tabacalera Palma has fantastic wrappers from La Canela farm with 5 to 7 years of age. I thought about a Criollo ´98 or a Corojo – it became Criollo ´98 – fantastic wrapper with 5 years of age.

I love Mexican San Andres but I didn´t want that as a wrapper, and mostly it is used for Maduros, which this line is not, so I had the idea of making it the binder. atTabacalera Palma has never done that, and it turned out Super!!! This part of the blend never budged from me nor Geraldito the production manager. And Jose, Jochy and the entire smoking panel agreed completely.

I wanted the filler to have Dominican tobaccos and Nicaraguan ones. I have learned and witnessed throughout the years that these two distinct origins usually blend great! This was tweaked a lot and the filler is what made it over which made it over 10 blends. Seeds of the Dominican ones were clear but primings were tweaked. The Nica one was a process of choice, and the Esteli was the chosen one to marry into this blend.

The blend - Wrapper: Dominican Criollo ´98 - Binder: Mexican San Andrés

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- Filler: Dominican Criollo ´98, Dominican Piloto Cubano, Nicaraguan Esteli.

This filler has four fillers in it – the one of the three ones mentioned that comes in double (different primings) is the Piloto Cubano. All the Dominican tobaccos come from la Canela farm and have four to five years of age.

The Name The name is FREYJA. Freyja is a Viking Goddess, the main female one. She is the Goddess of beauty and fertility, but most importantly she is the chief of the Valkyrie. Me being Swedish, Freyja is to me the bridge between my ancestry and the cigar- countries.

The Sizes 1. Sessrúmnir Corona Larga – 5 ¾ X 42 (Meaning: Sessrúmnir was Freyja´s Heanvenly Hall to which she carried fallen Viking warriors).

2. Valhalla Robusto – 5 ½ X 50 (Meaning: This vitola represents the Vikings´main God, Odin, he took the fallen Warriors to Valhalla).

3. Thor´s Toro – 6 X 54 (Meaning: The name says itself)

4. Valkyrie Pyramid – 6 ½ X 52 (Meaning: again this represents Freyja as the chief of Valkyries).

The box A rustic box that will hold 21 cigars in them in three lines of 7.

My personal notes on the blend:. Sweetness from the first inch, clearly on the tip of the tongue. In the second half a gentle earth kicks in, probably from the San Andres wrapper, and a hint of wood, while the sweetness turns into dark chocolate. Sweetness all throughout but with different notes, in the last third I feel the sweetness of dried fuit like dried prunes… Could be subjective of course but for me I feel that, and we all agree on the main basic: sweetness.

A slight gentle spice all throughout and in the finish, and also some nuts. The finish is long on the lips and quite sweet.

It is a full body as “body” with full flavors, and a medium to full in body-strength.

The logo The logo is an actual oil-painting made specifically for Freyja (just as Señorial´s painting was specifically for Señorial too) – the painter is Jana Jovanova, family- friend in Macedonia. We have her own art at home too, I love her style! And she portrayed Freyja fantastically…

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