I hated this cigar; seriously hated it after trying it for the first time. And I even like the folks who make it and the packaging of the cigar. You’d think some of that would have swayed me subconsciously but it didn’t. I swore to never try this again…until I ran into a meeting where The Beard and our boss were puffing away on them. I was shocked. These two were talking about how great these things were. So much for not trying one of these again. Time to pick up a 5-pack and give it a test…

As soon as I fired it up, that familiar overwhelming spice and sharpness hit me. This is what caused me to put it down the first time. And don’t get me wrong, I love a powerhouse cigar but this just seems unbalanced. This time, I had to power through though. Amazingly, the spice subsides gradually and is gone after the first half inch replaced by rich notes of coffee and earth. The Banker then goes through another shift offering spicy and smoky notes. Overall, way more complexity than I expected. One thing I noticed is that when you puff too fast on this, the cigar quickly becomes unbalanced which I found was my error the first time. If you take your time with H. Upmann’s The Banker, you’ll find your investment will certainly pay off.