After starting his tobacco career producing mild- to medium-bodied cigars, Alan Rubin, owner of Alec Bradley Cigars, decided to try his hand at a full-bodied smoke more than 10 years ago. The result was the Alec Bradley Tempus, a cigar made in Honduras with Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco.

The main focus of the Tempus blend is the wrapper leaf, which Rubin procured from a farm in the Trojés region of Honduras. For Rubin, the wrapper went beyond any generic Honduran flavor profile and imparted a very particular, estate-specific taste. For those who know a Latin phrase or two, the word tempus is Latin for time, and that's exactly what Rubin needed to perfect this blend. It took him years. When he finally finished the cigar, the strength surprised him, but he found that the blend elevated the wrapper, rather than overshadowed it.

The blend works particularly well in the Centuria size. Because Centuria isn't a very thick cigar, the wrapper has far more influence on the taste. The overall effect is quite delicious as each puff leaves the smoker satisfied the way a sip of hearty stout would satisfy a beer connoisseur.