Episode 30 | FSG 20 Acre Farm | Larceny Bourbon

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. We are back again for another episode of the Sticks and Stones podcast. Sticks and Stones, where we talk about life, we talk about love, and we talk about the brotherhood of the leaf, the product that we know and we love, premium cigar tobacco products. So, what do we have here today? So, I went on a small little haul. I smoked one already. That was the blackened Drew Estate M81, the double corona. I was not as excited as I was the robusto. It died on me like four times. So, like I I always say, I always buy two sticks of every sort of cigar because if you got two duds, then that stay away from it. And there could be a dud in any in any batch. Any box could be a dud. So, here's what I've got. I've got the Olivo Series O in the Maduro. And this is a 6 by 60. 60 ring is like that's my That's my homeboy. That's my go-to. Then we have This is I think this has been aged 6 years. This is the EP Carrillo Inch cigar from Nicaragua. So, this is a new one. Saw that, had to pick that up. I got these from um Cigar Heaven or Cigar Distributors of Texas, C. Dot. And then we have the 20 Acre Farm FSG by Drew Estate. That is the Florida Sun Grown by my good friends at Drew Estate. Love Drew Estate cigars. What are we thinking about pairing this with? Oh, by the way, I'm going to try this one because it was the most attractive to me. We are going to be pairing this with Larceny. Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon whiskey. This is the small batch weeded bourbon mash bill of John E. Fitzgerald. All right, so let's get a little education. So, Larceny Larson has its origins in the history of John E. Fitzgerald and the Old Fitzgerald brand, a legendary Kentucky straight bourbon with a story rooted in supposed warehouse larceny. The bourbon's key shaped logo isn't decorative. It is the direct nod to Fitzgerald's position as a Treasury agent which gave him access to the keys to government bonded warehouses where the finest barrels of bourbon were stored. So, that's kind of like bottled in bond, they had to be stored in government bonded warehouses. The Larceny line is known internally at Heaven Hill as OFD or Old Fitzgerald distillate. And the recipe bears the name and reputation of a bourbon that was once sold to the legendary Pappy Van Winkle before being produced by Heaven Hill. So, what makes it weeded? Larceny Small Batch is distilled from a mash bill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley and bottled at 92 proof. So, the 68% corn is definitely what makes it bourbon cuz it has to be at least 51%. Um the critical distinction, weeded replaced as the secondary grain. Most bourbons use rye in that role, which creates spice and fruit forward character. Wheat is softer, rounder, and more pastry like. I like the sound of that. Larceny has 25% more wheat than the leading competitor, meaning it's not just a weedier, weedier, it's an aggressively weeded bourbon. That's what separates it from Maker's Mark and Weller Special Reserve, which share the weeded style but use less wheat in the recipe. Barrel Char is number three, and while there's no official age statement, the bourbon is believed to be 4 to five years old with barrel proof entry around 125 proof. Heaven Hill selects a limited number of barrels from specific floor locations in the rick house for Larceny. A Larceny six-year taste profile. So, on the tasting note, the note the nose delivers fresh bread and toffee with butterscotch. On the palate, it's buttery caramel and honey with a long gently sweet and savory finish. Love the way this is sounding. So, digging deeper, the nose is sweet caramel nougat, floral, grassy notes, freshly cracked peanut shells, dried grass, bales of hay, gently charred wood. On the palate, it's caramel sweetness, vanilla hints of peach and citrus, cinnamon extract, red hot style spice, bread, milk, chocolate undertones. On the finish, it's a lingering warmth, wheaty character, dark dried cherries, pepper brown sugar. The mouth feel is smooth, viscous, and oily. Classic wheatier texture, while the finish is long with a dark dried cherry, pepper, and simple caramel close. So, the Larceny lineup, there's the Larceny small batch, which is the everyday sipper, so that's that's this. Larceny barrel proof, released three times yearly, January, May, and September. Non-chill filtered, six to eight years full barrel proof. And then there's the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, the prestige allocated expression, eight to 16 years depending on the release. So, that is very interesting. I cannot wait to crack this open. Now, on to a little info on the stick of the evening. I'm going to go put these aside, not going to indulge in those. We're going to put this bottle on the side here. Let me get it ready, give it a snippy snippy. I love, you know, a lot of a lot of cigar companies have gotten out of uh uh, wrapping it in their cigars in a cedar spill. It just I don't know. To me, it just adds like a a level of class. >> Right. So, That is a beautiful stick. It really is. Give that a sniff. So, Florida was once a major tobacco supplier for the cigar factories in Tampa and beyond. True fact. But, tobacco growing in the state had been dormant since 1977. The revival came through Jeff Borschwitz, who purchased a plot of land just west of Orlando in the Clermont, Florida area and began cultivating what would become Florida Sun Grown or FSG tobacco. Now, fun fact, I believe that Jeff owns the Corona Family Cigar brand >> and their brand of lounges and stuff. I had a friend that managed multiple of their locations. Great company, great family, just awesome people. Uh, Jeff combined age-old tobacco growing practices with the most advanced modern agriculture technology to produce Florida Sun Grown tobacco, which is unique in every aspect of flavor intensity and aroma. The 20-acre farm operation also produced high-grade honey and beef. I know that for a fact. Uh, from my friend. He would tell me that. It's a full working farm, not just a tobacco plot. Borschwitz and Drew Estates founder, Jonathan Drew, have been personal friends for decades, which made this collaboration a natural evolution rather than a business of convenience deal. This is actually Drew Estates second cigar to feature FSG tobacco. The first was Florida Sun Grown by Drew Estates, released in July of 2017. The 20-acre farm is the premium evolved follow-up. So, this is the blend. The FSG 20-acre farm features an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, a sun-grown Honduran Habano binder, and a filler blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos from Esteli and Jalapa, plus Florida Sun Grown Leaf. The FSG filler specifically uses FSG Corojo, a Cuban seed strain grown on the Florida farm. The goal, per Drew Estate's own language, was to craft a cigar that smokes like butter and more butter. Butter and more butter. Jonathan Drew described it this way. The Vuelta Abajo region, the Florida Sun Grown tobacco serves as 20 acre farms backbone and it leads every aficionado on an exclusive journey through history, space and time to the gilded years of Cuban cigars. The blend was constructed by Willy Herrera, Drew Estate's master blender, and rolled at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate's in Esteli, Nicaragua, one of the five largest premium cigar factories in the world. So, vitolas and pricing. Available in four sizes, the Robusto, 5 and 1 1/8. I'm sorry, 5 and 1/4 by 54. The Toro at 6-in by 52 ring. The Gordito at 6-in by 60, which that's what this is. And the Corona Cigar Company exclusive 25th anniversary Belicoso, the 7-in by 54 ring. As I mentioned, Corona Family Cigar or Corona Cigar Company. Great company. It is the same owner. Great people. It's now that makes sense why their lounges are Drew Estate lounges with the exception of the store across from the International Plaza Mall in Tampa, which is a Davidoff lounge. The Gordito runs $15.40 per stick in a box of 20 or 308 a box. Robustos and Toros are in the $13 to $15 range depending on the retailer. So, on the flavor profile, the 20 acre farm delivers balanced tones of bold oak, sweet cedar, white pepper, and bright citrus. I'm going to give this a a dry pull. I get the sweetness already. So, reviews across the board highlight first third is the cedar hay, light almond, subtle mint, and the cold draw dry is oatmeal cereal seed and Brazil nuts. I definitely get the Brazil nuts. Second third is white pepper, vanilla emerge grain profile becomes prominent with lemon zest and cocoa nuances. And on the final third is toasted nuttiness, candied chestnut, warm hearth finish. The FSG tobacco really shows up here. The ash is near perfect combination of even with zero heat and the draw is exceptional. Cut to straight for cumulonimbus grade clouds or punch. V-cut for a more regulated but still fluid draw. One reviewer called it hands down one of the spiciest Connecticut cigars on the market today, which is a bold statement for a shade wrapped stick. But the FSG filler is what drives the unexpected complexity. So, on the body this is a medium accessible but never boring. It punches above its weight class for a Connecticut. On the construction, it's universally praised. The presentation includes a satin foot band and a cedar sleeve. Sophisticated touches that match the cigar's refined character. Totally agree. Totally agree. So, now let's light this bad boy up. Think I left my lighter. Doing my best not to barbecue this cuz this lighter's acting up. This torch is acting up, so I can't like stop. There's billows of smoke coming out of this thing. Oof. Woo, that's good. Mm. Okay, now for the fun part of my job. I get to smoke and drink, guys. This is like Who wouldn't have this job, right? Right? Fun fun stuff. Definitely get that sweetness. For those of you on YouTube, can see that that golden brown. We definitely get the bread. That doesn't even feel like a 92 proof, honestly. That feels like a like an 80 proof, which I'm not mad at. It's a good bourbon. Now I know why it's on like everyone's list. Larson's got a cool backstory, too. Yeah, really cool. Definitely sweeter. Draw is phenomenal in this thing. Excuse me. You know, it's a Friday at the recording of this episode and after a day long day of work, I actually still have some work to do after this, but I went to Total Wine and I bought two bottles of bourbon. Then I went to the cigar store, bought a couple of sticks and I get home and I just I just want to kick back and relax and, you know, do what I love, smoke my cigars, have a nice drink, kind of unwind before I have to get some more work done, which will get me more wound up and who knows, may have another drink. I don't know. It just seems like seems like time is just moving so [ __ ] fast. It feels like yesterday was Monday and it's Friday now. So weird. But, you know, that's why we have the whiskey and the cigars to get us by, man. So, one of the unfortunate things is I just I was on a business trip on the East Coast. I was in the Carolinas and I didn't get a chance to go to any cigar lounges. Didn't even buy a cigar. Didn't take cigars with me. Pretty crazy. It was a quick trip. I was only out for a couple days, but I did I stayed at a Marriott property and there was a bar in the the hotel and the first day that I was there, I got [ __ ] hammered. I didn't think I was hammered until I got to the room and I had my favorite hoodie on and I usually wear it during a podcast when I'm kicking back. So, anyway, the bartender was, you know, we were chopping it up, whatever. She was really friendly. She was cool and shout out shout out to Joy and to Katie at the Springhill Suites in Charlotte, North Carolina. What up? But, Joy started pouring the drinks and I was I was actually only drinking G&T's, gin and tonics and and technically, if If if want to get into it and then get into the weeds, they were some people call them uh uh gin rickeys because I usually get limes muddled in my gin and tonic. And I'm telling you a big and a tall glass, bigger than a highball. I mean, like that much that much gin. I mean, just like had to be more than three shots per per glass. And I think I had six of those bad boys. So, I didn't realize it and I was drinking them really fast and it didn't hit me till like the end of the night and I was going back to my room and I had my my favorite hoodie with me, but it was it wasn't that cold. I thought the AC was going to be kicking in the hotel and it really wasn't. So, I really didn't wear it at all. I [ __ ] left my hoodie there at the bar. They called me in my room and said that I left it there. I didn't realize that. And then apparently, I came back to the room and I ate I ate the leftovers from lunch earlier that day and I didn't even realize that either. So, yeah, I I got pretty bombed and I didn't realize it. But, I did the next day. Man, I was nice and hungover. And then I had a meeting with a former client that afternoon and I was like, "Man, I don't I don't know how I'm going to do this." But, pulled through. You know? And anything you do, be professional. So, you going to drink, be professional about it. I really like this bourbon, guys. What a combo. I mean, this was just like happenstance. I'm not getting any spice yet out of the cigar. Apparently, it's coming though. Great cigar. Love it. I love the smoke output. The ash is wonderful. The burn is even. Yeah, baby. All about it. Really, really good combination. So, I highly recommend the Larceny Straight Bourbon Small Batch wheated bourbon with the Drew Estate and Florida Sun Grown 20 Acre Farm. Yeah, man. That is a good match up for sure. Yeah. So, you know, as uh as things progress with the channel and the podcast, as as always, I will keep you guys updated. Um man, I've been procrastinating about booking my tickets and everything for the PCA show in New Orleans. I got to do that before there's no rooms left. So, I will keep I hope to see as many people there as possible, interview as many people as possible. I hope to meet Steve Saka and Jonathan Drew, A.J. Fernandez, or somebody from his camp would be great. These are like These are all my heroes. You know, keeping it up, you know, just keeping up the you know, all of the all of the episodes from the podcast and sharing with you guys on Instagram and Facebook and all of these different platforms that, you know, everybody has ac- has access to today. Just keeping all that up. It really It really is a full-time job, guys. It really, really is. On top of everything else that I've got going on and businesses that I'm running and everything else. But, this really is a passion project. I do absolutely love cigars. It's It's part of my character. It's part of my makeup. It's uh It's what I'm really passionate about. I'm a part of some different cigar groups and meetups and all this kind of thing. And actually, there's a men's Bible study that I'm a part of, which is more like a kind of a support group, talking to different guys and over cigars at a cigar lounge. So, that's pretty cool. I will be visiting Scottsdale, Arizona. Probably going to go to Fox Cigar Lounge there. When I'm there, I'm going to be in Dallas soon. Going to go to Industrial Cigar Co. Eventually, I'm going to make it back home to New Jersey. I'm going to hit a bunch of different cigar lounges there. Definitely going to hit some stuff in the city, like the Carnegie Club and places like that. So, going to take you guys with me. Hopefully, I can podcast from there. Still trying to figure out, you know, how I'm going to do that. Um I have to make some arrangements ahead of time. So, excited about that. Excited about some some new things that we're going to unveil soon. All right, can't really let the cat out of the bag yet. Um More things coming with all of my other channels. I have a couple of things in my personal brands. Uh professionally as everyone knows, I'm a commercial real estate broker, so doing that um under Coldwell Banker Commercial. And you know, I'm just living the dream. At trying to anyway. Bunch of different things going on, entering in a new joint venture with something related to commercial real estate. So working on that. Also doing business development for a new freight and logistics company. So excited about that as well. A lot going on. A lot of balls in the air. Doing a pretty serious uh juggling routine here, but I know it'll pay off. For any of you guys and gals out there that are juggling a bunch of balls in the air, cheers to you. Yeah, so you know, this was um this was a great this was a great episode. The 20 Acre Farm, Florida Sun Grown by Drew Estates, and the Larceny Wheated Straight Kentucky Bourbon. Great episode. I had a great time. Great drink. Great smoke. I'm Angelo. If you see me around, come say hi. I'd love to talk to people about cigars, about bourbon and drinks in general. You know, if you got any questions, hit me up. I'm I'm all about it. So with that, I wish you all a wonderful weekend. Blessed week ahead. Try try to stay stay frosty in this 2026, but stay blessed. And above all else, keep it rolling, baby. Sticks N Stones, we out.