Alec Bradley Black Market Filthy Hooligan

📌 Brand: Alec Bradley
📌 Line: Black Market Filthy Hooligan
📌 Size: Toro (6" × 50)
📌 Weight: 16.2 g
📌 Age: 2 years
📌 Origin: Honduras

Tasting Notes

• Harsh Grassiness – Raw, green bite from the start

• Bitter Wood – Dry, astringent undertone

• Pepper – Sharp, unrefined, no smoothness

• Dry Earth – Flat and chalky finish

First Impressions

Barber pole wrapper looks fun visually, but the roll feels inconsistent in density from head to foot. Pre-light aroma shows raw hay and dry wood. Cold draw is workable, but not clean — slight bitterness already detectable.

Smoking Experience

• First Third – Opens harsh, grassy, and sharp. No real sweetness or roundness. Burn becomes uneven early.

• Second Third – Bitter wood dominates. Relight required, followed by touch-ups. Pepper spikes unevenly.

• Final Third – Harshness increases, smoke becomes hot and unpleasant. Second relight needed, cigar never finds balance.

Pairings

• Alcohol – Tullamore D.E.W. Caribbean Rum Cask - Sweetness and tropical roundness help soften the cigar’s harsh edge and make it more tolerable.

• Tea – Moroccan Mint Tea - Cooling herbal mint helps refresh the palate and cut through bitterness.

Music Pairing

“New Rose” – The Damned
Raw and scrappy — fitting the rough ride of this cigar.

Final Thoughts

The Alec Bradley Black Market Filthy Hooligan looks interesting but the smoke is harsh, bitter, and uneven throughout. Multiple relights and touch-ups only made the profile hotter and more abrasive. No real sweetness, depth, or evolution.

Final Score: 2/10
Why not a 10?
Harsh flavor profile, poor balance, relights, and inconsistent burn turned the experience into work rather than enjoyment.

Only cigars that deliver flawless draw, balance, flavour evolution, construction and satisfaction get a 10.