The appeal of this stick, and really all the cigars in this series, is the presentation which is unlike any other on the market. This particular vitola, the lancero (7×38), was consistent throughout and I would certainly smoke it again if someone wanted to share! Before Lightup: Right away the presentation is unlike any other cigar on the market. Each cigar comes wrapped in its own personal tobacco leaf (no I mean one outside of the traditional wrapper!) and even the band on this is smokable – if that’s your thing. This lent itself to a very rustic, orthodox feel right away. The actual wrapper leaf was a dark chocolatey color and was very toothy. The pack of the cigar was quite firm. The aroma was a damp, dark, sweet tobacco scent with a pre-light draw giving a damp earth flavor note – and by the way, it was snug! First Light: With a straight cut and a toast immediately you are introduced to medium/full flavor notes of a dark, black pepper spice paired with a smooth and sweet earth. The finish is topped off with a woodsy element – again I would describe it as damp and toward the rear of the palate. The smoke was plentiful but, as suspected, the draw was too tight. It was snug pre-light, but once the flame had things expanding it was sort of rough. The retrohale helped pick up on the creaminess of the woods note and had a little pepper spice kick but nothing to make your eyes water. First Third: Into the first third not much changed, but the balance was much better. I’m not sure if the spice went away or if I became used to it, but I didn’t really notice it beyond lightup. The dark earth comes forward in the flavor profile and balances really well with the sweet, smoothness of the woodsy tobacco notes. The burn was flawless and the smoke was light and smooth (except that little kick on the retro which is a nice reminder that I’m alive)! Second Third: At the 2/3 mark the body dropped slightly to a medium, perhaps the balancing of the flavors coming to complete fruition. It maintained the same core flavors of a creamy dark earth, sweet tobacco, and a touch of mild vanilla that wafted in and out – sometimes it would be more woodsy and sometimes more vanilla-y. The ash was holding on well and was a bright white color. I did choose to remove the band and it came off flawlessly. No nicotine strength coming through at this point. Final Third: The coolness of the cherry and smoke were perfect all the way through – that’s tough to do with lanceros, but it speaks to the amazing construction of the cigar. The flavor profile remained completely consistent – it wasn’t my favorite, but if you enjoy it then you get a ton of it. Unfortunately for me, the strength kick got to be too much and was up to a medium by the time I called it quits. Overall smoking time was 1 hour 24 minutes. Overall: I like a good lancero and this fits that bill. It’s not something I would go out and purchase again because the flavors didn’t really suit my palate, but if a friend handed it to me, I would totally smoke it. The greatest asset of this cigar was definitely its construction and its consistency. The tight draw lost it a ton of points in some key areas because that contributes to so much of a cigar’s overall experience. I also knocked it a couple points for the strength kick at the end but if you’re someone who doesn’t mind it, then you can add an extra point on because I am a sissy. Either way, the final score came out to an 8.4/10 or 84/100. Again, not my preferred flavor profile even in the maduro range, but I would definitely recommend it to others who fit that more earthy, woodsy profile.
