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Padilla Series ’68 Lancero
Size: 7 ins x 38
Origin: Nicaragua
Smoke time: 1hr 20mins
Source: G-Man. Thanks Mike!
I usually dry box my cigars prior to smoking, but for these Lancero reviews I am not dry boxing the NCs. Quite simply, I’ve only had them for a week or two and need to give them as much humi/recovery time as possible.
Appearance: Rich, slightly oily mid brown (Corojo) wrapper with a few light veins. No blotches or dis-colourations. Cuban style triple cap, finished with a pig-tail. The brown of the wrapper is picked up in the ornate if slightly ‘pimped’ decoration of the gold, cream, maroon and brown band.
Construction: Nicely rolled with a reasonable heft and balance, but whilst not ‘spongy’ feeling a little too ‘pinchy’ along the entire length. No knots no hard spots. The triple cap did unravel a little on cutting, whilst that didn’t effect the smoking in any way, it did look a little scruffy. The pre-draw and smoking draw were not to my preference in that both were loose. The burn whist not dead straight was reasonably well behaved, and if you look at the photos seemed to be following the spiral of the Torcedors roll. One aspect of the burn however was a worry, I felt it was very quick, and at one minute between puffs, I felt I was loosing as much cigar in the ashtray as in the mouth. The grey ash stayed reasonably compact throughout the smoke, though the fall-offs did outnumber the tap-offs. No re-lights, no corrections.
Flavour: The pre-light aroma from the foot was vaguely stablelike and from the head earthy with some spiciness. The start was earthy with pronounced wood notes and hints of some pepper. The flavour intensity I would catagorise being quite light and changed very Little thereafter. Into the first third and the earthiness disappeared and wood took over and became what was fundamentally the base and main constituent of the smoke from then on. Towards the end of the first third I did pick up some sweetness with mild hints of vanilla and spice come through. The smoke aroma was pleasantly woody and the smoke quality generally soft and smooth. Into the second third and the wood flavour ‘softened off’, in reality the flavour was more hardboard than anything exotic, acceptable but one dimensional untill around the final third when a touch of grassiness and a bit more earthy roundedness mad a brief appearance. During the final third the wood flavour became better and a little more varied and the overall flavour generally improved with the arrival of slightly bitted edged straight tobacco carrying just the mildest hint of cocoa.
Overall: Constructionwise and on price (about $9 US) this is a good cigar. Flavourwise it’s pleasant and a cigar you can relax with during the morning or anytime throughout the day. Any Nicotine strength is almost non-existant (which I don’t mind) and the 68’ is very easy to smoke. But for this Lancero exercise as a challenger to the Monte Especial No 1 in a ‘last man standing’ competition I, as much as I liked it, would judge it to be totally outclassed and outgunned.
Montecristo Especial v Padilla Series 68.
Montecristo E No1 by clear knock-out.
Next man up. Trinidad Fundadores
Size: 7 ins x 38
Origin: Nicaragua
Smoke time: 1hr 20mins
Source: G-Man. Thanks Mike!
I usually dry box my cigars prior to smoking, but for these Lancero reviews I am not dry boxing the NCs. Quite simply, I’ve only had them for a week or two and need to give them as much humi/recovery time as possible.
Appearance: Rich, slightly oily mid brown (Corojo) wrapper with a few light veins. No blotches or dis-colourations. Cuban style triple cap, finished with a pig-tail. The brown of the wrapper is picked up in the ornate if slightly ‘pimped’ decoration of the gold, cream, maroon and brown band.
Construction: Nicely rolled with a reasonable heft and balance, but whilst not ‘spongy’ feeling a little too ‘pinchy’ along the entire length. No knots no hard spots. The triple cap did unravel a little on cutting, whilst that didn’t effect the smoking in any way, it did look a little scruffy. The pre-draw and smoking draw were not to my preference in that both were loose. The burn whist not dead straight was reasonably well behaved, and if you look at the photos seemed to be following the spiral of the Torcedors roll. One aspect of the burn however was a worry, I felt it was very quick, and at one minute between puffs, I felt I was loosing as much cigar in the ashtray as in the mouth. The grey ash stayed reasonably compact throughout the smoke, though the fall-offs did outnumber the tap-offs. No re-lights, no corrections.
Flavour: The pre-light aroma from the foot was vaguely stablelike and from the head earthy with some spiciness. The start was earthy with pronounced wood notes and hints of some pepper. The flavour intensity I would catagorise being quite light and changed very Little thereafter. Into the first third and the earthiness disappeared and wood took over and became what was fundamentally the base and main constituent of the smoke from then on. Towards the end of the first third I did pick up some sweetness with mild hints of vanilla and spice come through. The smoke aroma was pleasantly woody and the smoke quality generally soft and smooth. Into the second third and the wood flavour ‘softened off’, in reality the flavour was more hardboard than anything exotic, acceptable but one dimensional untill around the final third when a touch of grassiness and a bit more earthy roundedness mad a brief appearance. During the final third the wood flavour became better and a little more varied and the overall flavour generally improved with the arrival of slightly bitted edged straight tobacco carrying just the mildest hint of cocoa.
Overall: Constructionwise and on price (about $9 US) this is a good cigar. Flavourwise it’s pleasant and a cigar you can relax with during the morning or anytime throughout the day. Any Nicotine strength is almost non-existant (which I don’t mind) and the 68’ is very easy to smoke. But for this Lancero exercise as a challenger to the Monte Especial No 1 in a ‘last man standing’ competition I, as much as I liked it, would judge it to be totally outclassed and outgunned.
Montecristo Especial v Padilla Series 68.
Montecristo E No1 by clear knock-out.
Next man up. Trinidad Fundadores
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