Last year, while visiting the USA, I bought a few El Originals, the house blend for
The Island smoke shop at Key Largo, Florida. I reviewed the
natural lancero and the
claro lancero before, this maduro lancero is the last of the series. Talking about the Island Smoke shop, every cigar smoker that is heading to south Florida should visit this shop, get some El Originals and don't forget to tell Bill I said hi.
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This cellophane wrapped 7x40 lancero has a nice pigtail, a simple band and a price tag of $ 5.95 for a single. The dark wrapper looks nice, it is quite oily and leathery and only has one vein. The construction feels good. Once I remove the cellophane wrapper I smell a full and rich barnyard aroma. The predraw is a bit on the hard side and I can taste herbs, some pepper and a bit of wood.
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The first flavors I taste are a deep, rich, sweet combination of coffee and earth flavors with a hint of chocolate. The chocolate slowly becomes the main flavor and after an inch I only taste chocolate with some wood and earth on the background. The chocolate is full flavored.
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Halfway the earth disappears and the wood gains some strength but not enough to overpower the chocolate. The chocolate is still the main flavor with wood as a support. Near the end the chocolate loses some strength and I can taste a herbal flavor.
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The duration of this smoke was about an hour and forty five minutes. This full flavored, full bodied cigar gave me a lot of thick smoke. The draw and burn were good. The firm ash is quite compact and has a light gray color.
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Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, I'll be in Florida in november and pick up a few of these
Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10
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