Lancero (7 x 40) || L: 178, ø: 16 Factory: Tabacalera William Ventura Blenders: Henderson Ventura & Marcel McKay ; Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade Binder: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade Filler: Dominican, Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan ; In Short: An extremely delicious dessert stick, loaded with pastry-like notes and tons of nuance. The notes were in the same ballpark yet offered good complexity. Absolutely box-worthy blend! Construction: Elegant, silky Connecticut butterscotch hue, a bit of protruding binder through the wrapper and few stretch. marks; it doesn’t feel well filled. Quite a lot of give to it in fact. Nose is grassy/hay with a generic tobacco aroma you get from filling a box or humidor and the smells melding. Cold/Hot Draw: Cold draw is as open as a net without a goalie but coupled with being grossly under-filled, it could burn faster than it ought to. It constricts a tad but still great airflow. Burn-line: Has some wavy points but didn’t need a touch-up beside when I let it die. Ash: Salt and pepper with good structure. Smoke: Thick, velvety and tons of output. ; ⅓: Opens with a light yellow cake with lemon zest, vanilla custard with pecans, cream, nougat, white pepper, nutmeg and black tea. So much going on just at light up, you hope it stays in tune. The bready cake amplifies with the nutmeg and now cinnamon. It’s almost as if this stick should be called the Baker; progressing into buttery croissant territory with white pepper. I picture a good ‘ol boy dipping his buttered croissant into peppered white gravy. The vanilla custard, not quite as creamy as a crème brûlée as the lemon zest livens up the profile. Black tea is way in the background, dancing with rattan and from their shadows prods the pecans into the limelight of dessert notes. The vanilla cake/custard mixes with a cologne musk that is sensational. Ending alike a vanilla ice cream with a touch of white pepper bite. ⅔: A continuation of a vanilla ice cream with a touch of white pepper bite; much less bready/cake at this point. As the pepper grows, the other notes take a back seat except for the biscuit. As the pepper dies down the lovely desserts rush back in. Vanilla heavy custard/cake. Sitting on these notes for several minutes until pepper returns with pecan to wipe the floor, nutmeg and black tea aren’t far behind, subtle cake on the backend. The pecan turning into chestnuts as the expression boldens. ³⁄₃: Nothing changes from the last notes in the 2ⁿᵈ third. Pepper was dominant but soon fades, leaving vanilla, honey pecans and yellow cake to play on-perhaps the faintest hint of bay leaf on the finish. Lemon zest returns to garnish the pastries, becoming a bit more herbal if not for the vanilla. Pecans now a creamier cashew and white pepper moved to the finish as well. Strong ending of more of the beginning notes. ; Duration: 1hr 25mins MSRP: $15.⁰⁰ ᵁˢᴰ Ratings:
93/100
Beautifully memorable. This is an exceptionally well made blend! The flavors are nearly on par with Vicente Blends’ Honour but lack the construction and loses those points because of it. The pastry/bakery style flavors throughout with slight deviations towards spice and herbal offer a refresher during the experience and greater appreciation of those finer dessert aspects.
Pairing: Glenfarclas 12yr Highland Single Malt Scotch. After researching the blend, it was hard not to notice many of the tasting notes and deduce a nice, warm, malty scotch to pair perfectly with it. Almost a perfect pairing. The stick a barrage of delicatessens and the scotch, is kind of corona-like, where as on it’s own is quite dessert-esque. Given time between sips and puffs, you can’t beat these two.
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