Lancero February 2015

[jonnylieberman]

Day 1: Lost City
Day 2: Fausto
Day 3: La Riqueza
Day 4: Cabaiguan Guapos
Day 5: La Casita Criolla
Day 6: Tat Red
Day 7: Tat Brown, 7-20-4
Day 8: Opus X PL, La Palina Black PL
Day 9: Valeroso
Day 10: Viaje Exclusivo, Tat black PL
Day 11: Snare Drum
Day 12: Pepin Blue
Day 13: La Aurora 107
Day 14: MF #4, BOTL 2012
Day 15: Nat Sherman 1930 8x38 "super lancero"
Day 16: Fonseca Cubano Limitado
Day 17: Caldwell LLTK Jalapeño
Day 18: Edgar Hoill
Day 19: Illusione Holy Lance Candela
Day 20: Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Lancero
Day 21: No lancero!
Day 22: La Aurora 100 Años
Day 23: Padilla Series '68 Corojo
Day 24: No lancero!
Day 25: No lancero!
Day 26: La Palina Goldie Laguito Especial
Day 27: Casa Fuente Lancero
Day 28: La Gloria Cubana Medaille D'Or (2000)

This lady has been in waiting for a while. She was rolled at the turn of the millennium. 14 years later, after being acquired by our own @erjaq, who smoked and bombed many of her sisters, she found her way into the BOTL lancero box pass. Having heard her virtues extolled (the words "best cigar I've ever had" echo in my ears), I snapped her up when the box was handed off to me many months ago. Into the lancero drawer she went, and I promised her she'd burn in February.

Here we are at the last day of the month, in the year of our lord 2015. Let's toast.

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A faint whiff of barnyard from her medium brown wrapper. Some hay. Nothing more. Her cap is beautiful and perfect, her label thin and petite-- just like her. She's unexpectedly veiny! Almost rustic. But not quite; a firm perfectly even pack.

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She deserves a special send off. I toast her gently with several wooden matches before cutting her cap, as I've seen done and practiced myself only once before. Why not.

Well. For one thing, this is maybe the *smoothest* cigar I've ever smoked. The retrohale is totally without spice, heat, or bite of any kind. In contrast, the wrapper and cap tobacco taste especially bitter on the tongue, which surprises me. The draw is just a bit snug, which is expected given the firm pack, but hardly impedes the flow of smoke. The stick is no oily sparkler; when not being puffed, she sits patiently, throwing off just the occasional wisp to let you know she's still burning; but take a puff and she dispatches a mouthful of smoke easy as you please.

Complexity begins with two distinct sets of flavors. One is the leather/hay at the bottom of the spectrum. Almost musty but not at all unpleasant. The other end is the real gift. Melon. But this is not what you'd call a sweet cigar. It's right in the middle of sweet and savory. Unlike, say, the Allones Extra Limitada 2011-- which tastes like a roasted porkchop; or those top-end Fuente lances that pump out vaporized sugar for the first 2/3 before transitioning, this LGC is reminiscent of a caramelized vegetable. Earthier, mellow. A big wine grape fat with too much water, just before it ripens.

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You cannot overstate how pleasing it is to smoke a cigar this smooth. There is no mistaking it. I'm actually re-evaluating the way I feel about cigar draw in general. Usually I like just a hint of resistance. This is another notch more than that, and I can't imagine better.

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She's getting full in the final third. Baked brown bread enters the profile. There was a subtle transition just short of halfway too. The snug-ish draw makes me work a tad harder than I'd like at this point, and neglecting the stick for a minute or two caused a moment of tunneling; I'm impatient, so I touched it with the match and it's back where it ought to be.

Also Dolph Lundgren is back.

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Ranked top to bottom thus far:

La Gloria Cubana Medaille D'Or (2000)
Lost City/Casa Fuente (tie)
Opus X PL
BOTL 2012
Don Carlos
Fonseca Cubano Limitado
La Palina Goldie Laguito Especial
La Riqueza
7-20-4
La Aurora 107
Tat brown
MF #4
La Palina Black PL
Viaje Exclusivo
Tat Black PL
La Aurora 100 Años
Pepin Blue
La Casita Criolla
Nat Sherman 1930 8x38 "super lancero"
Snare Drum
Padilla Series '68 Corojo
Valeroso
Cabaiguan Guapos
Tat red
Fausto
Illusione Holy Lance Candela
Edgar Hoill
Caldwell LLTK Jalapeño

I was smiling the entire time. So glad you loved it. It's the best cigar I've ever had, twice. You may have also smoked the very last one...

 

[jonnylieberman]

Also -- DOLPH!!!

 

[Senor Perfecto]

Also -- DOLPH!!!

HE VILL BREAK YOU

 

[King Kill 33]

Ok fellas. Thank you all very much for participating and I hope that you either have a new appreciation for lanceros or at the very least, a renewed one. Tomorrow I will do a final tally for the most Lanceros reviewed and also for the BOTLs that submitted at least five for the 2 drawings. Good luck brothers and thank you!

Doug

 

[King Kill 33]

Also, I smoked or tried to smoke, a Padilla 1968 lance earlier. It was not what I expected because I remember liking the 1948 a lot and thought that a 6 instead of a 4 would have not made too much of a difference - wrong. Anyways it tasted awful and didn't even make the halfway mark on it.

 

[King Kill 33]

Here's my ranking based on the ones I smoked:
1. La Palina Goldie #2 (96)
2. BOTL 2012 (95)
3. Tatuaje SODO (95)
4. My Father #4 (95)
5. La Aroma de Cuba EE (93)
6. Herrera Estelli 2014 EL (93)
7. Quesada Espana (92)
8. El Titan de Bronze Redemption (92)
9. Caldwell Eastern Standard Silk Road (92)
10. La Aroma de Cuba (91)
11. Room101 Master Collection 2 (91)
12. Cruz Ninfamaniac Natural (91)
13. La Flor Dominica (91)
14. La Palina Goldie #1 (90)
15. Cain F (90)
16. Oliva V (90)
17. La Palina Classic (90)
18. Room101 Master Collection 1 (89)
19. Nestor Miranda Special Selection (89)
20. 7-20-4 1874 (89)
21. CyB TAA 2013 (88)
22. El Triunfador #6 (88)
23. Tatuaje Havana VI Victorias (87)
24. Headley Grange Drumstick (86)
25. Lou Rodriguez Edicion Reserva (85)
26. Asylum 99 Problems (85)
27. 20 Minutes in Detroit (81)
28. Room101 Namakubi H-Town (--) MU'd
29. Padilla 1968 (--) MU'd

 

[Lomey]

These were my Lanceros for the month, but unfortunately I only got to 6 of them. February is usually the worst weather month in KC. Ranking the ones I smoked.
1. Illusione Holy Lance. Found a new favorite. Anybody else get smoked meat flavor out of these? I loved it.
2. Cain F. Great stick, I've always kept them stocked.
3. My Father #4. Wanted to like it more, but still very good. Kept going out.
4. Oliva V. Smooth smoke. I smoke 2 or 3 a year and enjoy them.
5. Joya De Nicaragua Antano 1970. Same as above.
6. La Palina Black Label PC. I think this would have been great with more rest. To much dirt and barnyard/manure for me with this one. Will revisit for sure.

I had a great time with this, thanks for getting it going KK33! I'm definitely a lancero fan and always look for new ones when I go to my B&M.

Did anyone else who participated feel a little guilty when they smoked another size cigar like I did this month?

 

[Mossome]

I tried to sneak this one under the wire. I started the My Father #4 at 11:30 PM, and it was a very enjoyable 105 minutes in a cold garage. My first My Father, and surely not my last.
I want to thank King Kill 33 for spearheading this adventure, I had a blast. It was awesome reading everyone's reviews (especially Senior Perfecto and Trackmyer, you guys killed it.) After a month of only the long and skinnies, I'm jonesing to get a robusto or two in my mouth, but I'm definetly going to be mixing in more lanceros this year. I didn't get to as many as I had hoped, but hey February 2016 is only 12 months away. Hope we can all do it again.

 

[danmdevries]

It was fun, gave me an excuse to smoke some lanceros that otherwise tend to be ignored in my humidor. It's not my favorite size and I tend to smoke fast, so they don't always work out for me. The ones I have left will likely wait patiently for next February

 

[3/5King]

Since I work third shift, it's still Lancero february for me... I don't care what the time says! I'm finishing off my Lancero February with two sticks; La Colmena and my last NC Trinidad Reserva Lance. GREAT MONTH, went by too fast though. I did review the El Oso Mama but haven't posted it yet.

 

[jonnylieberman]

A great thing happened while I was having my last lance -- it remains a mystery until my contest is over -- @drewvonah pulled out a La Gloria Cubana #1. The same stick from the same box that I started Lancero February out with, and that @Senor Perfecto ranked #1 on his list. I had about a dozen or so puffs off it. A stick of great beauty. Just wonderful.

 

[Senor Perfecto]

Best month ever!

Lancero March?

 

[jkittle99]

I didnt even realize that it was a contest, I just thought it was a cool idea - so I smoked my first and only lances during the month (granted, I smoked other stuff too). I have to say, I've learned that I can really enjoy the small RG's and it was a great time to be had. Except for the first one I did, the El Trumfador - that thing was a turd. What's the theme for march?

 

[JuzCallMeDee]

Def need to move this to a different month. Warmer month. Or someone can build me a man cave.

 

[King Kill 33]

So.... the winner of the most mini reviews was Señor Perfecto. Imagine a guy named perfecto winning the Lancero challenge...! Señor, thank you very much for the great takes on all the sticks you enjoyed. If you shoot me your addy, I'll get your prize pack out tomorrow.

And then for the random drawing, I numbered everyone and used a random generator and as shown below, Trackmyer won that portion of the contest. Please shoot me your addy sir...



Thx everyone for playing! I also would like to apologize to the folks that were weather limited this month. The reason I used February is because it had started last year as mentioned in the OP. Perhaps we could move to September and align with the box pass next time. Open for suggestions...!

 

[Lomey]

So.... the winner of the most mini reviews was Señor Perfecto. Imagine a guy named perfecto winning the Lancero challenge...! Señor, thank you very much for the great takes on all the sticks you enjoyed. If you shoot me your addy, I'll get your prize pack out tomorrow.

And then for the random drawing, I numbered everyone and used a random generator and as shown below, Trackmyer won that portion of the contest. Please shoot me your addy sir...
View attachment 59617
View attachment 59616

Thx everyone for playing! I also would like to apologize to the folks that were weather limited this month. The reason I used February is because it had started last year as mentioned in the OP. Perhaps we could move to September and align with the box pass next time. Open for suggestions...!

Any month April through October would work great for my weather zone, but I'm in no matter when. Looking forward to it next year!

 

[King Kill 33]

Pretty decent 'fivers' going out. But there is a catch... More Lanceros!!! Bahahaha!

 

[JuzCallMeDee]

had i known this was a contest...lol. i had a blast anyway

 

[King Kill 33]

I could have put 'contest' in the thread title, but didn't because that's not why I wanted everyone to smoke em...! Glad you had fun!

If I got randomly interviewed in the street and was asked "why do you smoke so many Lanceros Doug?" Id reply, "Cuz it's February!"

JK, noted for better contest awareness next time...

 

[Senor Perfecto]

Lanceroctober has a ring to it... Twice a year?



Thanks KK you were awesome at this and I will PM you my address although your work here and love for the lance is all that is necessary

Paul