I decided this weekend would be Lancero weekend, as I recently accumulated several samples in that format. This is a size that everyone seems to want, but retailers say it doesn’t sell, so manufacturers don’t want to make a bunch. I guess that’s why they are usually released as special or limited editions. I like the size, and I have a bunch of them in the humidors. It’s an elegant size, and I really haven’t had the burn problems that they used to have years ago.
Friday evening I picked the new lancero from Drew Estate, the Herrera Esteli. This one was a little shorter than the traditional 7½” x 38 size, I want to say it was around 6¾” which is fine. I really like this line, and Willy Herrera was just promoted to head blender at Drew Estate, which is well deserved. Some of the best Herrera Estelis I’ve had were first thing in the morning at the Drew Estate factory, and the lonsdale was my favorite of the bunch. The line has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. Will spent a year working on this and really did a great job. I think the lancero just replaced the lonsdale as my favorite. It was really nicely balanced, loaded with flavor and just really good. Thank you to John Brooke for sending this. It’s a dynamite smoke.
Saturday I decided to try tackling the new box pressed lanceros in the 1502 Cigars line. These were included in with a bunch of goodies the Gary Griffith of The House Of Emilio sent me recently. I really love the 1502 line, the Black Gold being my favorite, but all three are exceptional. I started with the Ruby, which has an Ecuador Habano wrapper. The Ruby falls in the middle of the strength range of the line, and I decided to start with that as opposed to the Emerald since it was after lunch and I wasn’t ready for a milder cigar. This is a flavorful smoke that burned very well. When you light your first 1502 you find that the foot has the wrapper leaf folded over the end. It’s not fully enclosing the foot, but just framing the filler tobacco. This gives you a little extra blast of wrapper flavor upon lighting. This is a really great cigar that’s loaded with rich flavor.
It was such a nice afternoon and I was not quite through sitting outside when I finished the Ruby, so I decided to light up the 1502 Black Gold Box Pressed Lancero. Like the others, this is a 7″ x 38 box pressed cigar with the partially wrapped foot. It lit easily and smoked well. It’s a little bolder than the Ruby, and has the signature flavor of the Mexican San Andrés wrapper. It followed the Ruby nicely, making a natural strength progression from medium to strong. I liken this cigar to semisweet chocolate with a little jalapeño pepper in it, which I don;t get to enjoy frequently enough! I was left with a feeling of satisfaction after finishing this, it was my last cigar of the day. One complaint I had was that the ash fell on it’s own, twice falling into my lap. It’s quite fortunate I was wearing pants at the time.
Today, after spending the early part of the day doing yard work, which partially consisted of disassembling a large brick patio, I decided to finish the trifecta of 1502 cigars with the Emerald. This is considered the mildest of the three, but it’s not that mild a cigar. Enrique, the creator of the 1502 line, calls this Fina Fuerte , or Fine Strong. This is listed as a 7″ x 40, but I can’t say I noticed a difference, nor did I look for one. I may have enjoyed this the most out of the three in this vitola, where as in the toro size I like the Black Gold the best, and the Emerald a close third. There was a nice hint of sweetness, and it held an ash a bit better than it’s siblings (it got a little chilly, so, again, I was wearing pants). Again, Enrique killed it with the lancero format! These are brilliant cigars, if you like lanceros, and you like cigars, you should like these. Thanks to Gary for sharing these with me and helping make my Lancero Weekend a success. While I enjoy lanceros, I wouldn’t want to smoke them all the time. I enjoy the smoother, rounder flavors that I get from a larger ring cigar.
I am still working on that contest, I’ll try to have something together this week. I’ve been lazy about scouring the humidors for cigars to include. I probably have enough set aside, but sometimes enough isn’t enough, know what I mean? Don’t forget about the FDA nonsense, if you haven’t left your comment, click on the blinky CRA graphic in the top right of the sidebar and make your feelings known in an educated and reasoned manner. Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Looks like you had a nice weekend indeed. I keep seeing and hearing and reading all about the 1502 line but they are hard to find around me so I might just break down and order some online. Enrique is a great guy and have enjoyed watching him on the CigarFederation CigarChat. Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Lancero size, it seems to be what everyone wants. I prefer the toro and robusto range but to each their own. Have a great rest of the weekend.
Man, can’t have enough lanceros on hand, although I guess it depends on the blend. I’ve only had one 1502, a Ruby robusto that I enjoyed. It sounds like you can’t go wrong with any of these.
Thanks for keeping your pants on my friend!
I shudder to think what would have happened if you weren’t wearing pants when the ashes fell. That’s the stuff that headlines are made of !!!
I also tend to prefer cigars with the smaller ring-gauges, with a corona being my ideal. I think I may have previously posted what I read about those cigars. Since they have a smaller diameter, there is less filler in them and the filler to wrapper ratio changes which, in turn, makes the wrapper flavor come further forward. The Drew Undercrown puts out a corona viva and I’m told the blend in that stick is different than it is, for example, in their toro or robusto. I don’t know what the specific difference is, but I can definitely detect that difference. I’m told that they made the blend change so that the maduro wrapper it sports wouldn’t dominate the flavor of the cigar. This is all hearsay so I can’t verify any of it, but it does make sense.
Anyway, keep your britches on and smoke some good ones. I’m looking forward to the contest !!! As always, a good review today. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Enjoy the Ruby a lot. Perfect cigar for anytime of the day.
I’ve been hearing about these three Lanceros for quite sometime.
For the past 10-15 years Lanceros although sometimes hard to find in a few B&M’s have been one of my top Vitolas on my list.
Craig as with all your previous reviews, you’ve again served justice and “HONESTY” to these three cigars. I’m a regular reader and visitor to your site. In my opinion your review’s are just like the person next door.
Just reading your review of all three cigars I’m drooling at the mouth just knowing the cigars are on the market. I’m going shopping today or tomorrow.
I’m hoping these have been shipped to B&M’s in my area and I’m able locate all three. I support local B&M’s, if I’m traveling and find the need to buy a cigar…err cigars I support other B&M’s. Unfortunately If mail order is the only way to find a cigar, well chances are I’ll never try them.
Lanceros have been in my top 3 Vitolas for over 10 years. I prefer a medium bold or more so a bold one. I find Lanceros deliver the strongest, I also prefer cigar’s that are 52 gauge or less, with only a few exception’s up to 56. I smoked a 60 once and never will again.
I like that factories are finally blending and rolling more Lanceros and Lonsdales. I hope fellow BOTL’s and SOTL’s will at least try a few Lanceros or Lonsdales so they can experience the different profile of these Vitolas, at least give a few Short Lanceros a shot. With more request’s in our local B&M’s hopefully this will convince them to add back these Vitolas.
Don’t worry about the ash falling off by itself, just be sure you have pant’s on.
Thanks for the great comments folks! Don’t forget about the Herrera Esteli lancero! It was excellent! Also, I, once again, forgot to institute my bogus rating scale…nobody complains, so I’m not going to sweat it…all three were in the high 90s 🙂
Looks like I’ll be in the Chicago area in mid August looking for places to enjoy some cigars. If anyone’s around, let me know!