IPCPR 2017 – Cubariqueño Cigar Company’s Protocol Cigars

I paid a visit to Juan and Bill at the Cubariqueño booth at the show and did a little video with them where they tell us about their latest releases. I smoked the Themis Toro this week and was really impressed! The Themis has a Ecuador Connecticut wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and filler and is available in Toro and Robusto sizes. The band has the Protocol stylized “P” in gold with a gold foot ribbon. It’s a beautiful looking cigar crafted in the La Zona factory like the rest of their cigars. The cigar is absolutely delicious, smooth and rich with a creamy texture and loads of flavor, this isn’t a mild Connecticut, it’s a solid medium. The signature shade wrapper nuttiness/grassiness is there a little in the background, but the Nicaraguan fillers compliment it very nicely. The Themis might be one of the best cigars I’ve smoked from the show so far, not that I’ve gotten started really, but it’s setting the bar pretty high.

I last night I grabbed a Protocol Probable Cause Churchill, I could have gone with the Lancero, but I decided to save that for another time. I love Lanceros, but I have to be in the right mood. The Churchill is a bit on the short side at 6½” x 48 with a box press, giving it more of a Lonsdale feel. Not a bad thing at all. The Probable Cause has a San Andrés wrapper from Mexico, again with Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The wrapper is a rich, dark brown, and I was excited to smoke it. I had smoked this last year, my thoughts can be found here, and really liked it. I thought the Churchill format made it a little less strong, if you know what I mean, but it had the same great espresso/cocoa flavor with a unique spice that I really like. I can see digging into the Lanceros in the not too distant future. Another great cigar! One of the things I really like about the Protocol line is that they have limited their sizes to only two or three per line, with a Corona Gorda, Lancero, Robusto, Toro and this Churchill spread across the three blends.

Here’s the video I shot at the show with Bill and Juan. I’ve done better video work than I did this time around, but I had help in the past, which makes a difference. It gets the message across though. Thanks again to Juan and Bill for spending a few minutes with me! This is truly a brand that’s made it because of social media!