Sunday afternoon I assembled a group of friends and we smoked the new Desnudo Robusto from Leccia Tobacco. My wife bought me a box of these in the 5″ x 54 size, the same size as my favorite Leccia Luchador El Hombre, and the presentation is spectacular. The box is woven from what I believe is Royal Palm bark, the same thing that is used to wrap bales of tobacco in some countries (called Tercios). The blend of the Desnudo is Brazilian Wrapper, Habano Binder, Filler: Brazilian, Nicaragua Ligero and Pennsylvania Ligero. I smoked another one tonight as I was putting the video here together, and really love the cigar. It’s exactly what I love in a cigar, watch the video to see what we thought (don’t worry, none of us were “desnudo” in the video).
Sam included a couple of bonus cigars with the box, one of which I smoked last night. This was a Churchill sized barber pole style cigar, wrapped in what appeared to me Ecuador Connecticut and Habano. The interesting feature of this cigar was that it came pre-punched, but instead of a circular punch it had the Leccia Tobacco “L” logo punched in it. I chose to smoke it as is, I saw no reason to disturb this cool cut out, which obviously took a lot of time and energy to come up with 
and manufacture. I’m sure Sam got some “you want me to do what?” looks on the rolling floor! Maybe Sam rolled these himself, I really don’t know (if he did, well done!). The cigar was sweet and creamy and was quite different from the Desnudo or the Luchador line. The burn meandered a bit, but I find that with many barber pole style cigars. Bottom line is, I enjoyed it a lot. Sam is handing his own distribution now, and selling some of his lines, including the Desnudo, direct to the consumer. Sam is a great guy, despite being a Penguins fan, and he makes some really tasty cigars and does some incredible things on a rolling table.
**Edit: It’s been brought to my attention that the “L” punch is laser cut, which makes a lot more sense. **
That’s all for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
I’ve been a huge fan of Sams forever. His outside the box thinking is great for our hobby. I’m glad to know his handcuffs are gone and he is back to making great smokes.
Life is good.
My only venture into Sam’s line of cigars was what I think was the “Black and White” project he undertook some time back. I was not impressed with either cigar, finding them to be one-dimensional. That is when I revedrted to what has become a bad habit. When I find a cigar with a particular frontmark that I don’t particularly like, I tend to dismiss out of hand the rest of the cigars bearing that frontmark. Intellectually, I know that is a huge mistake and I’m trying to break that bad habit. I will try to find some of the Desnudo cigars and take them for a test drive. I mean no offense to Sam, the bad habit is mine alone !!!
They’re not booing, they’re chanting “BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE”.
I think it’s cool Sam left General to do his own thing, and this cigar sounds pretty interesting! I particularly like the laser cut “L”, but I worry it would tar up…
I’ve been a fan of Sam’s for awhile – since right after he created the NUbs. I met him at one of his first events, and he just really had fun with the crowd as he was rolling his cigars. Will have to try and find both of these cigars. Thanks!
Great video Craig! My buddy picked up a box and I look forward to trying one soon!