I recently received a sampler of Tobacco Queen cigars from Cigar Ambassador. I’m guessing many of us hadn’t heard of this company, but apparently they have been big in the Asian market for some time, working out of the Dominican Republic. They are entering the U.S. Market with distribution with City of Palms Cigar Distribution Services. City of Palms is operated by Kevin and Anne Dinkins, formerly of Sutliff Tobacco. I’ve known Anne since she was with Villiger North America probably a dozen years ago. Cigar Ambassador has a factory in Tamboril and has been in the tobacco business there for 20 years. They sent a media sampler out, so you’ll be seeing these reviewed all over the place, it included a nice leather case and a cigar rest. I’ve included a video of it below.
I managed to get a couple of the cigars smoked for today’s post. I know I usually present more diversity, but to day it’s just these two cigars, the Lancero and the Salomon. Those who follow closely on Facebook, Instagram and Threads may have questions, I’ll be happy to answer those privately. The Lancero is 7″ x 38 with a pigtail cap (size is incorrect on the website, BTW). I was going to say that this is the best cigar I’ve smoke this year, but that’s too small a sample size, so I’ll say it’s one of the best I’ve smoked in the past year. This was an exceptional cigar. The wrapper is Ecuadorian Habano, the binder is Dominican Corojo, and the filler blend is Nicaraguan Jalapa, Dominican Criollo 98. The burn and draw were perfect, and I had concerns going in. This had really interesting flavors, some sweet tobacco and some exotic spices. I enjoyed this down to the tiniest nub, and it took nearly two hours to do that. This was a very impressive cigar, if not for the $20+ price tag, I’d look to add these to the humidor.
I had high hopes for the Salomon based on my experience with the Lancero! This is a 7¼” x 57 figurado with a neat flagged cap. It’s a very attractive cigar, and I’m a sucker for a Salomon. It’s a sizable cigar. The blend is an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado Maduro wrapper, Dominican San Vicente binder and Nicaraguan Jalapa, Dominican Corojo & Criollo 98 fillers. It started slow, as cigars this shape do, but it opened up nicely after burning through the nipple. It started mild and built to medium with some nice sweet and floral flavors. It was well crafted, although I did have to catch up a couple uneven burns here and there. I watched two periods of hockey with this cigar and had some left for the post game show. While this wasn’t the masterpiece that the Lancero was for me, it was still a good smoke with interesting and engaging flavors. Still out of my price range personally, it was a good smoke. The bands on this line are absolutely beautiful, very traditional and high quality. No complaints about the presentation, and they got these two hard to roll shapes right.
Thanks to Gabriel Pińeres for sending this sampler out. I still have the “A” and Robusto sizes to try, I’m not sure when I’ll get to them, I may let the rest for a while, I want to have a great experience with them. I have finalized plans to attend the TPE show, look for content sponsored by CigarMedics in the coming weeks. Until the next time,
CigarCraig
