Having just finished reading the Internet, Punch celebrates by pulling a recently acquired Epicurean Carnavale lancero out of his humidor.
I picked this up at a Fear the Beard Brokerage event at Big Sticks in Mesa, Arizona. The Fear the Beard fellows rep a great stable of relatively young companies including Ezra Zion, Guayacon, Maya Selva (young to the U.S. Market, anyway), Crux and Dissident.
This is the lancero which is stated to be 7x38, but this one definitely measured as 7.5.” long. I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.
Wrapper: Jalapa Colorado Habano Oscuro
Binder: Double binder American Broadleaf
and Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan
Prelight: This is long and skinnnny and box pressed. The wrapper leaf is somewhat veiny, the double cap is obvious. The stick feels slightly mushy throughout the length which is appropriate for such a thin cigar, as being tightly packed would not allow it to draw well. The cold draw is a good medium tightness with fruity nuts, or nutty fruit — I’m not quite sure.
At the start I’m getting dry oak sawdust, cane sugar, a touch of citrus rind tang, and a mild pepper finish. Good balance in a medium flavor intensity. The sweetness wanes within a quarter-inch and the pepper has intensified.
After an inch this has gone to all smoky hardwood with a slightly harsh attack and moderate pepper on the finish.
Intermission: Here is an interview Draw and I did with Steven Ysidron, the CEO of Epicurean Cigars, at the 2014 IPCPR trade show in Las Vegas.
At the middle the flavors have remained fairly consistent, with some mild cedar added to the mix, and a slight lingering harshness replacing the pepper on the finish.
Finishing up, the last third is where this stick reaches flavor bomb status — to borrow a catchphrase from the Katman. The flavor intensity moves up to the next level and the flavors take a hard right turn and blend together to a difficult to describe complexity — what I will call meaty with some peach that joins in. The nicotine steps out of the shadows and threatens to land a roundhouse on my jaw, necessitating that I strap myself into my chair.
Summary: The construction and draw on this Epicurean Carnavale lancero were quite good — I did have to relight the wrapper twice, as this dark wrapper idled out fairly easily while I was typing. I also needed to do a complete relight once, so it does require active toking to keep it burning optimally. For most of the length the flavor intensity was medium-plus, with a fairly narrow flavor spectrum composed of a dominant woodiness and occasional sweetness coming and going along with a few subtle intricacies, and a pepper finish that waxed and waned. I would consider the first 3/5ths a serious profile with no grandstanding and no surprises Then after taking the band off it went to full flavored and shifted to a complex meatiness with peach undertones for a spectacular pay-off. Based on this one sample I’d say this was a good value, giving me a full hour-and-a-half of smoking pleasure.