Punch bears up under a few rounds of punishment from the Leccia Luchador El Castigo.
Wrapper: San Andres
Binder: Equadorian Habano
Filler: Pennsylvania Ligero
Honduras Ligero
Nicaraguan
Ometepe
I am tall, dark and hand-som. And while I am tall, I am not slender. I have a diameter of 15/16ths of an inch. I am a multinational product of Nicaraguans getting busy with Hondurans, Ecuadorians, Mexicans, and Pennsylvanians. I am … Luchador El Castigo! I am … The Punishment!
This is the original Leccia Luchador, not to be confused with the new El Gringo line which was released this September. I came by this recently via a cigar swap at a Phoenix Cigar Club event and thought it would be great to experience in conjunction with our full review of the new Luchador El Gringo. It has a flat pigtail, like a little beaver tail, and has a rich, dark, San Andres wrapper. The draw is a nice medium.
After warming up for several tokes after lighting I would describe it as moderately complex and earthy with mild sweetness and a slight alum dryness coating the mouth, finishing with a mild green pepper hanging around the back of the throat.
Approaching the second third it makes a shift toward mondo complexity with … well … let’s see what I can come up with — nutmeg, skunk smell flavor, chlorophyll, and sweet anise. Wow — this is not like anything I remember smoking before. The pepper is gone and the alum dryness has diminished. I’m starting to develop jaw fatigue from holding this monster in my teeth while typing. I think I’ll start using my ash tray. This fella (lady? I don’t know.) is rich and full bodied and nicely balanced while it gets all up in my grill with full flavor intensity.
Near the middle vegital chlorophyll is dominating and getting a bit fluorocarbony, with occasional hints of cream soda.
The last third is down to medium — medium-full, with a slightly mellower and blended character. There is still some sweetness, with … some urea … and subtle almond — a generally more classic yet still interesting nature — a good roll out from the high energy this stick previously exhibited.
Summary: I really liked the first half of this Leccia Luchador — that earthy sweetness which shifted into high gear with an intensely complex nutmeg/skunk/sweet anise. In the middle it meted out some punishment as the chlorophyll was just a touch fluorocarbonesqie for me. Then the last third settled down in both complexity and intensity to a slightly sweet, classic, profile. For being a 6 x 60 it smoked rather fast — a little over an hour. It had a perfect burn, and the nicotine was unnoticeable. These can be found for $8 in a five pack and would be a great stick for those times when one is looking for a little wilder ride than the ordinary.