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| EloGio |
Alejandro Robaina was one of Cuba's most famous tobacco growers;
actually he was probably the most famous grower. Alejandro grew some of the
best tobacco for Habanos S.A., and his farm was one of the few that was
privately run, and not run by the government. His name became so popular that
eventually they named a cigar line after him, Vegas Robaina. Funny story about that is that he swore none of his tobacco
was in that line. Since his passing, his grandson Hiroshi has taken over the
farm, while his son runs one of the more famous La Casa del Habano shops in
Havana, Cuba. With the Robaina name remaining popular in Cuba it is slowly
becoming more popular in the United States.
Located in Esteli, Nicaragua under the direction of master
blender Carlos Pereda Robaina is EloGio
Cigars. The company produces less than 50,000 cigars a year, and is truly a
boutique company. Carlos is also a grandson of Alejandro Robaina, and what his
relation to Hiroshi is exactly I do not know. I imagine that he spent many a
years working with Hiroshi, and even A.J. Fernandez of A.J. Fernandez Cigars in Cuba learning from the great Alejandro
Robaina. Currently EloGio Cigars has two
main lines, along with a limited edition line, and use Nicaraguan tobacco
predominantly. I say predominantly because just recently they began using
Ecuadorian Habano tobacco for the wrapper on the Serie LSV line because of the
difficulty in growing tobacco in one of their regions. So far I have only
smoked the Serie LSV line, but I can tell you that it is truly a magnificent
line.
The Serie LSV for this review consists of tobacco from the new
blend, and it is not a Nicaraguan puro. The wrapper on this cigar is a Habano
seed, and it comes from Ecuador. The binder is Nicaraguan, from what region I
do not know, and the filler consists of tobacco from the Condega and Jalapa
regions of Nicaragua as well. For this review I smoked the new lancero vitola,
and it measures 7" with a 38 ring gauge. The cigar is beautiful in hand,
and is rolled in the Cuban fashion. With a great triple cap, the wrapper has a
beautiful dark brown color to it, obviously a dark Colorado Maduro wrapper. It
is interesting to see the wrapper coloring variance between the original blend
and the new blend. The new blend has a much darker wrapper, but shows similar
qualities. There are few veins present on the oily wrapper and it is very
toothy. I hold the end of the cigar, and the wrapper to my nose to be greeted
with great aromas of spice, natural sweetness, coconut and leather.
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| Ecuadorian Habano Wrapper |
As you light up this gorgeous lancero I am greeted with
exotic flavors that are very unique to any cigar. I am picking up this flavor
profile that is reminiscent of coconut milk, and it accompanied by this flavor
profile of white pepper, rich earth, Asian spices, leather and sugar cane. The
cigar is very unique, and unexpected. I am really digging the flavor profile to
this smoke, and along with have a wonderful flavor profile the cigar is burning
perfectly and leaving a nice light gray ash on the end. The strength of the
cigar is at this solid medium body level, and a perfect cigar to start the day
with.
As I enter the second third of the cigar the flavor profile
is still very similar to that of the first third, but I really don’t want it to
go anywhere. There are some more definite Asian spice notes present in this
third, and that is the same for the wood flavor. It is still showing those
enjoyable coconut milk flavors, and it leaves this creamy unsweetened coconut
flavor present. There is a little bit of coffee flavors present in this third
as well, and it has a great finish with each draw. The burn line is still razor
sharp in this third, and the cigar remains at that solid medium body level
producing a nice amount of thin smoke.
When I come to the final third and conclusion of this cigar,
it is still performing wonderfully and as enjoyable as it had begun. That
coconut milk flavor profile seems to remain all the way to the end, and it is being
paired with this café mocha flavor. The natural sweet wood taste is still
present, and it has a lovely finish of leather, white pepper and Asian spices.
The lancero burned perfectly even throughout this third, and all the way down
to the nub. On the last draw the cigar was cool and flavorful, and I was
burning my fingers thoroughly. The strength of the cigar remained at that solid
medium level all the way to the end, and for some reason when I closed my eyes
I pictured I was back in the Caribbean at one of my favorite islands.
I really enjoyed this lancero, and I would love to see what
this cigar would be like with the original wrapper choice for this line. I
haven’t smoked any of the cigars back to back with the different wrappers, but
I imagine with the Ecuadorian wrapper the flavor profile will be slightly
richer in its flavor profile. The lancero was very well made and showed some
nice flavor profiles while burning wonderfully from beginning to end. I found
the strength to remain at a solid medium body level throughout, and perfect any
time of the day. If you are fan of lancero vitolas then this is a cigar I think
you would definitely enjoy, and the brand is truly boutique and great. I have
become a rapid fan of the EloGio
brand, and if you have not smoked any of their cigars you really need to. I
give this lancero a 91 and will definitely stock up on them for future
enjoyment.
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| Serie LSV Lancero |
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