Review: Cain F Lancero (Prerelease)
(Editor’s Note: You can read Charlie’s review of the Cain F Lancero here.)
About 1 month ago, rumors started circulating that there would be a couple of new vitolas in the Cain F line of cigars…One of them was rumored to be a Lancero, which (being the Lancero whore that I am) I was extremely interested in…Well, Steve managed to get a few of them for us to review from Oliva, and I was more then happy to review it…
Unfortunately, much like the Cain F Nub earlier in the year, the Cain F Lancero will only be available at Studio Tobac events next year, and will also be included in a sampler with 5 other non-production cigars (details to made public at a later date).
Here is a photograph of the Cain F Lancero with one of the OR Cain F Robusto…
But enough of that, let’s get down to business, shall we?
- Cigar Reviewed: Cain F Lancero
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A. (TABOLISA)
- Wrapper: Nicaragua
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Size: 7 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 38
- Vitola: Lancero
- Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 2
- Est. Price: N/A
The cigar itself has a Medium brown wrapper that is totally seamless and has very little oil present, but has quite a few bumps running down the length…It is quite spongy when squeezed, and the wrapper smells like Espresso, Dark Chocolate, spice and cedar…It also has a slight box press which is an interesting look on a Lancero…
The First Third starts out fairly mild, with flavors of oak, leather, chocolate and a bit of spice…the combination of flavors is really quite nice, and there is an underlying sweetness that is amazing…the spice that is present is nothing more then a background note for the First Third, but it is definitely noticeable…
The Second Third has the same core flavors of Leather, wood, and chocolate, but the sweetness kicks up a huge notch…it tasted to me almost like graham crackers…I also noticed a nuttiness that was went very well with the rest of flavors…The profile is also getting quite a bit stronger as the cigar moves into the last third…
The Last Third was just an extension of the First two, but brought everything together into a great big combination of awesomeness…The perfect sweetness, the perfect amount of spice, and great Nicaraguan flavors together…it never got harsh, but it did get quite a bit stronger at the very end of the cigar…A very balanced ending that (honestly) took me by surprise…
Final Notes:
- While the Cain F Lancero did not have a multitude of changes in flavor, the flavors that WERE present (and more importantly, the combination of flavors) were extremely complex and just wonderful…
- The Lancero is without a doubt the best of the Cain F line for me…It is not as strong as the rest of the line, but it also does not have the overwhelming spice and pepper that the rest of the line does…
- The Draw was perfect on this cigar for the whole smoke, but the Burn was just decent…I had to correct a few times, but nothing major…
- I am thinking that these will age extremely well…
- Final Smoking Time was 1 Hour and 20 Minutes…
The Bottom Line: The interesting thing to me is how much in common yet unlike the other Cain Fs this Lancero blend is…I always thought when smoking other Cain Fs that they were a pretty good smoke, but were lacking complexity (and balance)…Well, the Lancero delivers what I was wanting in spades, and while it has some of the same core flavors, the lack of overwhelming spice and pepper that is detrimental to the other Cain F vitolas along with a great underlying sweetness is what pushes this stick over the top for me…An extremely enjoyable cigar that (quite honestly), took me by surprise…sadly, most cigar lovers will most likely never get the chance to try one (unless Oliva decides to make it a regular production at some point in the future)…
Final Score: 94
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