TASTING NOTES: The packaging of El Legend-ario is interesting to say the least. First of all the cigars are only sold in singles, or in boxes of 100. Being a serious collector, not to mention having a serious problem with overspending on items containing fermented vegetable matter, I bought a box.
The box is definitely nice looking, though not a serious humidor in itself. It is certainly an unusual marketing strategy, only making the cigars available in such large boxes, however, I happen to think that Christian Eiroa of Camacho has some serious marketing genius, but that’s another story.
The next unusual thing about this cigar is that it comes unbanded. Another diversion from the norm. I will say this, the minimalist packaging keeps the price down, I scored these sticks for about 3.60 each.
After giving the wrapper the once over, I find it to be leathery with medium veins. I wish I could tell you more about the blend of this smoke, but I was not able to find out the skinny on the tobaccos. Even an email to Christian Eiroa did not satisfy my thirst for knowledge. Christian would only say that, “all the tobacco is grown by us but the seeds are all different.” He further noted that the “El Legend-ario is a brand that we are going to begin building.”
Well enough of that. Let’s light the puppy up. It was a quick light, the draw was loose and the flavor was big right from the get go. Huge spiciness, pepper spice, is apparent from the first puff and gets bigger as it goes. It throws a light gray ash and is medium bodied.
Because of the loose draw, the cigar smoked fairly quickly. The flavors were long and lingered on my palate but the cigar was not overly complex. As I progressed through the last half, the cigar was full flavored and medium to full bodied. The spicy flavors remained sharp and clean and never became bitter, something that I was expecting in this young cigar.
This would be a great every day smoke. I have a good feeling about the aging potential of this cigar, since it has plenty of firepower. To benefit optimally from aging, a cigar needs tobacco that is strong enough to hold up and have something left by the time the aging process mellows and marries the flavors. In my opinion, this cigar has the right blend to age well. It’s one-dimensional right now, but we’ll find out how it ages when I rate it again in 3 months.
Read the full review and rating at the
Stogie Fresh Rating blog