Being I sick for over a week my intention is to make it up this week and post a cigar review 5 days in a row this week. Today’s review comes hot off the heels of the press release for the Cain F Lancero. While available only through a Studio Tobac sampler which will be a gift with purchase at upcoming events the Cain F Lancero has reached cult status. This past football year I was in a Fantasy Football League with some well known brothers of the leaf. The league itself was organized by Oliva Sales Rep, Ian Hummel. Well I managed to win the league and the prize was a load of cigars. We each donated 5 cigars each to start the season and 1st and 2nd place won the sticks. Ian managed to throw in a couple of Cain F Lanceros that I used to review the Cain F Lancero. For those interested my football team was: QB-Drew Brees; RB-Darren McFadden, Ahmad Bradshaw, LeGarrette Blount; WR- Marques Colston, Jacoby Ford, Chad Ochocinco;TE-Antonio Gates (replaced with Rob Gronkowski); K-David Akers; DEF- Pittsburgh Steelers. My Bench was Mike Tolbert, Devone Bess, and the Jets Defense.
Cigar: Cain F Lancero
Size: 7 x 38 (Lancero)
Wrapper: Nicaragua Habano
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Full
Cain F Lancero
Appearance and Construction: It seems like most lancero cigars lately have had a pigtail cap, and Studio Tobac decided to buck tradition and trend by putting a generic triple cap. The Cain F Lancero score points from me with the placement of the band at the foot. While this hurts brand recognition while smoking, it helps protect the foot for long term storage. The Habano wrapper is glistening with oils and loaded with with lots of thin veins. There is a faint tooth present, no soft spots and a nice weight. The stick features a seamless roll and a perfectly placed cap.
Flavor & Notes: The foot of the Cain F Lancero has a stong earthy aroma to the nose and once the cap is clipped it serves up notes of pepper and earth on the draw. If you were to take the band off this cigar and I didn’t know who made this I would say it had certain Henrik Kelner properties to it. Once the cigar was lit I accidentally retro-haled on the light and was treated with pepper overload. Thankfully it was only at that point. As I smoked the first third the comparison to Henrik is no longer applicable. There are notes of rich, heavy wood that I would equate to oak. Also present is some leather and spice. As we approach the second third there is a sweetness that continues to develop which has caught me off guard. The sweetness has a mocha like appeal to it with a touch of almond extract on top of a layer of spicy goodness. The final third of the cigar the strength sneaks up on you and and the notes takes on a dominant leather note with some continues spice and oak. Surprisingly to me the retro-hale at this point is extremely woodsy.
Smoking Characteristics: A ligero heavy lancero brought on concerns that the cigar would not stay lit. Thankfully this was not the case as I never needed a relight even when I had to put the stick down for a 12 minute phone call. Another thing that surprised me was the ash. Most lancero smokes have a weak ash, but that was not the case here as it held on for a solid third. The stick produced an ample amount of smoke in both the smoking and resting position and the aroma was nice and spicy. The draw was perfect for me with a little bit of resistance.
Conclusion: Wow. While the strength of the cigar snuck up on me in the final third I found this to be an extremely complex and tasty smoke. If your not a fan of a strong cigar this might not be for you in the end, but it is definitely worth a try. Sadly the cigar will only be available as part of the sampler pack that will be a gift with purchase at upcoming Studio Tobac events. I will add this though, I am not a fan of cigars that are strong for the sake of being strong and while the impression many people have of the Cain F being just that, this cigar was all about the taste as well and that is a nice mix.
Rating: 94
Price: Not Applicable
Disclaimer: As always all spelling, typographical and grammar mistakes have been left in place for you amusement and/or to annoy my good friend Gary J. Arzt.