The Good Stuff: As most of you know, Sam Leccia has been rolling since his re-introduction into the cigar business last year. Both of his debut launches, the Leccia Black, and the Leccia White made appearances in both mine, and Jeremy’s top 10 list last year. This year, Same is at it again releasing the “Luchador”. A Luchador is a Mexican wrestler. We see a lot of them in my parts. There are actually weekend events that happen here in El Paso with Luchador wrestling and the sport has always been a big part of Mexican culture. Here is what the Leccia Tobacco’s website says about the new blend:

The Luchador is an exotic 5 country cigar blend handcrafted in Nicaragua consisting of very unique tobaccos. A San Andres Wrapper leaf surrounds the Habano binder leaf grown in Ecuador. The filler uses Viso from Esteli, Nicaragua with ligero From Pennsylvania-USA and Jamastran, Honduras. Centering the blend is a distinctive tobacco from Ometepe, Nicaragua.

Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising from Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome (two) and tepetl (mountain), meaning two mountains. It is the largest volcanic island inside a fresh water lake in the world.

The Luchador blend uses 3 tobaccos grown in Volcanic soil: the Ometepe, Habano and San Andres. The soil in these regions is so rich that little to no fertilization is necessary.

The blend is medium to full, providing a complex array of flavors from sweet to spicy with the strength building throughout the smoking experience.

The Luchador is offered in 4 sizes: El Hombre (5×54), El Castigo (6×60), El Guapo (6×50) and Loco Perfecto (6×58). They are packaged in boxes of 21 ranging from $8.10 to $8.60 a stick. I ordered these over at cigar.com and they have been available at retailers across the United States for a while now. For more information you can follow Sam Leccia on Twitter and Facebook.

Size: 5 x 54
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Honduran Ligero, Pennsylvania Ligero, Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8.10
Pairing: Dogfish Head’s 75 Minute IPA (American IPA w/ Maple Syrup 7.5% ABV)

Prelight: Leccia’s Luchador is a pretty little thing. It starts out with an absolutely beautiful dark brown wrapper. The wrapper color is very consistent with only a few darker areas around the foot and the cap of the cigar. The wrapper carries a very toothy texture with one or two larger veins running throughout the body. The wrapper leaf is very thick, and laid seamlessly as it leads up to a round, double cap. The construction on this bad boy is top notch. The Luchador is finished off with a very fitting Luchador style mask for a band sporting the Mexican flag colors Red, White, and Green with some black and gold detailing. Being so close to Mexico Luchador wrestling is something that we see on a weekly basis here. The Wrestlers are celebrated, and are just as big of celebrities as their American counter parts. This cigar fits right at home here in El Paso.

The wrapper of the Luchador gives off a very strong, pungent tart and cedar aroma while the foot of the cigar is a bit on the mild side only releasing some mild grassy, mossy aromas. The cap very clean, and very easily using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw started out with some strong spice backed by a really doughy profile with a bit of tobacco mixed in there.

First Smoke: Wow. The Leccia Luchador starts out with a huge black/cayenne pepper greeting. It was strong enough to bite the tip of my tongue and the back of my throat a bit. The pepper began to subdue a bit and some strong cedar, spice, syrup, tobacco, and tartness started to seep through. The draw on the Luchador is spot on. Each little puff kicks out a massive cloud of thick, white smoke. Surprisingly, there isn’t a lot of stationary smoke coming off this cigar as it sits in my ashtray. The burnline has a few waves which is normally expected when you have a cigar packed with crazy burning ligero leaves, but it’s nothing too crazy. The ash left behind is a light gray, and very tightly compacted. It held on for well over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: One characteristic that Ligero always leaves me with is a bit of a charred, smoked meat flavor and I am picking up a ton of it into the second third of the Leccia Luchador. Along with the charred/meat flavors I am picking up more of the tartness from the San Andreas while the pepper is finally started to fizzle out. There is still a lot of small spice notes, and a ton of cedar. The retrohale is way sharp and much too peppery for my liking. I’ll stick to the old fashioned way of smoking. The burnline is still a bit wavy and I had to correct a real large wave, but it wasn’t anything too crazy. Again, you gotta expect that when you are smoking a cigar packed with Ligero. The strength of this cigar is already showcasing just how strong this cigar is leaving me with a nice little nicotine kick as I close out the second third.

Finish: I had to really pace myself with the Luchador. Maybe it was me, my mood, my food consumption, or maybe the cigar itself, but the Luchador has delivered in the boldest way possible in terms of strength, and I have been loving every minute of it. The charred flavor began to repress as the ligero flavors became much more of strong tobacco. The backing flavors were syrup, tartness, and lots of spice with a bit of espresso mixed in into the final third. There is no doubt that this is a full-strength, full bodied experience but I never once felt that one was overpowering the other. Even into the final inch the Luchador was well balanced and just overall complex and bold. After that touchup in the second third the burnline finished clean with some slight waves, but didn’t require any further torch attention. It took me about an hour and a half to take the Luchador down while it left me with a pretty high nicotine kick.

Overview: It’s been some time since I’ve had a cigar that has both been incredibly strong, and incredibly balanced like the Luchador. Lots of flavor, lots of strength, and lots of love. The cigar leads off with strong pepper, spice, and tart while it finishes with some bits of espresso, syrup, and cedar. It’s not really a novices cigar as it may be a bit too strong, but I think this cigar is perfect for someone like me, a seasoned cigar smoker who loves stronger, complex experiences. The price point is right where it should be and I even got these on a crazy sale averaging a little of $4 a stick. Box worthy for sure, and a perfect after dinner/late evening cigar. I wouldn’t recommend smoking one on an empty stomach or first thing in the morning.

Pairing: Dogfish Head’s 75 minute IPA is an IPA brewed with maple syrup and continuously hopped for 75 minutes. Coming it at 7.5% ABV this beer resembles a perfect hybrid of a sweet IPA, and a sour. The balance is incredible as the beer leads off with some strong sweetness, syrup, and hoppy citrus finishing with a nice sour bite. The syrup is what sold me on this pairing and I had no idea the sourness would meld with the charred and tart flavors from the Luchador as well as it did.

The post Leccia Tobacco – Leccia Luchador appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: Recently I stumbled across these tubos in one of my local shops. “El Conejito”!?! I’ve never heard of it. I passed, not really knowing what I was passing up on. The next time I returned I pulled the trigger and picked up a few. It turns out this tubo was made by Eddie Ortega exclusively for the Spec’s retailers located here in Texas. An Ortega LE?! And Ortega LE in TEXAS?!?! Hell yes! A while back I got to sit down and have dinner with Eddie and he spoke about how great of a relationship him and Spec’s have. I loved hearing that considering Spec’s is where I pick up a good deal of my wines, beers, and even world food. It’s basically a Man’s grocery store. Anyhow, This blend is only released in one size (for now), a 6 x 50 tubo. The cigar is blended by Don Pepin, but is not made out of the My Father factory. It’s a Nicaraguan puro dressed in am Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. I can’t remember the exact price of these, but It was between $6.50 – $7 a stick and comes packaged in boxes of 10. Did I mention how much I love these 10 count boxes coming out lately? It’s a lot easier to pull the trigger on box purchases for us with thin wallets. On a side note, “El Conejito” means small rabbit or bunny in spanish. Spec’s mascot is actually a white rabbit wearing glasses.

Size: 6 x 50 tubo
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium
Price: ~$6.75
Pairing: Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA (7.5% ABV)

Prelight: The wrapper on this cigar looks delicious. The Ecuadorian Habano is a beauty, sporting a rich, consistent, medium brown across the board. The only lighter colors seem to be around a few of the larger veins the Conejito carries. There is a little bit of breakage near the foot of the cigar. I actually noticed this on all the sticks I picked up. The cap of the tubo has these strange, small, inner wings that I would assume would help lift the cigar into place in the tubo. They actually slice through the wrapper around the foot, but the damage is very minimal and I don’t see it really doing anything to the overall experience. Outside of the foot, the construction is flawless. The Conejito is very, very. very firm. It’s almost like a baseball bat, leading up to the round double cap. The Conejito is polished off with a band similar to the red portion of the bands we are used to, except a light brown with a red “El Conejito” banner across it. Eddie mentioned to me that he though the printing was bad on the band, but I think it came out great. He also said they would be adjusting the printing on the next run, so look out for those.

The wrapper on the cigar gives off a very strong, musky, sweet wood aroma while the foot carries a much spicier, pepper character. The cap cut clean and easy using my Palio double bladed cutter. As expected, the cold draw on El Conejito releases a very sweet, woodsy, tobacco flavor. Time to light up and see what else this cigar has to offer.

First Smoke: Right off the bat the amount of smoke the Conejito kicks out is ridiculous! The cigar starts out with some subtle pepper and spice, with an overall sweet, cedar flavor backing up some mild tobacco. As I stated before this cigar gives off an incredible amount of smoke with every little puff. The burnline is perfectly clean and sharp leaving behind a thick trail of solid white ash. Despite the ash being so solid, it did fall into my ashtray at only half an inch. I blame that on the tubo’s cap that I mentioned during the prelight mucking up the foot and causing it to flower. After that first bit fell off the ash actually held on for almost an inch. So don’t be scared, it really doesn’t mess with the experience. And if that wasn’t enough, Eddie actually mentioned that the next shipments will have a sponge inside to prevent this from happening. Talk about being pro-active!

Halfway There: Usually the pepper drops off early into a cigar, but the Conejito still has it in there, although it’s not a major player it really help keeps the body of the cigar up. The second third has also seen a huge ramp-up in sweetness as the cedar has become more of a major player. The retrohale is very smooth, coating my nasal passage with a soft cedar and spice. The burnline is slightly wavy, but not concerning. The strength of the cigar is still sitting pretty medium and I am not feeling anything at all in the nicotine department.

Finish: The pepper has completely faded in the flavor category of this El Conejito. The interesting change-up was the huge ramp up in musk while the cedar faded out. This cigar now tastes very musky and aromatic with vanilla and honey notes. Along with the body the strength has increased a notch or two. It’s still a high medium and I finished this cigar is about an hour and a half with not nicotine kick at all. The cigar burned flawlessly the entire time and required no touch-ups or relights. There was also absolutely no harshness in this cigar at all, I was able to take it all the way down to the nub.

Overview: The Conejito is a big departure from the Serie D that we have all grown to love. Full body, but more on the sweet, musky, cedar side of the spectrum while remaining nice and medium in strength. The cigar is beautiful, the flavors were creamy, bold, and smooth, and the burn was perfect all the way through. What else could you ask for? How about a great price, from a great place. I know Spec’s isn’t close to all of you, but I know a lot of you live near one. This is a purchase that you don’t want to pass up. I don’t think it’s limited, at least it doesn’t sound like it is, but you never know. The El Conejito hits the mark in terms of a novice smoker, who doesn’t want to break the bank, but wants a premium cigar. As well as the seasoned cigar smoker looking for a perfect afternoon smoke that is full of flavor without knocking you on your ass. This was yet another solid stick to come from Ortega Cigar Company. Eddie’s been on a roll and he has a HUGE year ahead of him. Be on the look out.

Pairing: I’ve been waiting for the right cigar to pair this beer with. Dogfish Head’s 75 Minute IPA is probably one of my favorite beers released by Dogfish Head this year. I for one, am not an IPA fan at all. But there are certain IPA’s that really get my attention. The 75 minute is a strong, American style IPA with a twist, it’s bottle fermented with Maple Syrup. You don’t taste the maple syrup though. It’s just an afterthought adding a tiny bit of sweetness to an already sweet and hoppy mixture. Along with the sweet and hoppyness you get some really smooth floral and spice notes. This beer is flawless and pairs wonderful with the spice, and musk from the Conejito. Not to mention it pours almost the same color.

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