Smoked: Bella Artes by AJ Fernandez Maduro Lancero

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

Bella Artes by AJ Fernandez maduro lancero is box pressed with an oily, dark brown Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper covering a Mexican San Andres binder and Nicaraguan fillers.

Tight draw opened up for a while with Perfect Draw, but kept tighten up. Took several toothpick pushes to keep it open enough to draw in a reasonable amount of smoke. The cigar is overpacked. The burn line was erratic – often a problem with lanceros.

Pepper. spice, cream, coffee, and some chocolate. The balance is off even with decent flavors dominating the profile. There are no transitions. What you taste during the first few minutes are the flavors for the entire smoke. The flavors are minimal. I’d character this cigar as a one-trick pony. I’m waiting for some additional sweet notes, but the weak creamy notes and mild hint of chocolate are all I get in that arena. The cigar needs something to counterbalance the pepper and coffee. Some wood notes. More sweetness. More cowbell. Bitterness – not bad, but it’s there – joins the finish.

Overall, it was OK, decent, average. I guess I expect every AJ to be an A-plus. I was underwhelmed.