Tabacos El Triunfador Original Blend Lancero – Blind Review

Recently, I participated in a blind trade with some fellow BOTL’s. If you aren’t aware what a blind trade is, let me explain. What we did was package together a few cigars in a price range of up to $10 and remove the bands. The bands on the cigars I reviewed were all on blank paper with just a simple number on the label. I really enjoy participating in these types of trades since they remove and misconceptions, biases, cost considerations and other opinions which could sway the review of a known cigar.
The first cigar I lit up from this trade was Blind Cigar #1, which ended up being an Original Blend El Triunfador Lancero. The El Triunfador line is blended by Pete Johnson, more popularly known for the Tatuaje Cigar line. This particular blend was a limited production cigar released before the El Triunfador become a production line. He blend is quite different from what the current blend became. Tony did a review of the new blend not too long ago, you can read it here: Tatuaje Tabacos El Triunfador #1. Try to compare the notes between this Original Blend and the new blend that Tony reviewed.
I have to say I had no idea what this cigar was while I was smoking it. The funny thing is that just a week before I had smoked two cigars of the new blend from the El Triunfador line. Even with such a close time between tasting both of these cigars it didn’t even cross my mind that these were from the same line. I was pleasantly surprised to find out what this cigar was but was also disappointed since it is limited production. There are still a few boxes kicking around if you look hard enough for them.
I wrote all the below notes prior to knowing what cigar I was smoking. I got the reveal a day after. Take a read and I hope you enjoy this. There will be a few more blind reviews coming up soon!

Cigar: Blind Tasting Cigar #1
Drink: Mill Street Brewery Coffee Porter
Vitola: Lancero (7.5 x 38)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $8.50
Burn Time: 2 hours

Construction:
• Very attractive oily and dark chocolate wrapper, appears maduro but I don’t think it is
• Slightly bumpy appearance but no toothiness to it
• Clean triple cap with a small pigtail
• Appears evenly packed at the foot
• Slightly soft and springy throughout with one minor hard spot
• Draw is a bit tight, hopefully it loosens up
• Draw loosened up shortly before halfway and is now dead-on perfect

Burn:
• Toasting was amazingly even and easy
• Burning fairly evenly with a bit of wave at the start
• Approaching the halfway point the the burn is moving along excellently, no issues at all
• Cigar is staying lit effortlessly and letting me enjoy it slowly

Smoke & Ash:
• Medium mouthful of smoke, nothing overbearing but enough to keep me satisfied
• Lots of constant resting smoke that smells fantastic, lots of cedar in the aroma
• Ash is tight and even but not too strong
• First ash was only about ¼ of an inch
• Second ash was a bit longer but seems to be between ¼ and ½ inch each time
• Amount of smoke increased quite a bit in the last 3rd

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper has a sweet tobacco aroma
• Foot has an earthy and cedar aroma with a touch of spice
• Pre-light draw definitely has an earthy spice type of flavor to it complimented by cedar touches
• Initial draws are of earth, cedar and coffee with a touch of spice on the aftertaste
• Retrohale is mild with a cedar and smooth espresso finish
• Body started off mild-medium
• Approaching the half-way mark, flavors haven’t changed much but the spice has pretty much disappeared and the the espresso flavors have got stronger. Earth and cedar flavors are still lingering
• As I approach the final 3 inches, the coffee flavor has slipped into the background and some of the spice is coming back, reminds me of baked cloves, very interesting
• Body has also started to ramp up a bit as I approach the end
• Retrohale has also picked up in body, getting a similar clove flavor complimented by some cedar
• A slight bitterness crept in near the end but nothing overpowering and it did not ruin this cigar, still enjoyed it quite a bit


Final Thoughts:
I was very impressed by this cigar. It had everything you could want. Great construction, lots of smoke, good flavors, and a couple dimensions to keep in interesting. The value on this cigar is also great considering the burn time of 2 hours. If you can find some of these still hanging around somewhere I would definitely recommend grabbing them. These are not the type of limited cigar you want to miss. The new El Triunfador line is good ad it’s hard to compare the two due to the fact that they are so different in body and flavor profile.

Pairings:
The dark Coffee Porter paired very nicely with this cigar and any similar stout or porter would go well. This beer has is full of flavor and coats your palate but has a smooth finish. It obviously has a strong coffee flavor and it complimented the coffee and espresso notes of this cigar nicely. A strong coffee, such as Cuban of Americano, would also be an excellent pairing here.