In March 2014, 262 Cigars announced a new line of cigars named Allegiance, a brand that was conceived as a “line in the sand” against government intrusion on smoker’s rights. A press release from when the line was launched adds more details:

The Allegiance name, while stirring many connotations for many people, is 262’s official “line in the sand” campaign. While all of their previous brands have been named in support of their overall cigar revolution theme, Allegiance is meant to take on a stronger tone. State by state, town by town, and at the Federal level too, we are seeing a growing opposition to our cigar culture. Attacks are being made on all sides; industry, tradition, and art. Their intentions are clear, the line has been drawn, and it’s time to declare a side. Inaction does not excuse you from siding with the enemy. So, where does your allegiance lie?

Back in February, 262 owner Clint Aaron told halfwheel that he was going to be adding a Lancero to the Allegiance line, bringing the total number of vitolas to four. Aaron has made no secret of his love of the lancero format, and thought it was time to introduce the size to the line.

“I think the lancero can intimidate people since it’s not a popular size,” Aaron said at the time. “Most of the time it only takes somebody smoking one or two before they realize how flavorful that size truly is.”

Like the rest of the 262 Allegiance line, the new Lancero incorporates a Brazilian mata fina wrapper covering a Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua. All of the cigars are rolled at Craig Cunningham’s Tabacalera Carreras factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

With the addition of the lancero, there are now four vitolas in the 262 Allegiance line all sold in boxes of 20.

  • 262 Allegiance Toro (6 x 54) — $8.50 (Boxes of 20, $170) — Regular Production
  • 262 Allegiance Robusto (5 x 50) — $7.50 (Boxes of 20, $150) — Regular Production
  • 262 Allegiance Corona (5 1/2 x 44) — $7 (Boxes of 20, $140) — Regular Production
  • 262 Allegiance Lancero (7 x 38) — $8.10 (Boxes of 20, $162) — Regular Production

262 Allegiance Lancero 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: 262 Allegiance Lancero
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Tabacalera Carreras
  • Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua
  • Size: 7 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 38
  • Vitola: Lancero
  • MSRP: $8.10 (Boxes of 20, $162)
  • Date Released: June 2, 2015
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 3

Covered in a milk brown wrapper, the 262 Allegiance Lancero is fairly smooth to the touch, with obvious veins running up and down the length. It is a bit spongy when squeezed, and some noticeable oil. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of dark chocolate, barnyard, leather, oak and sweet nutmeg, while the cold draw brings flavors of vanilla beans, leather, earth, cedar and cinnamon.

Starting out, the 262 Allegiance Lancero has dominant flavors of milk chocolate and leather, along with lessor notes of peanuts, cinnamon, cedar and a slight bready note. There is a nice vanilla sweetness on the retrohale, along with an aggressive amount of black pepper, and I am noticing a bit of spice on my tongue for the first few puffs. Construction-wise, the 262 has an excellent draw so far, but the burn is a bit wavy, albeit far from problematic. Smoke production is about average, and the strength ends the first third about where it began, at a point about halfway between mild and medium, although it does seem to be increasing.

262 Allegiance Lancero 2

The profile of the 262 Allegiance lancero becomes noticeably more creamy as the second third begins, and a wonderful peanut and cocoa combination slowly begins to take over dominance. Other notes of leather, cinnamon, cedar, milk chocolate and slight saltiness come and go underneath, while the vanilla sweetness has morphed into more of a nutmeg flavor, and the black pepper on the retrohale retains its strength. Both the burn and draw continue to impress, with neither giving me any issues whatsoever, and the smoke production remains fairly normal. Strength-wise, the Allegiance Lancero has not increased as much as I expected, and ends the second third still under the medium mark.

262 Allegiance Lancero 3

The final third of the Allegiance Lancero sees the sweetness shift yet again, this time to more of a licorice note that really combines nicely with the black pepper that is still present on the retrohale. The dominant flavors in the profile remain a creamy peanut and cocoa mixture, interspersed with notes of leather, cedar, popcorn, hay and bitter espresso. The construction remains top notch until the end of the cigar, but the smoke production does not pick up at all. The strength finally comes very close to the medium mark by the time I put down the nub with a little less than an inch left.

262 Allegiance Lancero 4

Final Notes

  • The ash on this cigar is extremely flaky, with little pieces falling off at inopportune times during the entire smoke.
  • The band is large, and more than a third of the total length of the cigar is covered by it. While that is not that bad on a seven-inch long lancero, the fact that the wrapper was damaged—albeit not bad enough to unravel—on two of the cigars when I took the band off due to an abundance of glue is.
  • With the addition of this cigar, 262 now has three lanceros in three different lines: 262, Paradigm and Revere.
  • The final smoking time for the three samples I smoked averaged one hour and 20 minutes.
  • The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
  • Site sponsor STOGIES World Class Cigars (713.783.5100) has the 262 Allegiance Lancero in stock.
91 Overall Score

The 262 Allegiance line has always been an easy smoking blend, but the new Lancero takes it to another level. The newest vitola in the line is creamier, more complex and has more richness overall in the profile than the Corona and Toro, and retains a very nice sweetness on the retrohale that is constantly evolving as the cigar burns down. In addition, the construction was excellent on all three samples I smoked, the the strength is well integrated. A well-balanced, nicely blended cigar that I really enjoyed smoking, and one that I will definitely be smoking again.

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.