For those of you that don’t know…

In late 2003, the Graycliff cigar company introduced the “Espresso” line of cigars, which is the fullest-bodied blend in the Graycliff line. The Espresso line are produced in a factory in Nassau, Bahamas, and they were originally blended by Cuban expatriate Avelino Lara (who just happens to be the creator of the original Cuban Cohiba) in conjunction with Graycliff owner Enrico Garzaroli…

In terms of production, first came the red label, followed by the blue label (or “Profesionale“) blend, then the more full-bodied white label (“Crystal”) and finally the fulliest bodied black label (“Espresso“) series.

Graycliff has this to say about the Espresso blend:

“The Espresso has a Costa Rican wrapper, a leaf that is rough to the touch and coarse on the palate, and therefore not typically found in the smoothest-tasting cigars. “This is definitely not your typical Costa Rican-tasting tobacco,” says Garzaroli. In a research center near his Costa Rican farms, Garzaroli worked with Lara to develop a sterile and stronger hybrid of the legendary Cuban corojo seed. They combined this seed with a re-engineered Cuban Cameroon leaf, an Ecuadorian-grown ligero, and a Nicaraguan tobacco aged for six years. This hefty combination has been tempered by a flavorful touch of Philippine Simaba added to the filler. The Graycliff Espresso is the ultimate power smoke in more ways than one. While stronger-tasting cigars have become increasingly popular over the past few years, many manufacturers have sacrificed finesse in favor of potency. Given the vagaries of the volatile tobaccos used in developing these powerhouse cigars, it is a difficult balance to strike. The flavor is pungent and chocolaty, with an added boost of caffeine. This is not a cigar for the uninitiated, but like its namesake, the Espresso is a sophisticated and powerful way to end the evening.”

There were three vitolas released in the Espresso line at that time (2003), but there have always been other vitolas in the line that are produced, but are only available through certain, more private channels…the Elegante  (Lancero) and the Shagfoot Piramide are the most notable of these…

The Three main (easily found) vitolas are:

• PG — (5 1/8 x 50)
• Pirate — (6 x 52)
• Presidente — (7 x 48)

The Six (not so easily found) vitolas in the Espresso line are:

• Taco — (4 1/2 x 44)
• Salomones —(7 1/2 x 48)
• Big Bamboo — 14 x 50)
• Piccolo — (4 1/2 x 46)
• Elegante — (7 x 38)
• Shagfoot Piramide — (7 x 52)

The Graycliff Espresso Elegantes come celloed in boxes of 25, which look like this (photo courtsy vitolas.net)…

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But enough of that, let’s get down to business, shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: Graycliff Espresso Elegante
• Country of Origin: Bahamas
• Factory: Graycliff Cigar Factory
• Wrapper: Cuban Corojo Seed Hybrid (Maduro)
• Binder: Cameroon
• Filler: Ecuadorian Ligero, Nicaraguan, and Philippine Simaba
• Size: 7 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 38
• Vitola: Lancero
• MSRP: $10.00 (Boxes of 25, $250.00)
• Date Released: 2005
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 2

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The Cigar itself has a light milk chocolate brown wrapper that is quite rough to the touch…I love the pigtail on top…There is very little oil to be seen, and the wrapper has several prominent veins running up and down it’s length…The wrapper smells distinctly of sweet chocolate, cedar and earth…It has the perfect amount of give when squeezed, not too hard and not too soft…

The First Third starts with a bit of spice along with strong sweet leather and earth notes…The combination of the aforementioned flavors was very nicely proportioned, just a great start to the cigar…

The Second Third had spice still present in the perfect amount….not too much to overwhelm flavors, and not too little that it did not have an impact…Still an earthy profile with some coffee and leather notes, but there is also some light floral notes as well that come and go…

The Last Third had a bit more coffee in the profile (and less earth), but was also more creamy and with a little bit of a nutty flavor, sort of tart, if that makes sense…Still the perfect amount of spice as well…great ending…

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Final Notes:

• This blend seemed almost impeccably suited for the lancero format…
• Although not the best looking cigar on the outside, the Burn and draw were absolute perfection for the entire smoke…honestly, it could not have been better…
• There was quite a bit of great, creamy white smoke that coated the inside of my mouth…It also smelled very sweet…
• There was not as much coffee or Espresso notes present as there was in the Double Espresso (review here), but I was not expecting there to be (considering the vitola)…There was also noticeably more spice then the Double Espresso (something that I noted was missing in that vitola)…
• The Final Smoking Time was 1 Hour and 45 minutes….

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The Bottom Line: Honestly, while I was expecting this cigar to be good, (I have read a few reviews of this particular vitola), I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed it…While not the strongest cigar (nor is it meant to be), the flavors that were present were distinct, complex and almost perfectly balanced…Add in the great burn and draw, and this is a winner all around…The best Graycliff I have smoked BY FAR, and I would not hesitate to pick up more (even at the somewhat inflated prices they command)…

Final Score: 91