Elogio Excéntrico No. 3

In 2011, Elogio released Excepcionales, an extremely limited release that bucked the trend of what had otherwise been relatively conservative cigars. It was a massive double perfecto that was reminiscent of Drew Estate’s Egg and Arturo Fuente’s OpusX Football. A year later, it debuted Excéntrico, a limited edition torpedo that featured a head akin to Arturo Fuente’s BBMF vitola.

Since then, Elogio has released an Excéntrico each year making this the fourth year for the limited edition line.

Last year was a 6 1/2 x 58 torpedo with a cap just like the original release. It uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper, Nicaraguan Ometepe binder and fillers including ligero from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Pennsylvania.

• Cigar Reviewed: Elogio Excéntrico No. 3
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera La Flor de San Luis S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Nicaraguan (Ometepe)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua (Estelí) & Pennsylvania
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 58
• Vitola: Gran Torpedo
• MSRP: $15 (Boxes of 10, $150)
• Release Date: 2014
• Number of Cigars Released: 400 Boxes of 10 Cigars (4,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

While the size is shorter than the original release, six and a half inches instead of seven, you could have fooled me that this is the same cigar as the original release. The dark Ecuadorian wrapper has tons of oils and both the cap and the covered foot are extremely well-applied. Aroma from the Ecuadorian wrapper has cinnamon, chocolate chip cookies and some leather. As for the cold draw, it’s extremely Cuban with a sweet candied citrus, almost like a grapefruit soda, and with a touch of spices.

All three samples, despite my best efforts, seem to start off with only the wrapper burning. The flavors in the mouth are quite good some sweet nuttiness, creamy vanilla in the nose and a touch of salts towards the end before some multi-grain breads take over. The aroma of the Elogio does not begin great, starting—for lack of a better term—like a Porta Potty. Fortunately, the flavors are still quite good. It’s smooth and creamy in the mouth with a big nutty flavor. Through the nose, the grapefruit soda flavor is still big along with some red wine, minerals and some walnuts. There’s minor roughness in the nose, but it’s still quite balanced. Construction-wise the draw is slightly tight, particularly for a 60 ring gauge, but the smoke production and burn are great.

The Elogio Excéntrico No. 3 is able to continue deliver a ton of flavors, while still not annihilating the palate. A meatiness enters the profile in the second third joined by some sunflower seeds, caramel and a lot of barnyard. In the nose, there’s some soggy popcorn, grapefruit soda and just a tad of harshness. It reminds a lot of what Tatuaje is often able to achieve with the harshness cutting through some of the smoother flavors. Draw and smoke production remain where they were in the earlier third, flawless.

Simply put, the final third is a bit of a let down. Herbal flavors hit the palate for the first time, although it affects each of the three Excéntrico No. 3s I smoke differently. Fortunately, a big corn whiskey note begins to overwhelm the herbal flavors and some chalkiness. The walnuts and harshness remain, but they are a bit muted compared to the earlier portions. Construction-wise, things remain great even until the end.

Final Notes

• Nabil and Roseline Sabbah, who own the Elogio brand, also operate Old Town Cigars in Wichita, Kan. The downtown store sits an historic building and has one of the more memorable lounges I’ve ever smoked a cigar in.
• Flavor is medium-full, strength is medium.
• I still want to capitalize the g in Elogio, but apparently that’s not correct.
• Things burned very slowly, averaging two hours and 20 minutes.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

Update (Jan. 2, 2015) — Turns out this cigar is the Elogio Excéntrico No. 3, not the No. 4 as originally stated.