Quesada Selección España Beli-Lance

Last month it was announced that Casa de Montecristo would be receiving two limited release sizes in the Quesada Selección España line. They were debuted at a dinner event on March 26th with Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr., head of Quesada. In addition to these two new sizes for Casa de Montecristo, 2015 has seen two other new sizes in the line—a Churchill and a Petit Belicoso—along with a re-release of the popular lancero size, making the first few months of the year quite busy for the line.

The total number of cigars in the Selección España line now sits at 10, which includes the three regular production sizes.

• Quesada Selección España Short Robusto (4 x 50) — $7.95 (Boxes of 20, $159) — March 2011 — Regular Production
• Quesada Selección España Robusto (5 x 52) — $8.50 (Boxes of 20, $170) — March 2011 — Regular Production
• Quesada Selección España Corona (5 1/2 x 42) — $7.25 (Boxes of 20, $140) — March 2011 — Regular Production
• Quesada Selección España Lancero (7 x 38) — $8.50 (Cabinets of 50, $425) — January 2013 — 12 Cabinets of 50 Cigars (600 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Selección España Ninfa (7 x 33) — $12.95 (Cabinets of 50, $647.50) — January 2014 — 12 Cabinets of 50 Cigars (600 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Selección España JFH 25th Anniversary (4 3/4 x 38/58/44) — $7.95 (Boxes of 10, $79.50) — July 2014 — 150 Boxes of 10 Cigars (1,500 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Selección España Petit Belicoso (4 1/2 x 40) – $7.50 (Cabinets of 100, $750) — January 2015 — 12 Cabinets of 100 Cigars (1,200 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Selección España Churchill (7 x 47) — $11 (Boxes of 10, $110) — March 2015 — 300 Boxes of 10 Cigars (3,000 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Selección España Beli-Lance (7 x 40) — $10.95 (Boxes of 10, $109.50) — March 2015 — 300 Boxes of 10 Cigars (3,000 Total Cigars)
• Quesada Selección España Fabulosos (7 x 54) — $11.95 (Boxes of 10, $119.50) — March 2015 — 300 Boxes of 10 Cigars (3,000 Total Cigars)

• Cigar Reviewed: Quesada Selección España Beli-Lance
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Quesada Cigars
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Arapiraca
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Size: 7 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 40
• Vitola: Belicoso Lancero
• MSRP: $10.95 (Boxes of 10, $109.50)
• Date Released: March 26, 2015
• Number of Cigars Released: 300 Boxes of 10 Cigars (3,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Taking the Beli-Lance out of its cellophane, I’m once again greeted with the pretty mottled brown wrapper that covers the Españas. There’s a slightly oily feel to it with a slight roughness, making it feel more like a dry tissue paper than anything else. When squeezed there is a bit more give than I would prefer, though it doesn’t appear to be soft enough to be called underfilled. I get the familiar España aroma off the wrapper of heavy barnyard, including hay, leather and a salty ocean-side vegetation note. The cold draw is unique, sweet, creamy and flavorful, made up of leather, freshly cut hay, a touch of spice and some nuttiness.

The first third starts out with more of the nuttiness, some sweet cocoa, a creamy leather, a bit of spice and only the slightest hint of pepper in the background. With a tentative retrohale I get a different story – a bit more pepper up front, more of the same nuttiness and an interesting aged and musty note that I haven’t experienced much outside of much older cigars. The burn is quite off requiring a small touch up, but seems to want to stay even after that. Though the draw is within the ideal range, it is perhaps just a touch tighter than I would normally prefer. More creamy leather and a nuttiness dominate the profile, with sweet cocoa, spice and a light touch of pepper still in the background.

Moving into the second third, we begin with another touch up. The burn can’t seem to stay straight, but the good news is the delicious profile is still intact. Nuttiness and leather still dominate, but the cocoa has returned to the forefront making up a solid base for the profile. Cinnamon defines itself among the general spice note, joining the light pepper that complement the main notes. Another touch up is required and at this point I think it’s starting to affect the profile. While all the good notes are still there, a slight harshness has started to creep into the background.

The final third starts with a relight and me finally seeing the profile start to unravel a bit. The leather, nuttiness and cinnamon are still powering through, but the creamy sweetness is mostly gone, leaving the profile different and just not quite as good. There is still hints of light pepper and cocoa occasionally, though there is a harsh and slightly sour overlay to the profile. Another needed touch up and a little more harshness is added in. The final inch and a half seems to fall apart, giving me the queue to end the cigar around the one inch mark.

Final Notes

• The latter two thirds of the cigar was a near constant battle of touch-ups and relights across all three samples. There were significantly more than I wrote about and I would have probably run out of room in the review, much like I ran out of fuel in my lighter.
• After the first sample I dry boxed another one for 24 hours, though if anything it seemed to perform worse. The third sample I smoked sat in a separate humidor in the low 60 percent RH range for three days, but only performed slightly better – not enough though to say it was the environment making a difference so much as just a variation in the cigar.
• Brooks Whittington seemed to have difficulty with the burn on the Fabulosos, the other Casa de Montecristo exclusive, though strangely enough his issues were in the first third where my first third performed mostly well.
• In my experience, the España line ages wonderfully, developing a deliciously delicate profile.
• Quesada Cigars advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time averaged right around two hours.
• Casa de Montecristo is the only place to purchase the España Beli-Lance.

There are many things to like about the Quesada España Beli-Lance, mainly the delightful size and extremely flavorful profile. There were also a lot of frustrations, mainly what appeared to be some major construction issues that caused the cigar to need many touch ups and a number of relights. Despite these frustrations, I inexplicably still enjoyed the cigar. The profile was good enough through the majority of the cigar that I remember each sample with fondness along with some frustration, much like one would love but be frustrated by an adorable puppy that chewed up your favorite pair of designer loafers. So while I can’t wholeheartedly recommend these, I do still suggest trying them out, because the profile is enjoyable enough. As for me, I probably won’t be picking up any more of these, though I am glad I got to smoke the three that I did.