Over the last few years, Elogio—despite a national presence—has chosen to remain small, making only 50,000 cigars per year Tabacalera La Flor de San Luis S.A. factory in Nicaragua. In 2011, Elogio released their first limited edition cigar, the 5 5/8 x 82 Excepcionales limited to only 3,000 cigars. It released another limited edition in 2012, which was the 7 x 54 Excéntrico Torpedo Gordo, limited to only only 2,000 made. T

Here is what I said in my original review in November of 2012:

While I am a big fan of a lot of Elogio’s regular production releases, particularly the core lines, their first limited release the Excepcionales was extremely disappointing to me. I can safely say that the Excéntrico is miles above that one, in just about every way possible. It has great construction and wonderful flavors with the somewhat harsh beginning notwithstanding, but is just not that complex, profile-wise. The main issue? These are not as good as most of their regular production blends, harder to find and cost quite a bit more as well. A pretty good cigar at a not so great price, but well worth trying if you are a fan of Elogio and can actually find one to purchase.

  • Cigar Reviewed: Elogio Excéntrico
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Tabacalera La Flor de San Luis S.A.
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
  • Binder: Habano
  • Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
  •  Size: 7 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 54
  • Vitola: Torpedo Gordo
  • MSRP: $15.00 (Boxes of 10, $150.00)
  • Date Released: July 2012
  • Number of Cigars Released: 200 Boxes of 10 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Redux:

As was the case the first time I reviewed it, the Elogio Excéntrico is a very unique-looking cigar with a bushy cap and a covered foot in a vitola that seems to get thicker as you get closer to the foot of the cigar. The wrapper is a dark mocha brown and is fairly smooth to the touch, but there are some veins visible, as well as a tiny amount of oil. There is quite a bit of resistance when it is squeezed and the aroma from the wrapper is a combination of faint cinnamon, cedar, leather and chocolate.

The Elogio Excéntrico begins with strong flavors of leather, earth and bitter espresso. There is almost no black pepper evident at first, but that note comes along with a vengeance right around the end of the first third, and stays strong through the remainder of the smoke. There is some sweetness in the background that comes and goes, but it does not become distinct until the second third, where I nail down the flavor as the same maple note that I tasted the first time I reviewed it. Some tart citrus ebbs in and out during the second half, and while it is noticeable, the flavor really never gets strong enough to really effect the over profile.

Elogio Excéntrico

Construction-wise, the draw is excellent after I used a Dickman cut, and while the burn is a bit wavy in the first third, it becomes razor sharp after that until the end of the cigar. The smoke production is immense, billowy and white, while the strength starts out under the medium mark, and ends the cigar 

86 Overall Score

As I expected, the harshness that I noticed in my first review has all but disappeared in the 11 months this has been resting—and that is a good thing. Interestingly, there are a few flavors in the profile that I did not notice the first time around, specifically the tart citrus in the second half and the cinnamon scent coming off of the wrapper. The Elogio Excéntrico is a somewhat better cigar after all this time, but that does not change the fact that it is still a fairly one-dimensional blend. A good cigar that has gotten slightly better, but still not as good as it should have been, considering who makes it.

Original Score (November 2012)
85
Redux Score (September 2013)
86
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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.