Earlier this year Robert Caldwell announced that the Impromptu project would be renamed to BCS, using the names of the three people involved in the project – Tony Bellatto, Robert Caldwell and Jaclyn Sears. Two weeks later it was announced that the project was renamed to the more apt moniker of Lost&Found.
Since the inception of this project, the idea was that Caldwell would visit various factories and manufacturers, finding cigars that weren’t released for one reason or another and buy the remaining stock. This usually proved to be small releases of just a few thousand cigars, though in Caldwell’s letter he claims that some are as small as 100 cigars. Once the cigars are procured, Sears manages the artwork and packaging while Bellatto figures out the logistics of the operation.
During the short time that the project was known as BCS, the announcement came that there would be three new releases hitting shelves soon. One of those releases was the Buck 15, a Dominican puro that was rolled in 2010. The tag that came on the bundle has this note from Sears:
These robustos are made using only DOminican Tobaccos. They are creamy and carmelo-y-ish wich makes them a delightful treat. Caldwell introduced them to me after returning from the DR. He smoked them all. This is what is left.
It was one of four cigars released in early 2015.
- Buck 15 (5 x 50) — $10 (Bundles of 4, $40) — 100 Bundles of 4 Cigars (400 Total Cigars)
- Cream Machine (6 x 50) — $12 (Bundles of 3, $36) — 600 Bundles of 3 Cigars (1,800 Total Cigars)
- Holy Braille (5 x 50) — $15 (Bundles of 3, $45) — 333 Bundles of 3 Cigars (999 Total Cigars)
- SilentShout (4 x 42) — $5.40 (Bundles of 5, $22) — 600 Bundles of 5 Cigars (3,000 Total Cigars)
- Cigar Reviewed: Lost&Found Buck 15
- Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
- Factory: n/a
- Wrapper: Dominican Republic
- Binder: Dominican Republic
- Filler: Dominican Republic
- Size: 5 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 50
- Vitola: Robusto
- MSRP: $10 (Bundles of 4, $40)
- Date Released: Feb. 25, 2015
- Number of Cigars Released: 100 Bundles of 4 Cigars (400 Total Cigars)
- Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3
The Buck 15 is actually quite a pretty cigar. There isn’t a band, so all the focus is on the wrapper, which is very well applied and has a fascinating light tan color with a very slight mint green tint to it. It’s also quite soft and isn’t very oily, just stopping short of what might feel more like dry tissue paper. There are a couple of soft spots along the cigar’s length, but I don’t think they’re bad enough to affect the burn. The aroma off the wrapper is very light, though I’m able to pick up some fresh alfalfa with hints of honey and a touch of vanilla. Pepper, vanilla and more of the fresh alfalfa make up the cold draw, which is almost more reminiscent of a candela wrapper to me.
As I start into the first third pepper, caramelized sugar, fresh hay and a light floral note mix together to form a flavorful profile, though all the flavors are quite mild and subdued. The burn started slightly wavy, and whether that was me or the cigar, it evened up by itself within a half an inch. Though I would say the draw is good, it’s slightly more open than I would prefer, but not what I would call loose. Each draw produced plenty of smoke, with a steady stream coming off the foot between draws. An inch in and I hit the first soft spot and I was wrong with my guess because the burn has gone completely wonky, requiring some touch up work with my lighter.
Moving into the second third the profile has transformed almost completely from the beginning, with the pepper taking center stage with a hint of fresh hay still off to the side. The sugar and floral note have completely disappeared, instead replaced with an unfortunate bitter harshness, that when combined with the pepper makes for a bold profile in a lot of the wrong ways. The burn has evened itself up slightly, but the cigar just went out, so it received another dose of my lighter. The ash holds on to around the inch mark, however it’s quite flaky and looks more like it would fall off sooner, though it was surprisingly firm. The bitterness has faded somewhat, but the profile at the moment is really only made up of pepper up front and a bitter harshness in the background.
I hit the second soft spot just as I move into the final third, and I am again wrong with my earlier prediction as the burn goes wildly awry. The pepper continues as the main flavor, with some bitter and sour notes bringing up the rear. I’m not waiting extremely long amounts of time between draws, so I’m surprised when the cigar for all intents and purposes goes out and needs relit again. The whole cigar starts devolving quickly during the final inch and a half, with the profile falling apart completely and the cigar struggling to stay lit.
Final Notes
- The logo on the tag has the silhouette of a buck mounting a doe, which isn’t necessarily crude but definitely a little edgier than most cigar packaging. Though with a new release called “Swollen Cock” I’m sure that’s exactly what they’re going for.
- Out of the three samples I smoked, two had terrible burn issues while the third was “just” bad. I’m absolutely sure this affected the profile, as all three sample’s first third was decent and burned ok, while the final two thirds consistently went downhill.
- I’ve thought all the Impromptu/BCS/Lost&Found releases have had awesome packaging.
- With such a small number of cigars released, it makes sense to sell them in bundles of four, but I still found that an odd number.
- The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
- Final smoking time averaged about an hour and 40 minutes.
The idea behind Lost&Found is an interesting one, and definitely a neat project to release cigars that might have otherwise never seen the light of day. Sometimes however it seems that these cigars weren’t released for a reason, and I think that’s what happened with the Buck 15. The blend seemed to be there, with a decent profile up front and one that could have continued to be okay if the construction hadn’t been such a mess. The burn issues went far beyond what was just a wavy wrapper burning, but instead had entire sections of tobacco that almost seemed to refuse to ignite. The nature of this project seems that Lost&Found will have some good releases, some great releases and then others that just miss the mark, and I think the Buck 15 is the latter. The bad news for you is that these are probably long sold out and you won’t be able to find them except on the secondary market. The good news however, is that you’re not missing out on much.
Brian Burt
I have been smoking cigars since 2005 and reviewing them as a hobby since 2010. Initially, I started out small with a 50-count humidor and only smoking one or two cigars a month. Not knowing anybody else that smoked cigars, it was only an occasional hobby that I took part in. In March of 2010, I joined Nublive and Cigar Asylum, connecting me with many people who also shared an interest in cigars. Reading what they had to say about brands I had never heard of, I quickly immersed myself in the boutique brands of the industry and it was then that cigars transformed from a hobby into a passion.
