Eiroa CBT Maduro Lancero

In June 2014, CLE Cigar Company announced that it was adding a maduro incarnation of its flagship CBT line. According to Christian Eiroa, the company’s founder, the CBT Maduro features a blend that had been in the works for “many years” before it was released.

While the company has not disclosed the tobaccos that make up the blend, Eiroa has confirmed it is exclusively made up of leaves taken from the upper primings of the tobacco plant in order to create what he calls an old school-style maduro. This includes the wrapper, which Eiroa said is naturally darker because of the amount of sun and nutrients it receives, as opposed to wrappers that are dark simply because of their origin or how they are processed.

“We are going after the true sense of the ‘maduro’ word,” Eiroa explained to halfwheel. “The cigar is full-flavored, full-bodied, but easy for anyone to enjoy.”

During the PCA Convention & Trade Show earlier this year, CLE showed off a new vitola in the CBT Maduro line, specifically a 7 x 38 lancero. The new regular production vitola is priced at $13.60 each and is packaged in 20-count boxes that began shipping to retailers in August.

• Cigar Reviewed: Eiroa CBT Maduro Lancero
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: The CLE Factory
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 7 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 38
• Vitola: Lancero
• MSRP: $13.60 (Boxes of 20, $272)
• Release Date: August 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

A combination of the main band and an extremely long shaft of paper covers about 80 percent of the exterior real estate of the Eiroa CBT Maduro Lancero, but once I remove the paper it is difficult to miss the dark-as-night wrapper that is extremely rough to the touch. In addition, I see a number of protruding veins running down the length of each cigar—there so many that it reminds me of the stitching depicted on popular movie versions of Frankenstein’s monster—and the thin pigtail coiled around the top of the cap is an understated visual touch. Aroma from the wrapper includes not only strong earth and hay, but also lighter notes of oak, barnyard, generic nuts and graham cracker sweetness. Notes from the foot could not be more different, a list that includes musky incense, cinnamon, dark chocolate, creamy oak and sweet red licorice. After cutting the cap, the cold draw brings flavors of aged oak, cinnamon, cocoa nibs, leather tack, almonds and generic fruity sweetness.

Although the draw on my first cigar starts extremely loose—more on that below—the other two have no issues in that regard. The flavor profile starts off with some significant spice on my tongue, dank earth and black pepper that slowly morphs into a combination of creamy oak and powdery cocoa nibs. Secondary flavors of hay, dry cereal, coffee beans, leather, cashews and nutmeg flit in and out, while the retrohale features quite a bit of black pepper as well as some rich raisin sweetness. Flavor starts off at a solid medium while both the body and strength lag a bit behind at a just under medium. While the construction on two CBT Maduro Lanceros is excellent, the first cigar has an obvious draw issue and a burn that needs a couple of corrections.

The second third explodes in flavor as a combination of cinnamon and creamy cashews take the top spot followed closely behind by notes of dark chocolate, earth, oak, dry hay, nutmeg and dry tea leaves. There is an abundance of spice on my tongue and the retrohale now features plenty of black pepper and a new spiced apple cider sweetness, both of which seem to still be increasing as the second third burns down. Flavor jumps to medium-full, body is at a point just over medium and the strength has reached a solid medium, but all three don’t seem content to stay in their respective places for long. In terms of construction, the draw—and the burn—on the problematic cigar have improved dramatically while the other two cigars are giving me no issues whatsoever thus far.

Massive flavor continues to be the name of the game during the final third of the Eiroa, as powdery cocoa nibs and cashews combine to lead the way in the profile and spice remains very prominent on my tongue. Additional notes of dry hay, oak, nutmeg, saltine crackers, leather and freshly roasted espresso beans all show up at various points. While black pepper remains a major player on the retrohale, the spiced apple sweetness from the second third has been replaced by a slightly less aggressive floral sweetness. Flavor ends the cigar just under the full mark while the body and strength both hit medium-full. Finally, all three aspects of the construction—draw, burn and smoke production—work together in almost perfect harmony for each of the three cigars until I put the nubs down with less than an inch remaining.

Final Notes

• CBT is an acronym for Capa, Banda and Tripa, which translate to Wrapper, Binder and Filler from Spanish.

• As mentioned above, the draw on my first cigar was extremely loose from the first puff due to a lack of tobacco in the middle of the bunch, almost to the point where I was getting no resistance at all. Thankfully, that hole closed up as the burn line progressed, and the issue corrected itself by the middle of the first third.
• Editor’s Note: The difference in score between the first cigar, the one with draw issues, and the other two was more than 10 points, a very large delta for halfwheel scores. — Charlie Minato.
• While this is easily a medium-full blend, the strength and body are extremely well-balanced with the rest of the profile.
• CLE has had numerous cigars place in halfwheel’s Top 25 over the years, including the Eiroa The First 20 Years Colorado in 2017, the Eiroa The First 20 Years Diadema and Eiroa Jamastran in 2019 and the Asylum 20 Minute Toms in 2021.
• The cigars smoke for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged one hour and 29 minutes.