La Escepción Selectos Finos Edición Regional Italia (2011)

There are a small number of Cuban cigar brands that were founded before the turn of the 20th century, and while some of them are now defunct, a select few remain alive and well. For example, Por Larrañaga debuted in 1834, the Punch marca was first released in 1840 and the H. Upmann cigar brand began in 1844.

La Escepción, was created by José Gener i Batet, the same person who founded the Hoyo de Monterrey brand. The brand survived the Cuban Revolution but was discontinued in the late 1980s as part of a large portfolio makeover by the Cuban cigar monopoly.

However, the brand’s story does not end there, as Habanos S.A. chose to reintroduce an updated version of La Escepción in 2011, specifically as part of the company’s Edición Regional program released as exclusives for Italy. The first cigar was the Selectos Finos—a 6 1/2 x 38 panatela vitola—followed by the 5 x 48 Don José four years later in 2015.

In terms of production, only 50,000 La Escepción Selectos Finos cigars were released in January 2012 packaged in 25-count boxes. However, acquiring either one of the vitolas in the brand outside of Italy was especially difficult due to the fact that it is illegal to ship tobacco products outside of that country.

So far, there have been only two vitolas released under the newest version of the La Escepción brand.

This is what I wrote in my original review back in February 2012:

I was honestly a little surprised to see the size that this cigar ended up being, as the modus operandi with Habanos has been larger and larger ring gauge. However, after smoking a couple of them, I have to say they absolutely nailed the blend, size and ring gauge on this release — complex, extremely flavorful, fairly strong, almost perfect construction and just a great vitola. Indeed, the only negative I could find about this cigar is the price. The La Escepción Selectos Finos is easily the best Cuban I have smoked in this admittedly young year and one of the best ERs in the last few years, period. My advice is that if you can find some, buy them.

Here is what I wrote in my first redux review in September 2013:

The La Escepción Selectos Finos was very, very good when it was released and it is even better now that it has had eight months of age. Great construction, great smoke production, wonderful finish and an almost too complex profile that changes on a dime throughout the cigar. I have probably smoked a half box of these since they were released and every one has been spot on consistent in terms of profile, construction and complexity. Interestingly, the time it has aged has seemed to add not only a bit of pepper to the profile, but also more sweetness. This is still one of the best Cubans I have had, I love everything about this release and my only regret is that wish I had 10 boxes to age even longer.

• Cigar Reviewed: La Escepción Selectos Finos Edición Regional Italia (2011)
• Country of Origin: Cuba
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Cuba
• Binder: Cuba
• Filler: Cuba
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 38
• Vitola: Panatela
• MSRP: $25 (Boxes of 25, $625)
• Release Date: January 2012
• Number of Cigars Released: 2,000 Boxes of 25 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

Over the years, I’ve been seeing this single La Escepción Selectos Finos Edición Regional Italia a lot, getting to marvel at its gorgeous cinnamon brown wrapper each time I open the box it has been stored in. The cigar is quite smooth to the touch, despite the fact that there is a noticeable lack of oil present. It is firm but not hard when squeezed and while there are no prominent veins, it is hard not to notice a multitude of bumps under the wrapper all over the cigar. A sweet and creamy cedar note leads the aromas coming from the wrapper, followed by barnyard, leather tack, cinnamon, dark chocolate and earth. The foot features strong notes of peanut butter, espresso beans, more cinnamon, clay, creamy hay and vanilla bean sweetness. Finally, after a straight cut the cold draw features flavors of almonds, plain bread, even more cinnamon, cocoa nibs, dry straw and honey sweetness.

A combination of bitter espresso, white pepper and cinnamon is all I can taste as I light the foot of the La Escepción, but those quickly morph into strong notes of creamy cedar along with even creamier almonds. A little excitement gets the better of me early on, and a slightly faster puff rate results in a touch of bitterness, but slowing down eliminates the issue quickly. Secondary flavors of dark chocolate, leather tack, dried tea leaves and hay flit in and out, but the star of the show so far is an intense honeycomb sweetness combined with some light white pepper that really makes the retrohale sing with every puff. Flavor starts off with a bang, ending the first half just under the full mark, while both the body and strength lag far behind at a point between mild and medium. When it comes to the construction, there is virtually nothing to complain about, including a draw that is excellent after a straight cut with just the right amount of resistance, a burn line that is close to razor sharp from the first puff to the last and plenty of dense, gray smoke flowing from the foot.

There are some noticeable changes during the second half of the Edición Regional, starting with the main combination of flavors. While the creamy cedar remains, the almond note from the first third has been replaced by a distinct salted peanut flavor, and the combination of the two stays on top of the profile until the end of the cigar. Additional flavors include creamy hay, dry oatmeal, a distinct floral note, powdery cocoa nibs, freshly brewed coffee and a slight mint flavor that shows up on every other puff, although the latter is never strong enough to really impact the profile in any significant way. Honeycomb sweetness continues to dominate the retrohale, but the amount of white pepper continues to increase as the burn line progresses, eventually ending about twice as strong as it was in the first third. Flavor easily hits the full mark by the end of the cigar, and while the strength and body do increase as well, they only end up at a solid medium and just under medium respectively. Finally, there is almost no change in the construction—a very good thing—with the burn, draw and smoke production all working in harmony until I put the nub down with less than inch remaining after exactly one hour and 18 minutes of smoking time.

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.