Some Random Thoughts…

  1. Lanceros are a Pain in the Ass to Photograph — Or at least if you try to stand them up. They are long and thin. Light enough for any bit of wind to pick them up and blow over, and a tiny base makes it difficult for them to even stand up. I know it’s not really relevant for smoking them, but it was perhaps the largest problem of Lancero50. About one quarter of the Lanceros that were photographed were damaged during photography.
  2. There are a Lot of Lanceros — I only reviewed non-Cuban Lanceros. There are about thirty other Lanceros in my humidor that I could have reviewed and about ten more I wanted to get to. Sure, some of them are single store exclusives, some are discontinued, LEs — but, the point remains there are a lot of Lanceros.
  3. Not Everything Needs to be a Lancero — I mentioned it in the Primer on Lanceros, but it needs to be repeated. Some blends just don’t work. But, the single most important factor for a Lancero (or any cigar) is effort. If a manufacturer is not willing to put skilled enough, oftentimes their best, rollers and high enough quality tobaccos, don’t attempt it. Most Lanceros are of the higher-end blends (the second lowest-priced Lancero reviewed was the Oliva Serie V) creating a pretty lofty field. Then there’s the format, the smaller ring gauge means mistakes (whether wrapper issues or construction) get magnified. There’s a reason there aren’t $4 Lanceros, and we don’t need to change that.
  4. Cellophane — This is more of an observation. I’m a big believer in the use of cellophane. However, it seems that in the case of Lanceros in particular, cellophane just doesn’t allow for any room and actually ends up pressing the cigar in a slightly box-press nature. For whatever reason, this seems uniquely problematic with the Lancero. Over half of all the cellophaned Lanceros reviewed displayed a box-pressed foot, only two (of fifty) were supposed to be box-pressed.
  5. Don’t Rush — Don’t “try” to smoke a Lancero in any time period. Go as slow as you can, learn how to nurse a cigar. If you smoke a Lancero in an hour, forget it. Flavors develop when you lengthen the experience out. So… slow down.

The Winners?
Oliva had two cigars. They were one of nine companies to average 90+ (and one of three, where more than one cigar was reviewed.) But, it’s when you consider that Oliva had the second lowest average MSRP, a single penny higher than Oliveros/SWAG.

Paul Garmirian. The best kept secret and the biggest surprise.

Pepín/Jaime García/El Rey/Tabacalera Cubanas/My Father Cigars S.A. and La Aurora both solidified that their effort to make Lanceros in large quantity have paid off.

The Losers?
General & Altadis. The big boys proved they’ve got a lot to make up in regards to quality. They finished at the bottom and Altadis had a particularly atrocious showing, finishing in last place in terms of score by a fairly wide margin, but also managed to rank in the top third in average price.

Oh, yeah, you probably want this… — el niño diablo.

NameSizeFactoryPriceScore
Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Phantom7 1/2 x 41Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.$18.0088
Cain F Lancero7 x 38Tabolisa$6.5093
CAO Lx2 Lancero7 1/2 x 38STG Estelí$7.7581
Casa Fernandez Lancero7 1/2 x 40Raíces Cubanas$7.9090
Casa Fuente Phantom7 1/2 x 41Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.$22.0096
Coronado Lancero (Serious Cigars Exclusive)7 1/2 x 39Tabacalera La Flor S.A.$9.8092
Cusano 15th Anniversary Lancero7 x 40TABADOM$8.9986
Davidoff Classic Series No. 17 1/2 x 38TABADOM$17.8088
Davidoff Millennium Blend Series Lancero7 1/4 x 40TABADOM$19.1085
Don Pepin Garcia (Blue Label) Lancero6 7/8 x 42Tabacalera Cubanas S.A.$11.0086
Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic Lancero6 7/8 x 42Tabacalera Cubanas S.A.$11.0093
Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Lancero6 7/8 x 42Tabacalera Cubanas S.A.$11.0094
Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Maduro Lancero6 7/8 x 42Tabacalera Cubanas S.A.$11.0091
El Centurion Lancero6 7/8 x 42Tabacalera Cubanas S.A.$11.0097
El Triunfador No. 67 1/2 x 38My Father Cigars S.A.$8.5089
Fuente Fuente Opus X Phantom7 1/2 x 41Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.$29.9985
Graycliff Double Espresso Elegante7 1/4 x 38Graycliff Cigar Factory$19.9990
Guillermo León Lancero8 1/4 x 40E. León Jimenes Tabacaleran/a88
Illusione ~hl~ (Candela)7 1/2 x 40Raíces Cubanas$9.3583
Illusione ~hl~ (Maduro)7 1/2 x 40Raíces Cubanas$9.3587
Illusione ~hl~ (Natural)7 1/2 x 40Raíces Cubanas$9.3593
J. Fuego Origen Lancero7 1/2 x 38Tabacos de Oriente$7.0089
Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie No. 137 1/2 x 38Fabrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A.$7.5091
La Aroma de Cuba Edición Especial Lancero7 1/2 x 38My Father Cigars S.A.$11.0080
La Aurora 107 Lancero6 7/8 x 40E. León Jimenes Tabacalera$7.0594
La Aurora Cien Años Lancero6 7/8 x 40E. León Jimenes Tabacalera$11.0083
La Aurora Preferidos Cameroon Lancero6 7/8 x 40E. León Jimenes Tabacalera$9.8095
La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Villano7 1/2 x 38Tabacalera La Flor S.A.$10.0483
La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Lancero (Oscuro)7 1/2 x 39Tabacalera La Flor S.A.$10.0488
Liga Privada EV-107 x 38La Gran Fabrica Drew Estaten/a83
Liga Privada Ünico Serie L407 x 40La Gran Fabrica Drew Estaten/a90
Litto Gomez Diez Lancero7 1/2 x 39Tabacalera La Flor S.A.$10.5086
Los Blancos NINE Lancero7 x 38Segovia Cigars$7.4387
Macanudo Café Portofino7 x 34General Cigar Dominicana$6.5049
Montecristo 75th Aniversario Lancero7 1/2 x 40Tabacalera de Garcia$15.0054
My Father No. 47 1/2 x 38My Father Cigars S.A.$10.4394
Oliva Serie V Lancero7 x 38Tabolisa$5.9185
Padilla Miami Lancero7 1/2 x 42 Raíces Cubanas$10.5071
Paul Garmirian Reserva Exclusiva Gran Panatela7 1/2 x 40Ocidental Cigar Factory (TABADOM)$11.0595
Pinar Del Río 1878 Cubano Especial Capa Madura Lancero7 1/4 x 38Tabacalera Don Leoncio$5.5571
Pinar Del Río Habano Sun Grown Lancero7 1/4 x 38Tabacalera Don Leoncio$7.0070
Review: Cubao No. 37 1/2 x 38My Father Cigars S.A.$8.1286
Rocky Patel Decade Lancero7 x 38El Paraiso$9.6072
Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Porto Real7 x 34Tabacalera de Garcia$6.0057
San Cristobal Lancero7 1/2 x 38My Father Cigars S.A.$11.0081
SWAG Elite7 x 38Tabacalera Palma$6.2082
Tatuaje El Triunfador Lancero Limited7 1/2 x 38My Father Cigars S.A.$10.5092
Tatuaje Brown Label Especiales7 1/2 x 38El Rey de los Habanos, Inc. Cigar Factory$10.0090
Tatuaje Tattoo7 1/2 x 38My Father Cigars S.A.$10.0078
Viaje Platino Lancero7 1/2 x 38Raíces Cubanas$8.6792

Avatar photo

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.