Plasencia Year of the Rabbit

Given how many times I’ve written about a Year of the Rabbit-themed cigar, I’m out of creative intros.

Plasencia Cigars is one of roughly half a dozen companies—Davidoff, Drew Estate, Habanos S.A., Maya Selva, Scandinavian Tobacco Group and Tabacalera S.L.U.—that released cigars commemorating the Chinese Lunar New Year and the associated symbol on the Chinese Zodiac calendar.

The Plasencia Year of the Rabbit is a 6 1/2 x 54 toro extra that is made entirely of Nicaraguan tobacco with a focus on tobaccos from Jalapa. It is the third year that Plasencia has made a cigar for the Chinese New Year.

“The Rabbit represents the perfect animal for these changing times for its ability to adjust during various times with grace and elegance,” said Nestor Andrés Plasencia, ceo of Plasencia 1865, in a press release when the cigar was announced. “I would also like to emphasize that since the rabbit is a symbol of longevity, our tobacco also improves over time to achieve those incredible flavors. We strongly feel that ‘The Year of the Rabbit’ cigar brand will accurately represent the Chinese New Year.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Plasenica Year of the Rabbit
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $52 (Box of 10, $520)
• Release Date: January 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 6,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (60,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Each of the seven cigars we purchased for this review had a foot that was much more like an oval than a circle. Adding to the uniqueness is that the caps of the cigars were like a circle, meaning the oval shape was only on the bottom of the cigar. Each oval was more or less the same in terms of its shape, to the point that I figured the cigar was supposed to have an oval-shaped foot. However, after purchasing cigars from a different retailer and seeing a circular foot, I contacted Plasencia and was told that the cigars were supposed to have a regular, circle-shaped foot, something that will be addressed much more below. As for the color, the wrapper is a pretty light brown color that can turn more orange with enough sunlight hitting it. There’s an above average number of veins, though I’m more concerned about the various cracks I find on the cigars, something I’ll expand on below. I struggle to pick up any discernible aroma from the wrapper; it smells like something, but I’m not sure what it would be other than the mildest soap or hand lotion. The foot is mild, but I can identify things that remind me of french fries and floral flavors. Cold draws are medium-plus or medium-full with oatmeal and peanuts leading oak and sweet fruitiness. Because of how long the cigar is, proportionally, it does look all that thick, but I’m surprised to find that it’s definitely not a 50 ring gauge cigar once in the mouth. One cigar cracks in multiple places upon cutting, more on that in the Final Notes.

Two cigars don’t provide much smoke during the first puff, making it tough to taste much, but on the third cigar, I find nuttiness and lots of butterscotch flavors over some mild earthiness. That sweeter profile lasts through the first inch or so of the cigar before burnt meatiness and burnt straw take over as the main flavors. It’s a rich and concentrated flavor with espresso and some roasted nuts joining as well. The finish has meatiness over some fruit-forward coffee flavors, isolated creaminess and a generic sharpness. Retrohales have lots of mustard over leather, earthiness and some soy sauce flavors. While it too is concentrated, the retrohale’s flavor is crisper and saltier than the main flavor. Retrohales finish with a similar flavor, though berries and creaminess are present. After the first inch, I find the flavor to be concentrated, making it more challenging to identify the individual flavors. Intensity-wise, flavor is medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is medium. Outside of the lack of smoke production during the first few puffs of two cigars, construction is excellent through the first third.

While there are substantial changes in what flavors I taste during the second third, I think the most impactful changes for the Plasencia Year of the Rabbit are more thematic. The profile is not as concentrated as it was during the first third and it’s also noticeably drier. Nuttiness, creaminess and herbal flavors are the strongest flavors, followed by mineral flavors, meatiness, popcorn and white pepper. The dryness seems to come in stages, as there’s another uptick in how dry the cigar gets after the halfway mark. The finish has lots of peanut flavors over some spicy and bright wood flavors; after 10 or so seconds, it’s mostly about the vibrant pepper flavors over some woodiness. Retrohales have nuttiness and popcorn flavors over leather, butterscotch sweetness and herbal flavors. The finish tastes like burnt Ritz crackers and popcorn over white pepper and some meatiness, the latter of which doesn’t emerge until after five seconds. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. While two cigars continue to have excellent construction, one cigar needs multiple touch-ups, each time to address both uneven burns and combustion.

If the second third of the Year of the Rabbit was about the profile getting drier, the final third is about it getting crisper. It’s neither as dry nor as flavorful as before. In many ways, the cigar reminds me more of Connecticut shade cigars than it does of the first two thirds. A creamy, nutty profile sits over earthiness, leather and white pepper. It’s usually very crisp and clean, though I can taste some spiciness on my lips. The finish is sharper with the creaminess and nuttiness usually leading the dance, though some puffs are led by earthiness before a sharp white pepper overwhelms everything. What’s even more peculiar is the retrohale, which packs an intense amount of white pepper that bullies every other flavor that might be present. I can detect secondary notes of woodiness, meatiness and herbal flavors, though none put up much of a fight compared to the white pepper. Outside of the retrohale, which is full, flavor is medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-full. Construction is similar to the second third, as two cigars are excellent, while the third continues to have burn issues.

Final Notes

• After I finished smoking the cigars for this review, I realized we never photographed the oval foot, which seemed like something we should include for this review. Given the issues with cigars being damaged, we also no longer had any extra cigars lying around the office so I ordered more cigars. After those cigars arrived with circular-shaped feet, I contacted Plasencia to figure out what shape the cigars were supposed to be. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the oval feet.
• The top half of those oval-foot cigars seemed like any other cigar, the bottom third of the cigar showed off some of the transition between the oval and the circle, though it was not as noticeable of a transition as the Arturo Fuente’s Shark vitola.
• I didn’t think the oval-shaped foot affected the cigar in any noticeable way. We review cigars that are supposed to be round but end up looking box-pressed all the time, so I chalked up this as a similar issue and moved on with the review.
• The reason why I initially thought the oval-shaped foot was how the cigar was supposed to be is because Plasencia is no stranger to unique cigar shapes. In fact, if you told me that a company created a new cigar with a circular cap but an oval foot and asked me to name which company made it, I’d guess either Arturo Fuente or Plasencia. Yes, I’d guess those two companies before AJ Fernandez, which once made a cigar called Oval.
• In 2014, the family’s flagship factory in Nicaragua made the Domus Magnus II for Quesada, which included the Tiberius, a cigar with an oval press similar to that of a Bic lighter.
• I have no idea how all of the first seven cigars we purchased ended up with oval-shaped feet. They looked like they were supposed to be this way from the factory. My best guess is that the part of the box where the feet were might have been shorter than it was supposed to be so the cigars got a slight press on just that section. Even that doesn’t seem to explain it as that typically creates an appearance where the top and bottom sides of the cigar are flat, something that wasn’t the case here.
• Given that these cigars were sent to us in two different shipments, I don’t think it was an issue related to shipping from the retailer to halfwheel.
• Being a dedicated fan of Plasencia is likely an expensive activity. Few of the company’s eponymous cigars would qualify for the value-priced section. The MSRPs of the five most recent cigars we’ve reviewed from Plasencia at the time which the cigars were reviewed: $14.50, $40, $20.60, $65 and $54. That’s an average of $38.82 per cigar. I’ll concede that three of the five cigars are limited editions, but if you are a fan of the brand and want to try each new release from the company, it’s quite expensive compared to pretty much any company outside of Davidoff, Habanos S.A. or Selected Tobacco.
• Despite my thoughts that the cigar felt thicker than it looked, I measured the cigars at either 52.5 or 53 ring gauge as opposed to the listed 54 ring gauge.
• The flavor profile in the first third of the cigar is incredibly rich and concentrated. It’s not the strongest flavor profile, but the way the flavors interact with one another and the palate is quite unique.
• Whether due to the unique shape or the wrapper itself, there were substantial issues in regard to the fragility of the wrapper. We initially purchased five cigars, however, the retailer we purchased these cigars from ended up sending seven cigars. Amongst those:
  • One cigar arrived with multiple cracks on it that were visible through the individual cigar bag it was packed in as well as the larger bag itself.
  • One cigar had a large crack in the lower half of the cigar and a dent elsewhere.
  • One cigar had a very loose seam near the cap of the cigar that gave me concerns.
  • One cigar had a small crack near the bottom of the cigar.
  • One cigar cracked immediately upon cutting.
  • One cigar cracked upon removing the band. Given the fragility of the wrapper, I didn’t bother sliding the band off and so this cigar cracked as I undid the main band. One cigar managed to avoid any issues due to the bands being removed, the third cigar I smoked had a minor tear that I would classify as common.
• If Plasencia releases more of these cigars, I’d recommend packaging them in cellophane. While I understand it doesn’t look as pretty, I think companies should package every high-dollar cigar in cellophane just to make everyone’s life easier by reducing the risk of damage.

• As for the cigar that cracked upon cutting, here’s what it looked like. I’m willing to smoke through cigars with minor cracks, but this cigar didn’t seem appropriate for a review so I did not smoke it.

• While it’s not apparent if you look at the cigar straight on, the sides of the largest band have some added images that are different than the regular Plasencia band.
• Plasencia Cigars advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was an epically long three and a half hours on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct and Corona Cigar Co. carry the Plasencia Year of the Rabbit.