Rare Leaf Reserve Lonsdale

When talking about blends, it seems that there are any number of cigars that use some variation of leaves that are in limited supply or rare, as one might say. For AGANORSA Leaf, the company decided to release an entire line dedicated to such tobacco, aptly calling it the Rare Leaf Reserve.

The Rare Leaf Reserve was announced at the end of 2020, just a few weeks ahead of its debut at select stores. The blend is a Nicaraguan puro, with a café-colored corojo wrapper from Jalapa, a double binder of criollo 98 grown on two different farms, while the filler is predominantly criollo 98 but has some corojo 99 as well.

“A constant challenge is utilizing tobaccos to create blends which are outstanding expressions of our signature flavor and aroma while still producing them in quantities viable to sustain production consistently rather than just as one time limited editions or available only sporadically throughout the year,” said Terence Reilly, AGANORSA Leaf’s vp of sales and marketing, when Rare Leaf was announced in December 2020. “Rare Leaf will be the first project using selections of our Leaf in short supply that will be maintained in regular production.”

After about two-and-a-half years on the market with the three sizes in which it debuted, AGANORSA Leaf decided it was time to give the line not only an updated look but also a new vitola, a 6 x 44 lonsdale that is presented in 15-count boxes and comes with a suggested retail price of $10.99 per cigar and $164.85.

As for the packaging update, the company updated the graphics and fonts for both the boxes and bands, making them similar to the ones the company uses for the Rare Leaf Reserve Maduro that the company introduced earlier this year, a change that added the word corojo to the front of the boxes to differentiate the original blend from the maduro.

• Cigar Reviewed: Rare Leaf Reserve Lonsdale
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Aganorsa
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Jalapa Corojo)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Criollo 98)
• Filler: Nicaragua (Criollo 98 & Corojo 99)
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 44
• Vitola: Lonsdale
• MSRP: $10.99 (Box of 15, $164.85)
• Release Date: August 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Rare Leaf Reserve Lonsdale sports a slightly lighter-than-medium-colored wrapper that is nutty and shows its vein structure and mottling quite clearly. It’s also a color that pairs well with the gold and what I’m inclined to call maroon of the bands. The cigar isn’t particularly oily, but it has a slightly waxy feel on my fingers. Each of the three smoked for this review is rolled firmly, with flat seams and well-constructed heads. The aroma from the foot is dense though my nose is reluctant to register specific scents. There is something that reminds me of those little orange-and-vanilla ice cream cups with the wooden spoon, with each of those three smells present. There’s a touch of pepper present, though it seems like it fades with each subsequent sniff of the foot. The cold draw from a tick or two firm to being quite firm, while the flavor is light and slightly creamy, complemented by fall leaves and twigs, with just a little bit of black pepper.

The Rare Leaf Reserve Lonsdale starts on a bright note with white pepper that lights up my nostrils even without taking a retrohale, almost as if the smoke was given an explicit directive to head straight to my nose once the cigar is lit. The profile immediately and fully commands my attention, and I wonder if this is simply starting with a bang before mellowing or a sign that I’m in for a rather intense flavor experience. It’s a crisp, slightly dry start that gets counterbalanced by a bit of creaminess, but the profile is operating in a pretty narrow band of flavor at the onset. The intensity begins a step-down transition in the first inch, with each retrohale taken slowing that process. When the first clump of ash drops, a crisp black pepper comes into the profile, as does a very dry graham cracker flavor. The profile stays dry and even gets a few ticks drier with certain puffs, reminding me of a thick-cut, ridged and unseasoned potato chip. The section closes with a bit of nuttiness and a further toned-down profile that is notably more complex and balanced than the opening puffs. After starting fairly full, the flavor has settled in at medium-plus, body has filled out to medium and strength is mild. Thus far, construction is very good with no issues in smoke production or combustion, while the burn line is even and ash is rather sturdy.

The second third starts with even a bit less of the bright pepper that dominated the first third, with the sensation taming down more on the palate than through the nose as retrohales still pack a lot of nostril-tingling sensation. As I smoke through this section, it seems like the cigar is operating at two ends of the spectrum; the bright, white pepper drives one part of the experience, while the base note leads with mixed nuts, creaminess, touches of lumber and oily potato chips, and then the occasional suggestion of dry earth. Between the two, the pepper has control of the experience, probably a 2:1 ratio of what is driving my notes. The finish can pick up a bit of funkiness on its tail, not quite sour or chalky, but words I could imply to the sensation. The second half of the cigar continues the shift to a heavier expression of pepper, a change that hits my nose and taste buds with more force and reminds me of ligero tobaccos. It also delivers the first hit of what I would consider nicotine strength. There are some touches of orange appearing amidst the now-heavier profile, not quite a smoked orange sensation, but one I would equate to getting a quick torching similar to what is found on a number of cocktails. Flavor is a tick heartier but is still in that medium-plus territory, body is medium-plus and strength feels closer to medium. Construction is generally very good, though one cigar needs some relights as it needs more frequent puffs than the others.

At the start of the final third, I definitely can feel some nicotine strength kicking in, and I’m already thinking about needing some white sugar to neutralize the effects; in fact, some may be necessary even before the cigar is done. While they may be a tick or two more intense than I would prefer, the retrohales continue to be where the Rare Leaf Reserve Lonsdale shines brightest. I don’t want to say that the flavor has been tight or tame, but it simply doesn’t have the vibrance of the retrohales. There’s still a nutty creaminess at play in the flavor, with a fairly strong black pepper emerging on the back end of each puff. In terms of flavor, the final third sees the most expressive flavor yet, and now it feels on a more even footing with the retrohales, though the black pepper through the nose keeps the advantage with the retrohales. Flavor finishes medium-full in two cigars and full in the third, body is medium-full, and strength is medium-plus on average but can tread into full territory. Construction remains very good as long as the cigar is given regular puffs, and while the smoke doesn’t feel as plentiful as earlier, its fuller body makes up for it.

Final Notes

• At some point, I’m going to have to figure out how to best describe and/or measure the density of a cigar. I know that density is mass divided by volume, but that feels to come up a bit short when it comes to cigars, though I may start with that.
• It’s a point I bring up because as part of the weighing and measuring process, Charlie Minato mentioned that these felt quite dense, and having seen and smoked them, I agree with that assessment.
• The first puff of each cigar immediately commands my full attention in a way that most cigars do not. On each cigar, that first puff was the most intense single puff of the cigar.
• I’ve occasionally thought about how I would blend a cigar from a progression of flavor perspective, as well as what I find myself liking more than others, and I keep coming back to a medium-plus start that is approachable and leaves plenty of space for the profile to evolve both up and down the intensity scale.
• As Charlie noted in the story about the Rare Leaf Reserve Lonsdale, few companies, if any, have been as aggressive as AGANORSA Leaf when it comes to updating packaging over the last four years, including instances like this when it has redone packaging for a relatively new line.
• One cigar really hit me hard with nicotine; it was also the one I smoked in the morning as opposed to the afternoon or evening for the other two. I would highly recommend saving this one for the PM hours and having something in the system, as this is not kind on an empty stomach.
• AGANORSA Leaf advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours on average, with each of the three cigars coming within just minutes of that number.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop carry the Rare Leaf Reserve Lonsdale.