18. 601 La Bomba Warhead III
Espinosa Premium Cigars
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: La Zona Cigar Factory
- Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Size: 7 1/2 x 38
- MSRP: $10.95 (Box of 10, $109.50)
- Release Date: Nov. 18, 2016
- Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
- Original Score: 91
When Espinosa Premium Cigars released the 601 La Bomba Warhead blend for the first time in 2013, it incorporated a deceptively simple premise: take the same Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers that are used in the company’s La Bomba line, but make it a stronger cigar by replacing the Nicaraguan habano wrapper on the original La Bomba line with a Connecticut broadleaf maduro leaf.
For the third release in the La Bomba Warhead line—appropriately named the Warhead III—Espinosa chose to work in a much longer and thinner vitola than he had used before, a 7 1/2 x 38 lancero. Rolled at the La Zona Cigar Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, the Warhead III is full of nuts, mint, dark chocolate and an ever-changing sweetness that bumps up the complexity of the profile.
In the end, the 601 La Bomba Warhead III did anything but bomb as it landed the number 18 spot on our list this year. — Brooks Whittington.
