La Escepcion Selectos Finos [unknown box code]

[bogglor]

My pictures are on my iPad at home; I'll be adding those later.

This cigar was received in a trade with alawadi9, who many of you probably know from his reviews in this very forum.

This expensive and elusive Italian regional has the elegant look of a classic long and skinny, with a wafer thin and veiny wrapper that recalls a young grape leaf. It's got a few soft spots and there isn't much oil visually evident on the wrapper, but this stick is more of a feast for the nose than the eyes. It has a deliciously sweet, berry-like aroma at cold. I carefully clip the cap with a guillotine and am immediately hit with a rush of creamy raspberry on a perfectly resistant cold draw. The nose always knows!

The first puffs are light, creamy, and fruity as per the cold draw. There is a complexity here that I can't quite place, but it is still very early into the smoke. The highly delicate retrohale has notes of flaked sweet pastry -- baklava or filo dough based. I'm drawn to the creamy vanilla flavors of Juan Lopez as a point of comparison, but I can already tell that this smoke is going to be something more. The burn is rapid as is custom for a thin ring, and the ash is a dirty mottled black and grey. Nicotine is light to medium.

1/3 - The La Escepcion Selectos Finos is alllll chocolate milk in the first third, exceptionally sweet with a lingering full-mouth finish that leaves you yearning for the next draw. I'm still thinking in terms of JL2 as a close cousin, but this stick trades the cinnamon and nutmeg notes of a Juan Lopez for a bit of leathery earthiness. There is a hint of spice when double puffed quickly. This is not a flavor combination that I have ever come across in a Cuban marca, It also has the best after-ash puff I've ever tasted in a cigar.

2/3 - There is noticeably more of the original raspberry fruit note from the cold draw here, and it swirls in and out of the smoke, enhancing the puff-to-puff complexity. The burn has been extremely wavy but never worrisome. The sweetness is actually increasing and is now probably more on the level of chocolate pudding than chocolate milk. As the second third rounds the corner, some nutmeg finally enters the profile - a note I commonly find in many Cuban marcas.

3/3 - As good as this cigar has been up until now, the final third is the absolute pinnacle and purest concentration of every flavor it has to offer. The retrohale, previously light and airy, is now pungent and spicy. Everything has been enhanced to its fullest representation: chocolate, baking spices, leather, earth, raspberry (albeit less creamy than prior). Without any shred of hesitancy, this is the best full-palate finish of any cigar I've had. Even the telltale anise of tar creeping in to the finale seems an accent rather than a deterrent.

After careful consideration, I found the overall flavor "bones" to be more that of a Vegas Robiana Classico more than a JL2. Final smoking time was around 65 minutes and even the last inch was fantastic.

Now, the question of value is a thorny one. This is a very pricey cigar and extremely difficult to source. I will say this: a few months ago, I purchased two boxes of Cohiba 1966 to smoke as my "special occasion" cigar a couple of times a year. I now wish that I had purchased 1 box of these and 1 box of the 1966. The La Escepcion Selectos Finos are simply amazing smokes and probably at their peak right now. I can't imagine them getting much better than this.

96 points

[Puros Y Vino]

Great review of a classic. My recently smoked La Escepcion matches many of your observations. These are not cheap and difficult to secure, but IMO, they're worth it.

[Blakes]

Great review for a great cigar.

I got a couple in a box split a few months ago.. wish I had the money at the time to of got more.

To me they reminded me of a cigar from the Le Hoyo range but stronger and more intense.

It would be great to see Habanos make them reg. production or something similar (with regular-ish pricing!! lol )

[CUBANO]

Thanks for the great review. I can only dream of finding some one day.

[alawadi9]

Beautiful review! Make me wanna go a light one up.

These La Escepcion are truly unique in the flavor profile it offers. They smoked absolutely wonderful the day they came out and now after a couple of resting years they are subliminal! Sadly only 2000 boxes were put out of these cigars (excluding the special jar releases) and their priced roared last year as the supply went down. One sealed box isn;t enough

BTW box code is - ELM NOV11

[jvel79]

bogglor your review is very good, almost like I was smoking it. Makes me want to save my coins and pick and pick a box up or sell my first born!!

[bogglor]

Man, I had another one of these yesterday - it was every bit as good as the one I had last year.