Sancho Panza Coronas Gigantes DTF JUN 03 (SSTWR)

Notsocleaver · May 6, 2019

Note, This Cigar comes from a sister box to the one @topdiesel reviewed here:

These boxes (3 in total) came to me from a fellow who was letting go of his churchills collection a while back. I got singles from several other marcas, but no one else was interested in the Sancho Panzas, so I got them all. Ended up being a heck of a deal.

The Cigar has a firm draw, but it doesn't take much effort and the construction is perfect. The light chocolate wrapper is smooth, without much oil.

I kinda wish I hadn't read @topdiesel's review before starting, but I'll try to not let his words influence my own. This is a 15 year old cigar with a pretty unique flavor profile. It has a fair bit of complexity to it, so between the age mellowing it and the aforementioned complexity, the SPCG demands some attention to really appreciate what it is.

The first thing I noticed smoking the cigar was how clean it tasted. nothing seemed rough or muddled. While rustic descriptors like 'driftwood' abound for Sancho Panza, there was nothing about this cigar that seemed dirty. It was crisp and dry, with very little sweetness to it at all.

The flavor profile on this cigar is very hard to describe. I took about twice as many notes as I normally do. The Driftwood people talk about was there, along with some floral and herbal notes. I'd call it 'drinking tea at a bonfire at the beach'.

As the cigar progresses the flavors 'char'. Driftwood becomes charred driftwood, herbal tea becomes Lapsang Souchong. Hints of other flavors appear fleetingly. I noted almond butter and bitter chocolate for a puff or two.

As this cigar finishes, I can find no true faults. It is mellow and complex, demanding more attention to appreciate than I sometimes want to give a cigar. It has an unusual flavor profile that I wouldn't want to smoke every day, or every week even, yet the profile is distinct and not at all unpleasant. If you smoked one and gave it a 98, I wouldn't fight you over it, but for me, I give it a 93 through no fault of its own. Great cigar, could be a back end of the top 10 for me, but just not quite the kind of cigar that would quite make it to 'best ever'.