Sancho Panza Non Plus - ATE MAY 18 (SSSTRW)

[Maskas]

Only had this box for a week but smoked one right off the truck and it was pretty darn good so here goes another!  

Clipped the cap and wow, plug city.  Perfec draw here we come.  I’m writing this as I smoke so follow along with me let’s enjoy this non plus.  

 

Cigar starts with a nice woody flavor, toasted tobacco and already a bit of salt and spice on the tongue.  There’s some sweetness to it but I can’t make it out.  Draw is still tight but I’ll deal with it...didn’t want to keep reaming it out for fear of damaging it.  

Pairing this with a dark beer, a coffee and vanilla stout made by a local brewery.  Great beer but too heavy for the cigar?  We will see.  
 

 

Nice toasted tobacco notes, hint of chocolate, spice and salt.  Beer is strong but doesn’t seem to wash out the cigar.  Actually works well together since the beer has a bit of bitter coffee aftertaste the salt and toasted notes work, for me at least.  Good burn and smoke production despite the tight draw.  

My wife comes down and tries it, she gets a honey sweetness that I don’t.  Maybe the dark beer is washing that out for me.  She says it’s almost like a caramel, salted caramel, and says she really likes it.   Also, she commented on how good the smoke smells in the room!  

Cigar largely stays the same flavor wise but the spice picks up a bit in the second.  It’s toasty woody tobacco with a bit of sweetness, a chocolate flavor that comes and goes, and a salty spice note.  Very enjoyable.  Wonderful on the retrohale as well, I can almost agree with my wife on the honey or caramel sweetness through the retro now that she put that flavor suggestion in my head.

Did I mention the beer is good?  Time for another...

So far the cigar is a treat!  Burn is slowing a bit but it’s 95% humidity out and was raining earlier so that probably doesn’t help things since I’m in my shop/garage.  Keep puffing away?  Don’t mind if I do.

Noticeable transition, the smoke off the foot now has dropped the sweetness and is definitely very woody.  Spice picks up another notch.  Looks like she is going to finish with a bang!  Warning shots fired...

Maybe I’m a slow smoker, the burn is behaving better now that I’m tending to it and puffing more often.  I was finishing up some machining for the knife builds I am working on while starting this review so I probably left it sitting for too long between puffs.

Transition time - last third kicks in and it’s instantly like a whole new cigar.  The woody flavor turns to what I think is cedar and the spice kicks up big time.  Bring it on!  Big contrast to my dark beer and it’s definitely holding its own now.  

The cigar finishes out bold and strong with pretty much straight spicy cedar wood through to the nub.  Nice exciting end to a great cigar.   Love these and this was a good example.  Happy to have a box in the humidor but definitely bummed they axed the non plus.  I’m going to have to stock up.  I could honestly smoke these everyday even with how “different” they are.  Humidor full of these, RASCC, shorts, Por Larrañaga and QD50’s with my coffee and I would be a happy man with those for daily smokes.  

9/10 for me, loved it.