Sancho Panza Belicoso - RAT NOV 20 (JBWP4RW)

[saltbox]

Haven't tried any Sancho Panza yet, but have been sitting on this box for almost 8 months now so figured it'd be a good time to try my first one, especially with the blind tasting sampler on its way.

 

First third opens with dark cocoa and cedar, coffee grounds and dark chocolate fudge. The wood has a light smokiness to it, and the chocolate is quite dark. Maybe there's a touch of salted caramel on the finish, but it's hard to tell if it's actually there or if it's the weird salted driftwood descriptor I see a lot with these.

Middle third is all coffee leather and dark chocolate. The coffee is a fresh dark roasted coffee grounds and is quite earthy. It's the closest I've had to a Mexican San Andres wrapper in a Cuban cigar, though lacking the earthiness they tend to have. It's better than a San Andres, but it definitely has some similarities there.

Last third picks up some more woodiness. It's not quite cedar, but there's definitely some drier notes there. Still not driftwood though. More nice dark coffee grounds and dark chocolate, with the dark chocolate occasionally taking on a liqueur like note.

Overall: Definitely a surprise and a departure from the rest of the Habanos lineup. I could be convinced that this was the smoothest San Andres wrapper cigar I'd ever had. 87/100