Sancho Panza Belicoso TBL NOV 05

[Ken Gargett]

if i recall, we tried a few in cuba a few trips back and they left me so unimpressed, i've never been back. shame they didn't dump these and keep the sanchos.

[anacostiakat]

Pic and review pretty much like my ABR04's. Very similar. Thanks!

[wp2]

When they're on they're one of my favorites.

Nice review Prez.

[stever]

Great review. Have only smoked one and was it was not very memorable. Sounds like I should revisit it, as I am partial to belicosos and torpedos.

[El Presidente]

Sancho Panza Belicoso TBL NOV 05

My last few attampts at the Sancho Panza Belicoso have not been memorable. Too many have been lacking in flavour complexity with some underfilling issues. To my mind Sancho Panza Belicoso has suffered attention deficit by HSA. Same can be said for some of the Rafael Gonzalez lines. While we have seen an increasing quality in construction in tobacco since 2001 across most of the marques, I would say that this has not been overly apparent in the SP and RG Marques. The comment is a generalisation. There have been some excellent cigars produced (Non Plus and Molinos and Sanchos stand out) but when you open hundreds and hundreds of boxes of various SP and RG vitolas you sense a disproportionate number with average wrappers and dodgy construction.

The cigar selected was an impressive looking Belicoso. Apologies for not the normal number of photo's but I fired these off in between discussing the worlds problems woth a few fellow members on the deck ;-)

Flawless construction. Muted aroma at cold. Slight Ocean/beach aroma. Good weight in the hand and unlikely to be underfilled.

Clipped the cap on an angle (not a big cut. I am prone to do a small cut first to tighten the draw). The draw was spot on requiring a very slight pull. Tobacco tingle and ocean spray on the lips.

Fired up the foot and let the impressive fella get into stride. The first draws through the nose and over the tongue revealed a much stronger cigar than I had anticipated. Medium - Full in body with upfront flavours of cream and salt. Enticing.

The aroma was as if you were opening up an old suitcase with your football memorabillia. Old boots (leather) musty socks and guernsey.

Throught the first inch and the cigar eased in its body to straight medium. Still a core of cream and salty edge on the tongue. Great level of white pepper through the nose.

Through the halfway point and we have perfect balance. A finely crafted cigar. The cream is ever so slowly disappearing replaced with a bread doe nuance and the everpresent but background note of sea salt. Any pretence of sweetness now gone. Some real toasted tobacco notes coming to the fore.

As we near the end it is all quality toasted tobacco, sea salt and a little white pepper. Still medium bodied and no harshness to speak of. Very well behaved cigar with great combustion. Cohiba (the dog) quite likes the aroma of this cigar as he ambles over and drops beside me.

This is the finest Sancho Panza Belicoso I have had in over a year. It brought its A game to the table with perfect balance, smoothness and a flavour complexity which should continue to develop. I have put a few aside from this box to try again at 6 monthly intervals.

89/100 4.5 / 6 smokerings

[packerjh]

I know this is an old thread but I'm smoking one now and it is fabulous...mine is only a year old (UME FEB 14) but it is delightful...some wood, sweetness, and a creamy finish...coupled with a spot-on burn...so glad that I have a few more buried!

[brownpeter335]

Nice review! Thanks for sharing. The oily wrapper has some sensible veining.