Quite Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what shape category this cigar belongs in.
As you can see in the photo, it tapers narrower towards the foot, has a slight box-press, a tapered foot like a perfecto, but is about BLANK SIZE!
It appears to be closest to the size ‘F’, but I think that this size has gone out of production for two reasons: I found it in the “Last Year’s Model” humidor of my local cigar shop, Telford’s, and I have found no reference to either this size or the Cabinet Series Sun Grown Lancero that I bought on Perdomo’s website – or any other retailers’, for that matter.
I kept eyeing this thing across the room, and it continued to call to me. Given the strange size, I had to get one. I ended up getting two for $10, since Telford’s was trying to get rid of them so quickly they put them on buy one/get one free.
I have to say, this is one ugly cigar. The wrapper is dark and veiny, mottled in some areas, and both of my samples had sun spots on them. One of my cigars had an ever-so-slightly lifted seam near the head, and both of the caps look strange. Although there is no way I could roll this shape of cigar, I don’t really think these should fetch $10 each. As a plus, though, both cigars were pretty much stuffed with tobacco, with nary a soft spot or a plug to be had, and the wrappers were almost dripping oil. These Perdomos were definitely well rolled, but not with aesthetics in mind.
First off, let me just say that this shape is a bit tricky to light. Well, it is easy to light. There is such a small area of exposed tobacco you can just point your torch at it and you’re set. Getting the burn to stay even, though, is the real challenge. After the foot tapers out, the burn fluctuated wildly, and I did have to resort to the torch to get it back on track. However, after that little battle was won, the sun-grown performed admirably, displaying a nice, thin, consistent burn line.
I was quite satisfied with the flavor of this cigar. It fits nicely in the middle of the medium-bodied category, starting off with a slightly winey flavor with notes of mahogany or cedar notes. Around halfway through, the cigar developed a beautiful sweetness that intensified throughout the rest of the cigar.
Overall, this Perdomo is a solid choice. I’d call it a somewhat “basic” cigar, as there was not a whole lot of flavor maturation or complexity, but there were very few cons and the shape is very good at letting you smoke as much as you want – the lower it goes, the sweeter it gets. A very good choice for any smoker, if you can still find them. My local cigar shop has actually dropped price on them, and they are still buy one get one free. Such a low price is a pretty big steal for a big name like Perdomo, so keep an eye out. I definitely recommend picking one up.
