Welcome to another Member sponsored Geek Critique generously sponsored by our member Beegerply (Byron). The cigar provided for this round is the Black Label Trading Company Bishops Blend Lancero.
First unveiled in 2016, the limited edition Bishops Blend is an annual release known for its robust flavor profile, which James Brown believes showcases his growth as a blender. Never a shortage of skulls in the Black Label Trading Company's branding, the band showcases a red skull adorning a ceremonial bishop's headdress (or miter for all the Catholic school survivors out there). This band is rock and roll through and through, but even more impressive is the somewhat pointed cap mirroring the miter shape. At the heart of the Black Label Trading Company Bishop's Blend are Pennsylvanian, Nicaraguan, and Connecticut broadleaf filler tobaccos. This blend moves the broadleaf to the forefront without overwhelming the Nicaraguan portion. The binder is Ecuadorian Habano, and the wrapper is an Ecuadorian Maduro. Production is usually limited to around 400-600 boxes of Bishops Blend in each size in the United States. The Lancero size was released in 2020 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of this blend.
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This cigar was enjoyed with Water
Pre-Light: 9 Points of 10 Possible
Nice dark chocolate wrapper, smooth, no prominent veins. Cap was applied nicely. It was a great looking Lancero, nicely rolled, firm but a little bit of squeeze. Cap cut clean with an XO straight cut.
Lighting and Burn: 10 Points of 15 Possible
Stick started out smoking great. Plenty of volume, no issues there. Had a small shaggy foot so it also lit up with no issues. Ash was a light grey & white, mine was a bit flaky, but held on in inches. Burn got a bit wavy about 1/2 down the stick, then it started to tunnel a bit. I was OK, with the touch up, but the tunneling is more unforgivable. Especially on a Lancero.
Construction: 20 Points of 30 Possible
The stick looked great, and performed well for about 1/2, then it started having issues. I'm a fan of Lanceros, but know that they can be picky sometimes, this one definitely was. I'm typically a faster smoker so keeping them lit isn't an issue, after it started tunneling it started going out, the wrapper couldn't keep up. A re-light and it didn't help much, the 2nd half of the stick, the issues persisted, the wrapper split about an inch down from my cut and it was getting hot. Stick was double banded, nice design on the label, but nothing super fancy.
Flavor and Aroma: 35 Points of 45 Possible
Prelight gave off a whiff of sweet cedar and rich tobacco. Was a nice dark wrapper, typically right up my alley. Was looking forward to smoking this, and it was a really good stick for about 30 minutes, then a little over halfway ran into burn and lighting issues that detracted from the smoking experience and I couldn't even really gauge a final 3rd. The stick started out great, it had a nice earthy, hay taste, that was smooth. For the first 3rd, I thought the stick was going to be stronger, but it mellowed out after about an inch, it had a bit of a lingering pepper bite but it wasn't overpowering, again it looked like it was to be in the full range but fell in line with a medium for me. It transitioned nicely into the 2nd 3rd, where it was more of the same rich earthy taste, smooth and plenty of smoke volume. I enjoyed what it was giving off for the most part, it had a little bit of kick, but not too much, and it was smooth, once the burn and smoking issues kicked it, the stick unfortunately never really got back on track.
Summary
Thanks again to Byron and geeks for giving me the opportunity to review this stick. This was the tale of 2 halves for me. The stick looked great, started out great, then really started falling apart, literally. The draw was good for a Lancero, gave off plenty of smoke with pretty minimal effort. The flavor profile was in my wheel-house, and it was smooth. My only real complaint is I didn't get to finish it. Byron hooked me up with a 2nd stick, I'm interested to see if this one smokes all the way through, it would score much higher. I enjoyed the 2/3rd"s I was able to smoke and it was lining up to be a really good cigar. I'm not very familiar with the Black Label brand, but this was a nice looking stick, the wrapper looked great, I'd be interested in smoking more from this company, I'm guessing this isn't typical. Thanks again!
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