This cigar was enjoyed with Sparkling water
Pre-Light: 18 Points of 10 Possible
I love the look of this cigar: the wrapper leaf is a mottled colorado maduro, thick, leathery beauty. Some veins are visible -- no surprise, seeing as it's a sungrown Habano 2000 -- but the seams are perfect and all but invisible. It just feels good, with its nice heft and firmness, with just the right bit of satisfying give on the squeeze. It's bunched well, with not much ligero visible from the foot. My nose detected some earth and leather, maybe a hint of some kind of sweet spice.
The cap is well-applied and it took a slice beautifully. The cold draw showed some resistance, just as it should, and delivered spicy earth notes like those I found in the aroma from the foot.
Lighting and Burn: 13 Points of 15 Possible
I tend to light cigars by toasting and blowing on the foot until I get a nice cherry, not taking a draw until it's lit. This robusto lit easily, even though it was well-humidified. The burn was nice and slow. Perfectly straight at first, it developed a slight run and got a little wobbly a couple of inches in, but I touched it up and it stayed just right down to the last inch. The medium gray ash was firm and compact, dropping only when I tapped it, without any flaking. On the first ashing, I noticed that the ligero cone was just slightly off-center, which may have accounted for the slightly uneven burn. But I'm being a hard grader here: on the whole, the burn was very good, and it delivered a decent volume of smoke.
Construction: 28 Points of 30 Possible
Apart from my hypercritical quibble about the ligero cone being slightly off-center, the construction of this cigar was excellent. The wrapper was perfectly supple, the fill was dense but the draw had just a bit of tug, and the head stayed firm throughout. I noticed that the draw did tighten up a bit in the last third or so, but I suspect that it might have been because the cigar was just a bit moister than I would have preferred. I'd suggest keeping these in the low- to mid-60s RH rather than near 70.
Flavor and Aroma: 32 Points of 45 Possible
Alacranes packs this robusto full of delicious flavors. From the very start, I tasted semi-sweet cedar, smooth, with no pepper or harshness. The smoke was spicy-sweet, with a medium body and moderately long, slightly sweet finish.
Once underway, the earthy cedar flavors continued, but I found some really interesting dark sweet flavors, like raisin/prune/fig - very yummy. As I progressed through the first third, the flavor profile became a bit less sweet and more dry, with healthy notes of cedar and leather, still with a moderately long finish and a medium body.
There was a bit of a transition about halfway through the smoke. The drier cedar and leather notes receded and let some sweet cinnamony spice take the stage. I liked that a lot. The flavors became richer and rounder as I started into the home stretch.
The warm cinnamony spice built up in the last third, but it was never overpowering or unpleasant. That spice was balanced with notes of creamy coffee, french toast, almond/amaretto. A delicious combination that compelled me to keep smoking until my lips and tongue started to burn.
Summary
Alacranes has a winner here, in a delectable, beautifully made robusto. Medium in body but full of interesting flavors, with just enough spice to keep your attention. This cigar will be a staple in my humidor.
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(11 Review(s))