CyB Lancero Fino (Pre-Release Sample)

The CyB Lancero Fino will be the sixth vitola released in Joya de Nicaragua’s CyB line.  It marks the first line extension for CyB since it was launched (as Cuenca y Blanco) at the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show.  CyB was a significant release to Joya de Nicaragua for two reasons:  1) It was the first blend by Joya de Nicaragua since Jose Blanco signed on to be the senior vice president of the company; 2) The blend itself marked a radical departure from anything Joya de Nicaragua has done in the past. The CyB was extremely well-received by many cigar enthusiasts as it finished as our #9 Cigar for 2012.  Recently I have had an opportunity to smoke some pre-release samples of the upcoming CyB Lancero Fino. Overall this is an excellent line extension to CyB and it brings its own character into the line.

A decision has been made to offer the CyB Lancero to Tobacconist Association of America (TAA) shops exclusively.  The TAA is a small group of retailers (the TAA web-site lists a total of 71).  As per their web-site, the TAA is defined as:

“The Tobacconists’ Association of America, Ltd. is a trade organization established in 1968 by visionary retail tobacconists. By providing education, communication, research, advocacy, and member discount programs, The TAA works with our members and the industry they support to offer the tools and relationship building opportunities needed to maximize professionalism and success.”

Lancero vitolas have a small, but passionate following.  The decision to limit the CyB Lancero Fino to the TAA makes a lot of sense considering this has a smaller group following.  Without further adieu, let’s take a closer look at this line extension and see what it brings to the table.  As with all pre-release cigars, we will defer to a pre-review to share our thoughts and perspectives. Once the cigar is available at  TAA retailers, we will revisit the cigar and provide an assessment rating and score.

Blend Profile

One reason why the CyB blend is a radical departure for Joya de Nicaragua is that it uses tobaccos from four countries.  The Lancero Fino shares this blend composition with the other frontmarks.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Piloto Cubanao (Dominican Republic – La Canela region)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Ometepe, Esteli); Peruvian

Vitolas Available

For completeness, we list the six frontmarks of the CyB line:

Lancero Fino 7 x 38
Lonsdale Club: 6 1/2 x 44
Corona Real: 5 1/2 x 46
Robusto Deluxe: 5 1/4 x 50
Torpedo Especial: 6 1/4 x 52
Toro Supremo: 6 x 54

Appearance

The Cuenca y Blanco Lancero Fino has a medium brown wrapper.  The wrapper color seems to have some variance from many of the core CyB line vitolas I’ve smoked, but I wouldn’t categorize this as a major difference.  Wrapper color variances are normal on cigar releases.  With the Lancero Fino, it seemed less milk chocolately and was more medium brown with a slight colorado tint.  The wrapper to the CyB Lancero Fino had an oily complexion.  It also has some veins seams that are visible.  The wrapper seams are well hidden.  This is a more “elegant” lancero in that it had a smoother surface than many other lanceros on the market.  The aroma from the foot yields a sweet tobacco smell.  There is a pig-tail on the cap.

The band has a sky blue, red, gold, and pale yellow color scheme.  The  “CyB” logo is prominently displayed on gold font on a red circular-like background.  The band seams to have a mix of classic and contemporary style – reflecting the profile of the Joya de Nicaragua company itself. 

While the samples smoked did not have a footer band, indications are this will also contain a footer band saying “TAA Exclusive”.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do with cigars with a pig-tail cap, I still went with a straight cut to remove the cap of the cigar.  Once the cap was clipped, I started the pre-light draw.  The dry draw notes definitely were similar to what I got out of the core line vitolas I was treated to notes of chocolate, pepper, and a little bit of sugar cane.  Overall, I considered this to be a positive pre-light draw.  At this point, it was time to light up the CyB Lancero Fino and see what the smoking experience would deliver.

Flavor Profile

The flavor profile to the CyB Lancero definitely has a lot of the flavors characteristics of the remainder of the line, yet the cigar also delivers its own story as it is smoked.

The start to the CyB Lancero Fino has a peppery start.  The pepper settles down quickly and is joined by notes of chocolate and natural tobacco.  There is no dominant flavor early one.  The natural tobacco flavors provide a nice touch of sweetness early on the tongue.  By the end of the first third, I detected some background floral notes.

In the second third, the chocolate notes became a primary flavor.  At times I could also detect a touch of sugar cane as well.  The natural tobacco, pepper, and floral notes were background flavors – and complemented the chocolate notes very nicely.

In the second half, the natural tobacco and floral notes pushed into the forefront while the chocolate notes joined the pepper in the background.  The sugar cane notes were subtle and more of an occasional note.

In the last third, the flavor profile became primarily a combination of nut and pepepr.  The natural tobacco notes were secondary.  By this point, the chocolate and floral notes pretty much dissipated.  Toward the end, the flavors gravitated toward the peppery side.  While there was spice at the end, there was no harshness.  The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The CyB Lancero Fino is a very well-constructed cigar – and this is reflected when examining the burn and draw of this cigar.  The burn line remained relatively straight from start to finish – requiring minimal touch-ups.  The resulting ash was firm with a salt and pepper color to it.  The ash itself had a couple of instances where it flaked, but it did not prove to be an adverse effect. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

The draw to the CyB Lancero Fino was excellent.  This was a low maintenance cigar (and especially a low maintenance lancero) to puff on.

Strength and Body

Like the other cigars in the CyB line, the CyB Lanero Fino is a cigar where the flavor has an edge over strength.  Overall, this is not going to be an overpowering cigar from a nicotine standpoint. Like the other vitolas, I assessed the CyB Lancero Fino to be a medium strength cigar.   As for the flavors, these start out medium to full-bodied and remain like that for the duration of the cigar experience.

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned at the start of this assessment, lanceros have a small, but passionate following. From my personal perspective, I have not totally embraced lancero-mania. However, this doesn’t mean that I don’t like a lancero as I’ve found when it comes to blends some work great with this style of vitola. With the case of the CyB Lancero Fino, I still think the Lonsdale and Corona Real are still better vitolas in this line.  However, this should not diminish the CyB Lancero Fino – as this is a very good line extension to the CyB line.  It provides another great option for this line – and the blend works well in the lancero format.  I’d definitely recommend this to both novice and experienced cigar enthusiasts.  Most of all, I’d recommend this to those who do embrace lancero-mania.  As for myself, this is definitely a cigar I will smoke again once its released.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good

Source: The cigars for this assessment were provided by Jose Blanco of Joya de Nicaragua.  he samples were initiated by Joya de Nicaragua in order to provide feedback.  Cigar Coop is appreciative for the samples, but in no way does this influence this review.