Just prior to the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show, Duran Cigars announced a new extension to its Neya brand known as the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero. The Texas Tactical Lancero would introduce the third blend into the Neya brand and the Neya brand’s first maduro offering. The Texas Tactical Lancero was a project born out of feedback from consumers and retailers in former Duran representative Carolee Martin’s territory in Texas. The feedback was to create a lancero size with the company’s Neya F8 blend. A decision was made to place a maduro wrapper around the lancero format and the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero was born. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero. Overall I found this to be an enjoyable and interesting smoke.

The Neya line was introduced at the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show by Duran Cigars. There are two blends, the Neya Classic and the Neya F8. The F8 was blended to be a stronger, bolder version of the Neya Classic. As mentioned, the Texas Tactical Lancero is based off the Neya F8 blend.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The Maduro wrapper is a Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper. This wrapper is grown at the company’s Fincas Azan plantation in Ecuador. One strategic advantage for Duran Cigars is that it grows its own wrapper for its cigars – while most companies typically have to source their wrappers.

The remainder of the blend consists of Nicaraguan tobacco. The cigar is produced at the company’s Nicatabaco SA facility in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Wrapper: Maduro Corojo Ecuador
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Nicatabaco SA)

Vitolas Available

As mentioned the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero is available in one size – a 7 x 40 Lancero. The Texas Tactical Lancero is packaged in 15 count slide top boxes. This is meant to be analogous to a 15 round magazine.

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Corojo Maduro wrapper of the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero has a deep chocolate brown color with a strong colorado red hue to it. Upon closer examination, some marbling can be seen on the surface. There wasn’t much in the way of oil on this maduro. Any visible veins or visible wrapper seams were on the thin side. The cap of the cigar has a short, thick pig-tail.

There are two bands on the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero. The primary band has a small antique-style portrait at the center. The portrait is surrounded by a frame of gold and white adornments. Below the portrait is the text “NEYA” in black font. The sides of the band are black with gold vertical pinstripes. Each side of the band has the text “NEYA BY DURAN CIGARS” in gold font (with the NEYA in larger font). The band is also surrounded with gold trim.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As opposed to pulling off the pig-tail cap of the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero, I opted to place a straight cut and remove the entire cap and pig-tail together. I then proceeded to the pre-light draw phase. The dry draw delivered notes of cedar and leather with a slight amount of chocolate and floral notes also mixed in. Overall I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up the Texas Tactical Lancero and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero started out with some prominent cedar notes. There were also some coffee, earth, chocolate, and a slight black pepper note. The black pepper was also prominent on the retro-hale. The chocolate notes also floated closer to the forefront from time to time. .

By the second third some natural tobacco and citrus entered the forefront and the cedar notes started a process of morphing into a “twang note” (which I consider a result of crossing of the cedar, natural tobacco and citrus). The chocolate notes still were made their way into the forefront from time to time. The earth remained in the background while the black pepper was quite distant. As the Texas Tactical Lancero crossed the midway point, the twang was in full control as the primary flavor. It was also at this time, I noticed an increase in black pepper on the tongue.

The later part of the second third saw the twang break apart and return to the classic cedar note I smoked earlier on was now present. At this point, I saw more of the earth notes pop into the forefront. There was still some citrus, natural tobacco, black pepper, and now a slight nut flavor in the background. This flavor profile continued throughout the last third. The Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero finished up with a slight soft nub that remained on the cool side.

Burn and Draw

The burn to the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero performed quite well. The cigar maintained a straight burn path from start to finish. The burn line itself had a slight curvature from time to time, but this is a cigar that never was in danger of canoeing nor tunneling. The resulting ash was quite firm with a silver-gray color to it. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

The draw to the Texas Tactical Lancero also performed quite well. This was cigar that had the right amount of resistance to it that made this an enjoyable cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

While this cigar carried the “F8” designation, I didn’t find the Texas Tactical Lancero to be an overpowering smoke. This was pretty much a medium strength, medium-bodied smoke. At the same time, I do think the Texas Tactical Lancero had more in the way of strength and body than the Neya Classic.

I found both the strength and body of the Texas Tactical Lancero to balance each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

One thing that is noticeable with the Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero is the strong cedar component that is present for most of the cigar experience. This is going to be one of those cigars that you are going to have to smoke undistracted to pick up a lot of the other nuances I mentioned.  Many maduros that are present in the market tend to smoke very similar, but with the Texas Tactical Lancero it is one that is going to smoke very different. I am also curious to see how this blend would smoke in a larger size.

This is a cigar that I could recommend to either a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. It’s certainly a cigar worthy of picking up a five pack of and enjoying,

Summary

Key Flavors: Cedar, Chocolate, Earth, Black Pepper, Natural Tobacco, Citrus
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium to Full
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Assessment: 3.0-The Fiver
Score: 90

References

News: Duran Cigars to Unveil Neya F8 Texas Tactical Lancero
Price: $8.00
Source: Duran Cigars
Brand Reference: Duran Cigars

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop