Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are rescoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the 1502 Blue Sapphire Lancero by Global Premium Cigars. We have assessed the 1502 Blue Sapphire before – most recently in the Toro Gordo size back in May 2018.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Plasencia S.A.
Lancero: 7 x 40

Earlier this year, Global Premium Cigars announced its first line extension to its 1502 Blue Sapphire line – coming in the form of a 7 x 40 Lancero. The 1502 Blue Sapphire made its debut in 2016, becoming the sixth line under the 1502 brand. At the time, the cigar was only released in one size – a 6 x 52 Toro Gordo. The Blue Sapphire was positioned as the boldest cigar under the 1502 line. What makes the Blue Sapphire line different than the other 1502 offerings is that it is the only all parejo (rounded) cigar line under the 1502 brand. The new lancero addition becomes the second vitola in the line and it’s described by Global Premium Cigars as limited production.

The 1502 Blue Sapphire consists of 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos. Recently, Global Premium Cigars did some minor restructuring of the portfolio and has put its blends into three collections. The 1502 Blue Sapphire is part of the Nicaraguan Selection, a collection of the 1502 Nicaraguan puros (which also includes the 1502 Nicaragua line). There is also the Blended Selection, a collection of multi-national blends (consisting of the the 1502 Emerald, 1502 Ruby, and 1502 Black Gold). Finally, there is the Masterpiece Selection, which currently consists of the limited 1502 XO Toro line.

As mentioned above, the lancero size is a 7 x 40 format in a rounded format. The cigars are presented in 25-count boxes. The 1502 Blue Sapphire Lancero features the 1502 “cigar lock” which has some of the wrapper leaf covering part of the footer.

The 1502 Blue Sapphire Lancero started out with notes of sweet natural tobacco and wood. The natural tobacco had a fruit-like sweetness to it. It didn’t take long for some black pepper to enter the equation. There also was an additional layer of black pepper and cedar on the retro-hale. The sweet natural tobacco notes took control early on. Later in the first third some bread and earth notes surfaced and eventually displaced the natural tobacco flavors. The bread and earth notes maintained their position in the forefront for the remainder of the smoking experience. The notes of sweet natural tobacco, wood, black pepper, and cedar were secondary flavors. The black pepper notes did increase in intensity throughout the smoking experience, but didn’t quite reach the forefront.

Strength and body-wise, the 1502 Blue Sapphire Lancero started out medium to full before progressing to full strength and full-bodied by the second third. I also found the Lancero had a much superior burn when compared to its Toro Gordo counterpart.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Final Thoughts

Lancero cigar enthusiasts are very passionate when it comes to the long, thin ring gauge vitola. I don’t happen to be one of them. However when it came to the 1502 Blue Sapphire Lancero, this was a real surprise. I found the smaller ring gauge format worked much better with this blend – delivering an overall better smoking experience in construction, complexity, and most importantly, flavor. This is a bold cigar and as a result, it’s one that I would recommend to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Earth, Bread, Wood, Cedar, Black Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium to Full (1st Third), Full (Remainder)
Body: Medium to Full (1st Third), Full (Remainder)
Finish: Very Good