ADVentura Royal Return Chancellor Review — ADVentura The Royal Return Chancellor

Today, we review the ADVentura Royal Return Chancellor. This limited edition cigar is the third installment in ADVentura’s Royal Return Series. The early releases from ADVentura Cigars portfolio had a theme of the Age of Exploration. With ADVentura – The Royal Return, the theme centers around explorers bringing back gifts for the Queen and King from a sea voyage. The first two installments of the Royal Return honor the King and Queen with King’s Gold and Queen’s Pearls, respectively. Additionally, it pays tribute to the Chancellor, who served as the King’s right hand.

The Chancellor is the first installment of ADVentura’s Elite Broker Program. This program allows some of ADVentura’s top salespeople to create a cigar. In this case, the salesperson was Adrian Acosta, a well-known cigar broker and a cigar industry veteran. He worked alongside ADVentura Cigars company owners Henderson Ventura and Marcel Knobal, so it made sense to dub this cigar the Chancellor.

This was a very personal blend for Acosta. Acosta comes from a tobacco family; his father specializes in tobacco seed germination. ADVentura procured a limited amount of tobacco grown by Acosta’s father for this project. The Chancellor was planned to debut in 2022. Unfortunately, it was delayed due to a fire at Tabacalera William Ventura. Last year, the Chancellor became the first new project to be shipped from ADVentura’s new Tabacalera Mina Del Rey facility.

Let’s break down the ADVentura Royal Return Chancellor without further ado and see what this cigar brings to the table.

ADVentura The Royal Return Chancellor – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Chancellor’s blend features a Corojo wrapper and a Dominican binder and includes Sumatra tobacco in the filler. The specific tobaccos from Acosta’s father have not been clearly identified.

Wrapper: Corojo
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Sumatra and Undisclosed
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera Mina del Rey

Vitolas Offered

The Chancellor comes in one size – a classic 52 x 6 Toro. A total of 2,000 ten-count boxes were produced.

Appearance (*)

The Chancellor’s Corojo wrapper was medium brown and not very oily or toothy. The surface of the wrapper had some visible veins, but any visible seams were minimal. Meanwhile, the cigar itself had a classic Cuban-style flat cap.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

A straight cut was used to remove the cap from the Chancellor. Once the cap was removed, it was time to commence with the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered a mix of earth, wood, and a slight floral component. This pre-light draw didn’t have me doing handstands. Because the pre-light draw is not factored into the overall score or value rating, there was no loss of points here. From there, I moved on to toast up the footer of the Chancellor and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Chancellor opened up with earth, wood, cedar, and herbal notes. It didn’t take long for both natural tobacco and black pepper to enter the equation. There was no dominant note early on, but the earth and natural tobacco took the edge by the middle of the first third. The wood, cedar, pepper, and herbal notes settled in the background. While the herbal and pepper notes were in the background, they were much more prominent on the retro-hale.

During the second third of the Chancellor, earth and natural tobacco notes remained prominent. During this stage, the herb and pepper notes gradually increased. Meanwhile, wood and cedar notes remained present in the background.

The herbal notes joined the earth in the forefront by the final third. Meanwhile, the natural tobacco notes receded into the background, leaving touches of wood and cedar. This is how the Chancellor came to a close. The cigar finished with a nub that was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The Chancellor’s burn performed exceptionally well. This cigar required minimal touch-ups from start to finish to maintain a straight burn path and line. The resulting ash was light gray, not firm, loose, or flakey. Both the burn rate and temperature maintained ideal levels.

Draw

The Chancellor’s draw also performed quite well. This cigar has a touch of resistance, which I like. At the same time, it was a low-maintenance cigar from which to derive flavor.

Strength and Body

The Chancellor delivered a medium-strength, medium-bodied smoking experience from start to finish. Although the intensity of both attributes increased nominally, the Chancellor remained in the medium range for strength and body. In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other, with neither overpowering the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

The ADVentura Royal Return line incorporates metal bands for the Queen’s Pearls (white in color) and King’s Gold (gold in color) lines. The Chancellor also does this, but the band is silver. These bands are not completely solid through and through. As a result, they are soft and flexible. I like what ADVentura did with all of the bands on the Royal Return, but they are difficult to remove if you don’t want to damage the band.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Sometimes, you just have to be straightforward: the Chancellor was a disappointment. I had high expectations for this cigar, especially after enjoying the Queen’s Pearls and King’s Gold. While I know some people liked this cigar, for me, it fell short in the most important category—flavor. The flavor profile simply didn’t appeal to me. On the positive side, the construction was excellent, showing that Tabacalera Mina del Rey has great potential. However, you can’t recommend a cigar for construction alone. Ultimately, this is a cigar I don’t see myself returning to.

Summary

Key Flavors: Earth, Natural Tobacco, Herb, Wood, Cedar, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good