LH Aniversario Review — Cigar Review: LH Limited Aniversario

Today, we review the LH Limited Aniversario. This cigar comes from Nick Syris and LH Cigars to commemorate ten years of his brand being in the U.S. market. Syris founded Lavida Habana as a cigar brand offered to private clientele for Lavida Habana lounges. Eventually, this led to the cigars being distributed in the Middle East, and in 2014, Syris turned his sights to the American market. Today, the renamed LH Cigars has both the LH and Nick brands of cigars in its portfolio.

Since the early 1990s, Syris has been inspired by the artistry of Cuban cigars. He also admires the Cohiba Siglo VI, a 52-ring gauge x 150 mm vitola. This size has played a pivotal role in his approach to blending. For his ten-year anniversary, Syris decided to create the LH Limited Aniversario using this particular size.

LH is not known for releasing many limited editions. The only other LH-branded limited edition was the Lavida Habana LE, which was released in 2020 and landed LH its first top ten slot on the Cigar Coop Countdown.

Without further ado, let’s turn our attention back to the LH Limited Aniversario and see what this cigar brings to the table.

LH Limited Aniversario – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Most of the blend details are not disclosed, but the LH Aniversario features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. As with all LH Cigars, it is produced in Costa Rica at Tabacos de Costa Rica.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Not Disclosed
Filler: Not Disclosed
Country of Origin: Costa Rica
Factory: Tabacos de Costa Rica

Vitolas Offered

As mentioned, the LH Aniversario comes in one size – 52 x 150 mm (5.9″). The cigars come in ten-count boxes.

Appearance (*)

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper of the LH Aniversario is quite pristine. It is medium brown with a slight amount of oil on it. There were some visible veins, and any visible wrapper seams were minimal.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

A straight cut was used to commence the LH Aniversario’s cigar experience. Once the cap was cut off, it was time to proceed with the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw was quite flavorful, offering notes of natural tobacco, earth, and a slight amount of cocoa. Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of the LH Aniversario and move into the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The beginning of the LH Aniversario opened up with a floral blast. The floral notes quickly dissipated and gave way to notes of cocoa, natural tobacco, earth, fruit sweetness, coffee, and black pepper. The cocoa notes became primary early on. Meanwhile, the natural tobacco, earth, fruit sweetness, coffee, and black pepper settled in the background. The retro-hale delivered additional layers of pepper and cocoa. Toward the end of the first third, the natural tobacco notes joined the cocoa in the forefront.

The second third of the LH Aniversario saw the natural tobacco and cocoa notes remain grounded in the forefront. Notes of earth, coffee, and pepper remained in the background. The fruit notes diminished, and by the end of the second third, they were the most distant from the secondary notes.

When the cigar entered the final third, natural tobacco took control as the sole primary note. The cocoa notes joined the earth, coffee, and pepper. There were also still touches of fruit sweetness in the distant background. This is how the LH Aniversario came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

While the LH Aniversario’s burn maintained a straight burn path and relatively straight burn line, it did require several touch-ups. While the touch-ups did the trick, I found there to be more touch-ups than I prefer. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm, but it wasn’t loose nor flaky either. This was an ash that was mostly silver-gray in color with some darker spots. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.

Draw

The draw of the LH Aniversario was open but not loose. While I normally want a touch more resistance in my draw, this was still a very good draw. There were no problems deriving flavor from this cigar.

Strength and Body

The LH Aniversario was in the medium range when it came to strength and body. As the cigar experience progressed, there was a slight increase in the intensity level of the strength and body. While there was this increase, the strength and body never progressed out of the medium range.

In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely, with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

When LH Cigars came into the United States market in 2014, the cigars came with black and gold bands. A couple of years later, Nick Syris changed the LH bands to be more intricate. In the past few years, Syris has returned to the black and gold bands in some instances. He brought back the original blend of the LH Claro and used the black and gold bands. In the previous limited edition, Lavida Habana LE used black and gold bands, and now the LH Aniversario follows suit.

I’ve always liked the black and gold LH bands, and the LH Aniversario really pops against the wrapper. The addition of the black and gold secondary “ANIVERSARIO” band elevates things even more. Overall, great job with the banding of the LH Aniversario.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

The most important attribute when assessing any cigar is its flavor, and the LH Limited Aniversario certainly excels in that area. What elevates this cigar even further is its complexity and balance. The LH Limited Aniversario offers enough complexity to keep you engaged from start to finish. As for the balance, that may just be its secret sauce. This cigar maintained an excellent balance between the various notes from start to finish. In the end, the LH Limited Aniversario is a cigar I could recommend to any cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is not only a cigar I would smoke again, but it is one I would buy multiples for my humidor. I hope this isn’t a one-time release because it’s quite enjoyable.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cocoa, Natural Tobacco, Earth, Coffee, Pepper, Fruit, Floral
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good