This year at the IPCPR, Juan Cancel and Bill Ives doubled down in Vegas with their acclaimed Protocol Themis blend by extended the line with a Lancero vitola. Although lanceros are one of those sizes that can be hit or miss with consumers, the Protocol Themis lancero is the company’s third lancero offering. It follows the success of their prior lanceros which both took #1 Cigar of the year for 2016 on Cigar Federation and 2017 on Tiny Tim’s Cigar World. Juan and Bill say they will continue with more lancero releases over time.
The Themis Lancero is a 7.5 x 38 format and comes packaged in 10-count boxes. MSRP is set at $10.50 per cigar & $105.00 / box of 10
Produced in Erik Espinosa’s, LaZona Factory, in Estelí, Nicaragua the Protocol Themis lancero blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Connecticut
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
For this review I sampled two of these cigars which I received from the Cubariqueño Cigar Company at this years IPCPR.
Preliminary Discovery
This triple capped, golden tan beauty of a cigar, is silky to the touch with some bumps throughout the barrel. It is a tad rugged to the eyes but seems well constructed with a solid feel from head to foot. There are minimal veins in the wrapper and there is a light sheen to it.
Like its older siblings in the line, it is finished with 3 bands. The primary is a gold and blue band that uses the company’s standard protocol logo while the secondary band, placed right below, uses the same motif but declares this as the “THEMIS”. The final band is a golden satin ribbon footer.
The Themis Lancero pleads its case early, in this trial of cigar justice, by offering delectable pre-light aromas of spice and fermented leaf along the barrel joined with notes of nut and cocoa off the foot.
Slicing the cap with my double blade cutter to give it an even straight cut, I proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs. The case for cigar justice got stronger as the Protocol Themis lancero had an excellent cold draw and presented notes of light pepper on the lips and a nutmeg spice to the palate.
With the preliminary discovery out of the way and looking good for this lancero, it was time to apply some heat and see how the case proceeds. I removed the footer band, which easily slid off and then used a single flame torch lighter to warm the foot to get this beauty pleading her case.
Cigar Review Notes (Pleading the Case)
- Solid pepper burn on the nose off the first few puffs
- Medium grey ash develops on top of a wavy char line
- Thick smoke pours out and fills the palate with notes of spice and a hint of licorice
- Ash fell after an inch plus with a bit of a pointed and centered burn cone
- The retro-hale is smooth at this point as the pepper has receded into the background
- Touch of nut enters to complete the first third
- Strength ratchets up to solid medium after the first third
- Second third brings a strong defense with notes of cream along with a pleasant fruity aroma
- And now the mint enters that I recall from my review of its robusto toro sibling back in June of 2017 – I love this tasty note in a cigar
- This is a mouth watering cigar at this stage
- Sweetness and spice begin to develop deep into the second third
- The early nut component becomes more pronounced as it moves into the final third
- The final bring an increased spice blending well with the nut component in the profile
- Medium Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 20 minutes
Overall, the jury finds the medium strength Protocol Themis Lancero to be a fine lancero specimen and rates it a 93. The flavors were closely aligned with its larger siblings in the line and it even delivered the tasty mint note I love in a cigar. It produced a full volume of mouth watering smoke all the way to the nub. These are definitely worth picking up a fiver to add to your rotation.
Point Deductions: (-1) Medium Grey Ash; (-1) Sharp Pointed Burn Cone); (-1) Wavy Burn
