Back in January of this year, Southern Draw Cigars rolled out their latest extension to their famed CEDRUS bland at the TPE 2020 Trade Show in Las Vegas, NV. The latest in this line is a box pressed vitola.
The CEDRUS Lancero is expressed in a 7.5 x 40 box pressed vitola and comes packaged in 20-count boxes with an MSRP set $10.20/cigar. Production is limited to just 50,000 cigars for 2020.
The Southern Draw CEDRUS Lancero is hand crafted by AJ Fernandez Cigar Co., Estelí, Nicaragua and has blend described as:
- Wrapper – Besuki, Indonesia
- Binder – Habano 2000- Estelí, Nicaragua
- Filler –
- Viso: Piloto Cubano – Dominican Republic, Criollo 98 – Estelí, Nicaragua
- Seco: Habana 92 – Quilali, Nicaragua
- Ligero: Corojo 99 – Jalapa, Nicaragua
That is a bold blend, eh?
Pre-Light Examination
The Southern Draw Cedrus Lancero is a smooth box pressed vitola with a beautiful dark brown wrapper that has some mild marbling through it. The foot is closed and it is finished with a well applied cap. As I gently pinched the barrel I did notice it had some “give” in various spots along the barrel.
Just like the original CEDRUS, there are two bands that adorn the cigar on right above the other. They use a green, cream, and gold motif. The primary band is the standard Southern Draw Cigars logo used on all its cigars and the secondary band just below presents the word “CEDRUS” bold and proper.
Running the CEDRUS lancero along the nose I picked up a pungent fermented leaf aroma note along barrel.
I snipped the cap with a double blade cutter and gave it some cold draw puffs that offered a delicate natural tobacco sweetness and nut with just a sprinkle of pepper that begins to grow more as you puff on it. The draw was nicely restricted.
I used a double flame torch to get the party started. The foot took right to the flame and warmed up to an even orange glow as I drew in the first puffs of, well a pepper shot to the nose. Follow along as I take this one down to the nub and burn it to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- First light hits the nose with a deep pepper shot
- Dark chocolate and nut notes settle in as the pepper pulls back
- Medium grey ash fell quickly revealing a thick char line
- Decent burn cone
- Sweetness enters and adds to the early chocolate note
- Burn goes out and needs to the re-lit
- Gentle spice adds to the mix with an nuance of nut
- Ash falls often
- Woody notes enter
- Barrel gets squishy
- Goes out often and needed relights
- Woody notes become more of a cedar note deep in the final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 30 minutes
Overall, the Southern Draw Cedrus Lancero was a lancero that delivered on flavor and was a bit more forward on the chocolate notes than the original CEDRUS. I enjoyed the nut and spice that developed along with the natural sweetness. From a construction viewpoint, it performed much like a typical lancero, holding a short ash, needing to be re-lit often. It also got squishy deep in the burn. This is one I would still pick up a five pack of and I rate it an 89.
Point Deductions: (-1) Medium Grey Ash; (-1) Ash Falls Often; (-1) Requires Re-Lights; (-1) Barrel gets Squishy; (-1) Barrel has some soft spots Pre-light
