Late in 2020, El Artista Cigars announced a line extension to the acclaimed Buffalo TEN line of cigars. The short history of the El Artista Buffalo TEN has been nothing short of spectacular for the company and as a result of the wide acceptance, the company has made the choice to add an additional Habano blend to the line.
The new Buffalo TEN Natural features El Artista’s own Ecuadorian-grown Habano wrapper. The full blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian-grown Habano
- Binder – Indonesian Sumatra binder
- Filler – Nicaraguan, Dominican, and USA
The Buffalo TEN Natural is expressed in a single (6 x 50) Soft-Box-Pressed Toro. They are packaged in 5-Packs with an MSRP of $22.50/Pack. The company started to ship the new Buffalo TEN Natural to North American, European, and South American retailers in September, 2020.
I received a few samples of the Buffalo TEN Natural from the company and today I present my review after smoking 3 samples of this cigar.
Pre-Light Examination
The El Artista Buffalo Ten Natural is medium tan cigar that has a soft press and minimal veins running though the barrel. It is silky smooth to the touch and has a decent weight in the hand. A gentle squeeze here and there along the barrel demonstrated no discernable soft spots or underfill. A simple cap complete the presentation.
A single blue and white band adorns the cigar that seems to pop on the background of the cigar wrapper. Albeit a simple design, the message is bold an clear that this is the “BUFFALO TEN NATURAL” embossed on the band.
As I ran the cigar along the nose I picked up a mildly pungent note off the barrel while the foot exudes notes of vanilla and pear. A unique introduction for sure!
I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder with my double blade cutter and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that had a decent restriction and offered a fine peppery note that grew into cayenne especially on the lips and cheeks.
Using the soft flame of a lit cedar spill (you don’t want to use any torch on this due to the fragility of the thin wrapper), I warmed the foot and drew in the first puffs of peppery and sweet smoke to start the journey. Follow along as I burn this El Artista craft to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- First light offers pepper and light sweetness
- Smoke output is full, thick, and creamy
- Cedar notes round out the early profile
- Light grey ash forms on top of a medium thick and just slightly jagged char line
- Fruit and Butter Cracker notes join the smooth profile
- Ash fell after an inch plus of burn revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Sweet cocoa flavor and aroma evolve, moving into the second third
- Mild aniseed nuance appeared midway
- Sweetness morphs into a toasted caramel deep in the second third
- Mild bitterness enters start of final third
- Cinnamon spice notes finish the journey
- Mild to medium in strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 30 Minutes
Final Analysis
Overall, the El Artista Buffalo Ten Natural was an excellent addition to this young line from El Artista. The multi-country blend in this cigar certainly shines in the flavor profile that is filled with flavors that transitioned and morphed throughout the journey including some special nuances like aniseed and butter cracker. When you factor in the price point of less than $5.00/cigar (that’s not a typo) you wonder how they produced such a fine cigar for the price. The burn was quite fine down to the nub. I rate this a 93.
Point Deductions: (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-1) Mild Bitterness Deep in second Third; (-1) Mild Jag in burn;
Bonus Points: (+1) Buy Multiple 5-packs; (+1) Consistent and Pleasurable across Multiple Samples
