I can hear you saying it right now; “Jimmie, who is Tres Leones Cigars?“
I am glad you asked, as I never heard of this small boutique cigar brand until a couple of months ago when the owners reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in reviewing their craft. Well, the cigars arrived and have been resting comfortably in my controlled humidor and today was the day I would introduce you to Tres Leones Cigars.
Before I get into the review, allow me a moment to talk about the company behind the cigar. Tres Leones Cigars was founded by two friends, Henry Coker and Jacob Mumm. They had simple passion for premium cigars and decided to dip their feet into the industry.
Of course they needed a name of their company, so after a little thought, they came up with the name “Tres Leones” which translates to “Three Lions“. Why Three Lions? Because they each have two sons and therefore each family is three lions and they wanted to build a company they could leave to their sons.
Next they needed to develop inaugural blends and work with a cigar manufacturer to help their dream come to fruition. Being from the central Florida area, the two friends were quite familiar with Cordoba y Morales Cigars, a small family owned operation with deep roots in the cigar industry. Henry and Jacob respected the quality and integrity of the company, so they aligned themselves with Cordoba y Morales and set out on the journey to blend two inaugural releases:
- “The Panthera” – a nod to the genus within the family Felidaeto
- “The Barbary” – a nod to the Barbary lion which were once native to North Africa, including the Atlas Mountains but are now extinct in the wild
For this review I will focus on The Barbary blend from Tres Leones Cigars.
The company describes The Barbary blend as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Connecticut
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
The Barbary is expressed in a single (6 x 52) toro vitola and come packaged in 20-count boxes. MSRP is set at $10.00/cigar.
Pre-Light Examination
The Barbary from Tres Leones Cigars is a well constructed cigar which is something I have come to expect from Cordoba y Morales. It has a beautiful golden tan Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper that has a just a few veins running through it. The cigar is solid to the touch with no noticeable soft spots. Heavy in the hand, it is certainly well packed. A well applied triple cap finishes the construction.
A single band adorns The Barbary, using a white and gold motif. The company’s logo (two lions guarding a shield with another lion in it) is printed in gold and centered on the white background. Below the logo, the company name “TRES LEONES CIGARS’ and “HANDMADE” are displayed.
I ran the cigar across the nose and did not pick up much aroma along the barrel but did note a light baking spice note off the foot.
Once I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder of the cigar, I proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that were spot on with restriction and offered notes of creamy butter and pepper.
With the pre-light examination looking good, I moved to warming the foot with my double flame torch lighter and brought it to an even orange glow as I drew in the first puffs of sweet grassy notes. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- First light offers a sweet grassy note to get the journey started
- Light grey ash forms on a medium-thick char line
- Dry fruit notes join the profile after an inch of burn
- Sweet cinnamon nuance appears near the end of the first third
- There is a slight jag in the burn
- Ash fell in a decent chunk and revealed a well formed and centered burn cone
- A mildly astringent note finds its way in followed by citrus peel
- By the midway point, an enticing caramel note joins the profile
- Slight off burn but did not require a touchup
- Spice notes enter moving through second third
- Aroma shifts to a hint of nut
- Natural sweetness joins the spice in the final
- Medium to full in strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 30 Minutes
Overall, The Barbary from Tres Leones Cigars was decent inaugural cigar from this new company. Though it had a touch of Connecticut bitterness, it developed quite nicely starting with sweet grassy notes and ending with spice and sweetness in the final. Surprisingly the strength slowly moved up to medium-full at the final, so this cigar has a bit of a punch to it at the end. I would say this is worth grabbing a five pack of, which you can find at retailers listed in their site, or if you are not near these retailers, you buy them direct from the company through their website. I rate this a 90.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild Jag in Burn; Small Off Burn; (-1) Touch of Bitterness; (-1) Slightly Astringent in second third
