Espinosa Backroom Series Alibi Cigar Review

Those that are familiar with Erik Espinosa and Espinosa Cigars know about his lounge exclusive cigars known as the Backroom Series. The first of this series was the Alibi cigar released back in late 2014 and were made available to 3 lucky lounges that carry Espinosa cigars. Now according to the company, only 200 ten-count boxes were originally made of this cigar but it was big seller for the selected lounges so Erik made more and that is why they are still available today. I was lucky enough to get one of these at this years Espinosa La Zona Palooza event in November of 2017.

The Espinosa Backroom Series Alibi blend is described as:

• Wrapper – Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro
• Filler – Undisclosed
• Binder – Undisclosed

The cigar itself comes in a single 6 x 48 “Small Churchill“ vitola and retails for $9.00 USD.

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Pre-Light Examination

The Espinosa Backroom Series Alibi is a spectacular looking cigar with its medium brown waxy wrapper that has a nice sheen to it and minimal veins. The cigar is a small ring gauge but has a decent weight to it when held in the hand and seems to be well packed. It is finished with a well applied triple cap.

There are two bands that adorn the Alibi – the primary one uses a yellow cream,  black and white motif.The black word “Alibi” is centered on the cream background. The side of the band notes that it is a Backroom Series cigar. There is also a black footer band to finish the presentation.

Running the Alibi along the nose I picked up a sweet curing barn aroma along the barrel and a natural tobacco sweetness off the foot.

I used my punch to open up the cap and gave it some cold puffs that were decently restricted with a growing pepper on the lips and wet hay note on the palate.

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Cigar Review Notes

• Initial light offers spicy pepper and sweetness through a rich creamy smoke
• Pepper lays back as the natural sweetness and cocoa grows a bit balancing well with the faded pepper
• Solid white ash develops on a medium char line
• The smoke continues to be full and creamy in texture
• Ash fell after an inch and half and reveals a flat and fairly centered burn cone
• Dry leather and spice enter near the start of the second third
• There is significant oiling on the wrapper at this point
• Spice grows a bit at the end of second third with sweetness and cocoa laying in the back
• Spice turns more to a cayenne pepper moving through the final third
• Medium to Full in strength especially in the final
• Total Smoking Time was just over one hour

Overall, Espinosa Backroom Series Alibi was pleasant cigar that offered a fine balance of sweetness and pepper through the burn. I would not describe this as overly complex but a cigar does not need to be complex to  be enjoyable. The burn was fine from foot to nub with no issues. I could see myself enjoying a fine sweet bourbon while smoking this.

If you are looking to get the Alibi,  you can find the Espinosa Lounges here.