It’s in the genes. It was fifty years ago when Lou Rodriguez father came to the United States. Lou learned the qualities of making cigars from his father and the latest creation, the Lou Rod, introduced at this year’s IPCPR in Las Vegas is a testament to this.
The Lou rod a 6×60 beast constructed with a unique blend of Nicaraguan tobacco wrapped in a pristine a Sun-Grown wrapper. All the Nicaraguan tobacco used in the construction comes from Lou’s own farm and the cigars themselves are rolled in their own factory, thus being able to keep the blend secret. After sampling it I can understand why he would not want his secret out.
Now I will say, there are two sizes of cigars that are difficult to roll. The Lancero and the large 60 + ring gauges. There is two major issues with these vitolas.
First is the blending. Large and small ring gauge cigars present challenges to the blender, it is hard to get the flavor profile similar to other vitolas in the blend line. Lou decided to make the Lou Rod in a 60 ring gauge only, thereby assuring a consistent flavor profile.
Second is the burn. Many times, large ring gauge cigars can have burn issues do to the quantity of tobacco used. I have had my share of large ring gauge cigars and I tend to shy away due to the burn issues. As you will see, the Lou Rod did not fall in that category.
The Lou Rod is a shift from other Lou Rodriguez products. Besides being the first 6×60 cigar for the company, the most pronounced change is the band. It is a simple red band with the words Lou Rod printed on it; nothing fancy, no foil, no embossing.
Examining the Lou Rod, the sun grown wrapper is a milk chocolate brown with virtually no veins and a satin feel. The barrel and foot presented a sweet hay scent. I was debating whether to use a punch or a clip for this and chose to clip it well above the cap line. The dry draw had notes of sweet tobacco and the draw itself was open and free.
I used my 4 flame torch to heat the foot and light it up. Now that I got this engine cranking, the smoke was full but mellow in flavor. There were notes of cream and fruit from the very start. The flavor was quite enjoyable. As it burned I would describe it like eating whipped cream covered citrus fruit. The ash was flaky and developed a small wave early in the burn. The wave eventually corrected itself about an inch or so in.
As it approached the second third, the cream flavor continued to develop as was lip smacking tasty. The flavor did not change dramatically through the burn, but there are hints of cinnamon around the middle of the second third that lasted for a few puffs and there was a taste of a creamy latte now and then. These flavors were not pronounced but came and went like a little tease on my palate. Although the ash was flaky throughout the burn it held on strong though the second third and and into the final stretch.
There was an addition of white pepper as it got into the final 3rd. The pepper was a bit of a surprise and it ratcheted up towards the finish with a gentle sweet back note.
I would say the Lou Rod is a medium body smoke that would go quite well with a morning coffee. It is welcome addition to the Lou Rodriguez line of premium cigars and I know I can pick these up at Tranquilo Cigars here in Melbourne, FL.
