size: 7×38 Lancero
THE GET: My good friend Josh (follow him on twitter @lonewolfe97) won a box of these from Tobacco Grove and invited myself and Erin (@reverin) for a Cain F Lancero night. I’m not positive, but I am pretty sure that we also watched the Trail Blazers get crushed while we did this. That’s my assumption only because they seem to get crushed every night lately. Anyway, a big thank you to Josh for making this happen since these are very hard to get and I would not have had one otherwise.
THE PACKAGING: These come in a nice, one layered box of 10 with a plexiglass display window. The very slim cigars are packaged in a cedar lined tubo with a bright yellow twist cap and make a good presentation. The cigar has a double band at the foot, not my favorite since you have to take it off to smoke, but it seems to fit the Cain line. The first is the usual, Cain in cursive and the series name, this time being an ‘F’ in a box; it also has the Cain calling card, Straight Ligero, in all caps. The second band says Studio Tobac, the division of Oliva that creates Cain.
THE CIGAR: From the Studio Tobac Dec, 17, 2010 press release,
“Studio Tobac’s Executive Board voted unanimously to begin production of a new cigar: The Cain F Lancero. This Nicaraguan puro is a classic lancero size (7×38) with a finished three-seam cap instead of the traditional pig-tail cap. The blend is based on the the popular Cain F line of cigars, but adapted to fit the lancero format. As with all Cain F cigars, the lancero will be extremely full-bodied but smooth. Cain F achieves this delicate balance in two ways: First, the cigars are composed almost entirely of 3 types of ligero leaf from the three major growing regions in Nicaragua: Jalapa, Condega, and Esteli. These ligeros give the cigar incredible strength. Second, the tobaccos in Cain F are all triple fermented. Triple fermentation tempers the harshness and bite of the ligero leaves; leaving nothing but rich flavor and spice.”
The Cain F Lancero was not for sale until recently; they were only available in samplers at select Studio Tobac events before this.
The wrapper on this looks great and the body has a perfect fill. It was a little light in the hand, but felt solid. Even for a lancero this seemed very thin, with a tiny Calista Flockhart-like waistline of 38. The cigar has a strong cedar aroma from the tubo liner, but you can smell the strong tobacco as well. If you like the look of a lancero, you would love the look of this particular lancero. The Cain line of cigars do not lack in beauty; they are some of the best looking cigars I have seen.
THE SMOKE: Cutting this was very easy as there was not much to it, a little soft but still cut clean, no tearing. The pre light draw was filled with the cedar I smelled and tobacco and a little pepper. I was very pleased with the easy draw, I have had some Cain’s that were too tightly packed and created a hard smoking experience; not the case with the lancero. This lit easy and I was surprised that it had no problems staying lit during the entire smoke. The first few puffs were strong but not as strong as I was expecting. Lots of tobacco, some cedar, some earth notes and a little sweet spice taste were blending together as this was slowly burning. The initial ash fell at about 1/2 inch and was not solid at all, very flakey and airy; the picture to the left was the largest I was able to keep on it, maybe at an inch. About 30 minutes into the very smooth smoke, the strength hit me. I prefer cigars that are ultra smooth and strong and seem to sneak up on me more than powerful cigars that punch me in the throat with a burst of 1000 degree smoke. Shocker! Halfway hit at the 60 minute mark and the still smooth cigar remained strong with the same flavors blending together perfectly. This produced an absolute ton of smoke and a great aroma, As I was hitting the 90 minute mark, the power kicked up another notch again and the ancillary flavors could no longer be tasted; this was a powerhouse and was throwing punches in the 10th round like not many cigars can; I was able to withstand and get a draw just shy of 2 hours.
THE SKINNY: This. Is. A. Great. Cigar. I don’t need to say much more than that for this; I will though. This is also not for nancy-boys. You have to be able to handle a strong cigar to enjoy the size and shape of this. Some cigars are strong just to be strong; great strong cigars are smooth and flavorful just to be strong and smooth and flavorful. The Cain F Lancero is of the latter’s cloth. If you can find a box of these, get it. At $65 a box, you will not find a better lancero on the market.
