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Fonseca No 1
Size: 162 x 44 ? Cazadores
Smoke time: 1hour 10mins
Box date: 08 Source: LCdH The Hague
Appearance: Initial. Standard Fonseca format, attractive Japanese rice paper outer held by a Standard band ?A?. (The second band in the picture is Netherlands only). Out of the paper the cigar felt nicely rolled with a yielding pinch along the length. The wrapper was a light Claro, slightly bumpy but with a good tooth and light sheen. All in all I thought the appearance was very good, though some what strangely odd in that the colour almost matched my skin tone.
Construction: A nicely balanced, adequately packed stick with a well applied triple cap. The cold was slightly loose and so I thought was the smoking draw. The burn was perfect, starting straight and never wandering. The very dark ash was crisp and compact and needed very little attention. No relights, no corrections.
Flavour: The pre-draw aroma was very good, barnyard/floral with a hint of something lightly musky (kitten fir). The initial taste was weak and bland, light wood (almost saw-dust like) with the vaguest hint citrus sweetness. Into the third and the taste improved marginally as the lemon/fruit/floral sweetness gained a little more depth. Unfortunately the light but very dry MBF woodiness that was floating in and out of the smoke was to me somehow disharmonious to the pallet and left a not altogether agreeable taste in my mouth. The second third was simply more of the same with if anything slightly more of the uninteresting wood taste. The last third was no different, to be honest I didn?t finish the cigar, not because I couldn?t, but because I was bored with it. (See last picture).
Overall: Good enough looking cigar and well put together. Easy to smoke and very mild in flavour and not to my taste. The Fonseca No 1 is often recommended for newbees wanting to have a crack at the Lonsdales format because it?s unlikely to turn them green, but to my mind it might be better for them to suffer a little light-headedness and try something with a bit more flavour variation. The only plus I can give it flavourwise is that it isn't as awful as the H. Upmann Half Corona.
Marks. I used the RG Lonsdales as a benchmark and gave it a 7. This I can?t justify giving anything better than a 5.8. The LG still leads.
Next man up. Sancho Panza Molinos.
Size: 162 x 44 ? Cazadores
Smoke time: 1hour 10mins
Box date: 08 Source: LCdH The Hague
Appearance: Initial. Standard Fonseca format, attractive Japanese rice paper outer held by a Standard band ?A?. (The second band in the picture is Netherlands only). Out of the paper the cigar felt nicely rolled with a yielding pinch along the length. The wrapper was a light Claro, slightly bumpy but with a good tooth and light sheen. All in all I thought the appearance was very good, though some what strangely odd in that the colour almost matched my skin tone.
Construction: A nicely balanced, adequately packed stick with a well applied triple cap. The cold was slightly loose and so I thought was the smoking draw. The burn was perfect, starting straight and never wandering. The very dark ash was crisp and compact and needed very little attention. No relights, no corrections.
Flavour: The pre-draw aroma was very good, barnyard/floral with a hint of something lightly musky (kitten fir). The initial taste was weak and bland, light wood (almost saw-dust like) with the vaguest hint citrus sweetness. Into the third and the taste improved marginally as the lemon/fruit/floral sweetness gained a little more depth. Unfortunately the light but very dry MBF woodiness that was floating in and out of the smoke was to me somehow disharmonious to the pallet and left a not altogether agreeable taste in my mouth. The second third was simply more of the same with if anything slightly more of the uninteresting wood taste. The last third was no different, to be honest I didn?t finish the cigar, not because I couldn?t, but because I was bored with it. (See last picture).
Overall: Good enough looking cigar and well put together. Easy to smoke and very mild in flavour and not to my taste. The Fonseca No 1 is often recommended for newbees wanting to have a crack at the Lonsdales format because it?s unlikely to turn them green, but to my mind it might be better for them to suffer a little light-headedness and try something with a bit more flavour variation. The only plus I can give it flavourwise is that it isn't as awful as the H. Upmann Half Corona.
Marks. I used the RG Lonsdales as a benchmark and gave it a 7. This I can?t justify giving anything better than a 5.8. The LG still leads.
Next man up. Sancho Panza Molinos.
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