Blind Review: Plasencia Year of the Tiger
The Plascencia family has supplied tobacco for many cigar makers and boasts a large inventory of quality aged tobacco. With their own label they continue to prove that the care they take in growing and processing equates to a superior product. I have enjoyed many cigars in their profile and the range and blends always seem to impress.
In keeping with the Chinese New Year, Plasencia released the 2022 Year of the Tiger. This toro has a decade of aged tobacco from their farms in the blend. Read on for the blind review.
Blend Specifics
- Cigar Reviewed: Plascencia Year of the Tiger
- Wrapper: Nicaraguan
- Binder: Nicaraguan
- Filler: Nicaraguan
- Size: 6” x 54 (Toro)
Blind Review Notes: Plasencia Year of the Tiger
Appearance & Construction
This imposing cigar has a silky claro wrapper that despite its size is smoother than I anticipated. As I feel the stick it is chock full of tobacco from top to bottom. The smell from the foot is of barnyard with wood, notes of plum and pepper that hit my nostrils on the end. In hand the roll is steady which is the hallmark of a premium crafted smoke.
Taste & Smoking Characteristics
Straight cut is clean from the head and as I take a dry draw earth, pepper and lemon zest hit the front of my tongue and the sides of my mouth. I gently torch the toro and my first puff is hearty with impressions of spice and citrus. My palate is quickly enlivened, and my next draw is a combination of sweet and spicy with rich tobacco notes. I take a retrohale and am greeted with almond, spice, and cedar with a richness on the exhales that lingers. The ash is whitish grey and looking solid thus far. The body is in the medium range and with another draw there’s coffee and Asian spices that gives this cigar a complexity from the start.
The flavors hang on long and there is more of a grey ash towards the midpoint of the smoke. There’s milk chocolate along with nuts as I take a slow draw that lingers. Another puff brings cedar and citrus with cocoa and cream on the finish. The body is moving into the medium to full range and a retrohale brings chocolate notes that become sweeter and end with cinnamon spice on the exhale. I’m picking up more cedar and coffee that is rather pronounced. The head of the wrapper is beginning to splay a bit which does not seem to affect the flavor or draw just cumbersome more than anything. Despite this being a large toro it burns faster than I expected and with each puff the flavor continues to expand.
The last third of this cigar kicks up the strength with bold espresso and nuts that come on strong. Asian spice returns and even with the head of the wrapper loosening up, the complexity of the toro continues. As these flavors continue to develop, cedar and earth come into play leaving a slightly shorter finish than expected. I take a retrohale where upfront flavors of pepper and oak greet my sinus ending in a saltiness that comes through my mouth. With a final draw there is some wonderful notes of chocolate with a sweet and savory finish. At this point the head of the wrapper makes it difficult to smoke although it is pretty much down to the nub and has been a pleasure tasting
Conclusion
This toro delivered big flavors throughout the long smoke. Lots of spices, citrus, cedar, cocoa all lingering on the palate. Retrohale delivered nuts, chocolate, cinnamon, and wood that resonated in a medium bodied style. The one thing that hurt the score was the head of the cigar began to splay midway which was cumbersome while smoking however it did not affect the flavors.
On finding out this was a Plascencia blend, I was not surprised because of the nuances in the tobacco with the plethora of aged stock they have. I would recommend picking up at least one Year of The Tiger to try and if at $40 a stick your budget can grab more than the quality is certainly there.