El Cedro

El Cedro is a new brand with a lot of passion and a lot to say. Headed by Anwar Elboustani, the brand recently launched. I met Anwar at one of our events in July at the Carnegie Club, and was very excited to try his new product. As you’ll see in the review below, Anwar’s initial offering, produced at the Kelner Boutique Factory, sets a really high bar for an initial offering. I smoked four El Cedro cigars for this review and was impressed by each one.

Blend specifics
Wrapper: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan ligero
Size: Robusto

Appearance & Construction
This El Cedro cigar is a beautiful medium-brown color that is complimented very well by the white and gold band. The presentation is spot on and attractive. Construction wise, I can say that after smoking four of these sticks, the draw and smoke production are consistently great. The wrapper has a few veins and slight tooth. Throughout the smoke I did notice some burn issues, but they corrected themselves after ten minutes or so.

Flavor & Smoke Characteristic
Off the foot, I notice a lot of grass, cedar, and hay notes. Very pleasant. On lighting, I get a really nice opening bouquet of dry wood (seriously, like straight from a Home Depot wood supply), sweet coffee, and nuts. One of the immediately impressive qualities of the El Cedro is that though the notes are pretty robust, the texture of the smoke is very light and smooth.

About half an inch in, the body backs down a bit to a mild-medium and a nice cream note emerges. This stays constant for about the next half hour or so, with a nice white pepper note fading in and out. It’s easy to tell that the Kelner Boutique Factory was involved in the creation of this cigar. It has a definite Davidoff feel to it, which I love. The flavors are perfectly balanced and they deliver a lot of nuance.

By about half way, I’m picking up a lot more white pepper, especially on the retrohale. A nice change of pace.

In the final third, I’m still picking up the dominant cedar note with some sweet cream and white pepper on the retrohale. I’m totally sold. This cigar is a morning, afternoon, and evening smoke which pairs really well with coffee.

Conclusion
El Cedro nailed its initial release. This cigar has an incredible profile, great aroma, an enjoyable texture and a great price at around $7 per cigar. I’m really looking forward to any new releases that Anwar has planned, and I highly recommend smoking this cigar.

Final Grade: A