[JDoughty]

My tasting notes on the Fabrica 005 lancero, smoked pretty fresh. Liked it a lot.

The wrapper was dark and attractive, much darker than the others in my sampler. The pre-light aroma and draw had a raisin sweetness and pleasant earthiness. With the first few puffs, I was impressed with the elegance and overall structure of the flavors, which were of sweet aged wood and saddle leather. I could almost see Ricardo Montalban wearing a tailored white suit and talking about the aromas of fine Corinthian leather in this cigar. Some pepper and salted chocolate came in to tickle my nose. Creamy dark chocolate on the retrohale. There was some serious canoeing to start with, which I was able to correct, and a slightly uneven burn line.

As I continued to puff on the first third, dark chocolate covered cherries showed up briefly then muted into baker's chocolate and a light finish of coffee. By the beginning of the second third, fresh baked bread and baker's chocolate were the primary notes, with everything else becoming muted. This trend continued, with quieter notes of toasted bread, baking chocolate and medium roast coffee emerging as the remaining flavors. That stayed consistent until the end of the cigar, with nothing else emerging.

The cigar required multiple relights and corrections, which was not unexpected from a cigar fresh from transit. It remained a pleasant smoke until the end. I paired it with a nonalcoholic Negroni from Devil's Foot. It would have paired nicely with rum, bourbon or coffee as well. Other than the burn issues, the only downside to this cigar for me was that it did lose a lot complexity by the end of the first third. Still, the flavors that remained were quite pleasant and it was overall a very enjoyable smoke.