Cigar Info
The tobacco farm named Yargüera hides between two mountains in Honduras. Yargüera is a new hybrid tobacco seed and will be leading the next wave of Honduran tobaccos and cigars for years to come. In the 1960’s, the Arias Family traveled to Cuba in search of an exquisite tobacco seed. Brought back to their homeland, Honduras, the Arias family cultivated the sweet-tasting and aromatic tobacco for decades, though it was a delicate and challenging crop. To reinvigorate the seed, agronomists from the Grupo de Maestros began a project to combine its flavors and aromas with the heartier and more robust Criollo’98 seed. After years of effort, they created a tobacco that contained the best qualities of each. At the end of 2013, the new seed was planted at the Yargüera farm. Today we will be reviewing the H. Upmann | Yargüera Lonsdale.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
Yargüera tobacco, exclusive to Altadis U.S.A. wanted to trace the Yargüera seed’s heritage to a brand of the same high caliber in Altadis U.S.A.’s family. Priced between $8.50 and $9.25, this special aroma and sweet flavor of the Yargüera H. Upmann from the rolling of Yargüera’13 Tapado Shade wrapper, Criollo’98 binder and sun-grown Yargüera’13 and Criollo’98 fillers. The cigar was initially available in three sizes: Torbusto 56 x 5 1/2” $9.25, Toro 54 x 6” $8.75, Robusto 52 x 5” $8.50. At IPCPR 2016, Altadis USA released a new size in this cigar, the lonsdale.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Lonsdale
Length: 6.5″
Ring Gauge: 42
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduran Yargüera
Binder: Honduran Criollo 98 Binder
Filler: Honduran Yargüera & Criollo 98
Factory: Flor de Copan S.A.
Blender: Grupo de Maestros
Number of reviewers: 5 – Jeff R. (JR) Eric (smalls29) Dave W. (mdwest) Steve (ThaGreatWazoo) Derek (StogieNinja)
Price: $8.00
Age: 8 Months
Release Date: July 2016
Contributed by: Altadis USA
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 93
“A nice londsdale with a really flat pigtail cap. Wrapper is a dusty leather brown, and a but rough around the edges. Overall though it’s an appealing cigar.” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Aroma: 89
“I detect a faint, sweet, wet grass smell. Very pleasant and inviting.” –Eric (smalls29)
First Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“An odd, but good combination of bread and floral notes with just a tiny bit of sweetness on the finish is produced in the first third. The stick has my attention.” –Dave W. (mdwest)
“Pepper and cocoa from the start. Pepper coats the tongue and throat. Some vanilla and baking spices appear along side some light wood. It’s a nice start!” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Second Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“The flavors have intensified just a bit. Thus far the oak and other woods are more noticeable and enjoyable. The after taste it is leaving is pleasing to the palate and it is pairing very nicely with an Autumn morning. I am beginning to notice a slight coffee flavor but I am not sure.” –Eric (smalls29)
“The cigar continues with smooth transitions of nutmeg and bread to cedar and pepper. A real nice blend of flavors that keep the smoker intrigued. The ash is a little flaky and the burn is troublesome at times. Nothing to detrimental, but definitely an issue although slight.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
Final Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The pepper notes picked back up w/ a hint of creamy caramel. Wrapper had a small crack but nothing that wasn’t fixable. Very good cigar!” –Jeff R. (JR)
“The final third of this cigar has been a bit of a downer. It showed promise with flavors getting better but the final third has been a down turn. The oak and wood flavors with hints of coffee are noticed but waning. It has lost a lot of its character and body over time. While not a wasted smoke it became disappointing.” –Eric (smalls29)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 88
“No major issues, draw was just on the firm side of where I like it, but not at all problematic.” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Burn: 93
“Cigar burned very well. No major touch-ups required, burn line remained relatively straight, and the combustion was excellent.” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Construction: 88
“The look of this cigar was great. It had a nice feel and build to it. The burn did knock this score down significantly however. If not for the burn, the cigar would have been superb.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 89
“A solid cigar. Small cracks don’t bother me so it wasn’t an issue for me. Nothing a torch and a few puffs can’t fix. Very good aromas & flavors. For a lighter shade, I was pleasantly surprised.” –Jeff R. (JR)
“This cigar has some personality. While not a strong cigar, it went though some changes, starting off weak, getting stronger in the middle third, then weakening in the final third. There were pleasant flavors of oak and wood with a hint of coffee. To me, it could have been better if the coffee flavor was a little stronger. I do feel this mild cigar would pair nicely with a good strong cup of coffee or even an espresso. Overall a mild cigar that one who is not an avid cigar smoker would enjoy.” –Eric (smalls29)
“Well made, visually appealing, and a nice flavor profile that just kept getting better with each puff. Overall an excellent cigar. I will not only be buying some of these for myself after the reveal, I’ll be recommending them to friends.” –Dave W. (mdwest)
“I enjoyed this cigar with some nice scotch. It made for a good smoke experience. This build seems to have certain issues with burn for me, but the flavors were worth the work. A nice overall smoke that many will enjoy. These should be reachable to most smokers and I think at a good price point these are definitely worth the shot.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“Overall, this was a great cigar. The transitions were interesting, I loved the move from pepper and spice to rich and creamy. It’s not one that stands out as mind-blowing, but it was enjoyable throughout, and I would very much enjoy smoking more.” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 57
|
Reviewer
|
Appearance
|
Aroma
|
1/3
|
2/3
|
3/3
|
Draw
|
Burn
|
Constr.
|
Overall
Experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff R. | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 100 | 100 | 88 | 90 |
| Eric | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 85 | 90 | 85 | 88 |
| Dave W. | 95 | 88 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 85 | 92 | 92 | 95 |
| Steve | 92 | 90 | 88 | 90 | 85 | 87 | 85 | 88 | 88 |
| Derek | 92 | 88 | 92 | 90 | 88 | 92 | 95 | 95 | 92 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.