Sinistro Cigars released three new cigars this year: Last Cowboy, Last Cowboy Maduro, and the Honor Among Thieves. The Last Cowboy comes in two versions natural and maduro. The natural uses a Connecticut shade-grown wrapper and the wrapper uses a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper. Both use a Mexican San Andrés maduro binder and Dominican piloto cubano filler. The maduro comes in six vitolas: Churchill (7 x 47) — $9.66, Corona (5 1/2 x 42) — $8.17, Petite Belicoso (5 x 52) — $8.33, Salomon (6 1/2 x 50/60) — $19, Scala (4 1/2 x 38/60) — $16, Toro (6 x 54) — $10.29 (Boxes of 20, $205.80). The size we smoked for this review was a pre-release rothschild that did not make final production.
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.
Sinistro’s cigars are made at the La Aurora Cigar Factory in the Dominican Republic.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Rothschild Length: 4″ Ring Gauge: 52 Country of Origin: Dominican Republic Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Binder: Mexican San Andrés Filler: Dominican Republic (Piloto Cubano) Factory: La Aurora Blender: James Agopian Number of reviewers: 4 – Ryan H.(Ryan H.) John A.(Bostoneo) Mickey T.(irratebass) Jeff (ExpendableYouth) Price: Pre Release Age: 6 Months Release Date: September 2018 Contributed by: Puro Cigar house
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 92
“Short stubby guy with a half inch of closed Candela foot (that’s right Candela), the rest of the cigar looks like a maduro wrapper with a sort of stem at the top of the foot….very intriguing looking cigar. I really like the look of this cigar. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Aroma: 91
“Very strong potent aroma with some spice coming through the nose without the cigar lit.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
First Third
Blind Cigar Review: Sinistro | The Last Cowboy Maduro (Pre Release)
Flavor: 88 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“My first impression was, if I had a list for unique this thing would definitely be \ toward the top of the list. A clean bright grass note rolls over my tongue at first, followed by a black pepper, and finished off with a sweetness that I can completely describe. It’s somewhere between sickly sweet and caramel. It’s not a bad flavor and it’s not overpowering. Really, it is only there for a moment before it is washed away by grass again. ” –Jeff (ExpendableYouth)
“Upon lighting up, flavors of hay, malt, and salt present themselves. A half inch in, with an uneven burn, the maltiness and sweet old musty leather take over as the dominate flavor through this quick third. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Second Third
Flavor: 88 Strength: Medium-Strong Body/Complexity: Medium
Blind Cigar Review: Sinistro | The Last Cowboy Maduro (Pre Release)
“Cigar turns to straight campfire with a creamy finish. Burn and draw have performed well. Like I said very full and has a powerful nicotine kick.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“Start of this third and the spice has returned, but not enough to bring it back up to full strength, teeter-tottering back to mild – medium. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Final Third
Flavor: 90 Strength: Medium-Strong Body/Complexity: Medium
“Cigar finishes with a lot of earth and a revisit from the initial spice white pepper in strength.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“Getting walnuts mixed with wood in the final third. Getting down to the nub, and still no spice or punch to the face. Also a bit of marshmallow, and a bit of cream. Really interesting smoke. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Overall Impressions
Blind Cigar Review: Sinistro | The Last Cowboy Maduro (Pre Release)
Draw: 93
“The draw was really great up until the end. It got a bit loose in the last third but not so much that it hurt the experience. ” –Jeff (ExpendableYouth)
Burn: 90
“No corrections needed and the burn was good” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Construction: 95
“Very nice construction, I dig a closed foot at times. I’m curious if the stem was an actual “fan” type and had to be compromised for shipping purposes. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“Overall this was a very good smoke. Not overly complex with the amount of flavors, I had to smoke this one very slowly as the draw was so loose and had to wait for one side to catch up burning. Decent smoke, I’d try another if the price was right. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
“I enjoyed this cigar, and was surprised by how much spice and pepper was in the beginning on the candela part, but after the cigar burned through that part the cigar mellowed out with nice sweet tea/coffee, nuts and cream flavors that went all the way to the nub. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this cigar. I am not the biggest candela fan, but the outer wrapper really put this cigar over the top. I would definitely give this a try at least once. ” –Jeff (ExpendableYouth)
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
Blind Cigar Review: Sinistro | The Last Cowboy Maduro (Pre Release)
Overall Score – 91 – Very Good
Blind Cigar Review: Sinistro | The Last Cowboy Maduro (Pre Release)
Summary
"I enjoyed this cigar, and was surprised by how much spice and pepper was in the beginning on the candela part, but after the cigar burned through that part the cigar mellowed out with nice sweet tea/coffee, nuts and cream flavors that went all the way to the nub. " -Mickey T. (irratebass)
