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This afternoon I tried the second La Escepcion Selectos Finos from my box (LEM Nov 11 - #1436 of 2000). This second experience was somewhat similar to the first one a couple of months ago, yet a little worst. Construction was flawless and the cigars all look beautiful, but flavours are so dark. Dark as in charcoal, (over)toasted tobacco, mineral... The cigar had no pepper through the nose whatsoever, which I was sort of expecting. However during the first third I did see a light at the end of the tunnel, maybe biscuits and tea, but them it was gone again. The burned rubber taste was so strong that nothing else was distinguishable and I tossed it by the middle of the second third. Has anyone smoked these recently? Would love to hear inputs as I know many people love these. I honestly hope they're just going through a weird time and not the whole box is as bad as the first two cigars I've had.

Have a box of la escepcion wondering what factory is TOR

Every April 1'st I try to do have a little April Fools fun with cigars. Usually a photo I grab from the internet with some malarkey behind it. This year I put a bit of effort into it. But I was way behind schedule. What started out before April 1st, only came to fruition yesterday. I just got too busy and distracted with work. I'm one of those lucky few that work remotely for most of the week anyways, so full time work from home was not a big deal. Yesterday, on my Facebook profile. I posted this picture with a write up about having received a mysterious Monte 520 sized, La Escepcion cigar called the "Luciano". Perhaps named after Pavarotti. I had a few bites here and there but not a lot of comments. I think many held back, perhaps not wanting to call me out on it. At least, not at that time. Today, I posted some "behind the scenes" photos. I don't want to make this linger on too long. The Band. A screenshot of the 3D mesh, Photoshop file from where the original photo came from. I basically, wrapped the band graphic over a cylinder. Played around with it to match the orientation of the cigar in the photo, then cleaned it up a bit, applied a few effects, including a reflection of the band on the metal ashtray. And for posterity. A Higher Res shot of the finished product. (FYI, the actual cigar was a Monte 520 house roll)

Review: La Escepcion Coronas Extra Largas Release: 1974/75 Release Vitola: Lonsdale 44RG by 7.7inch Production: Regular. Discontinued 1970’s Box Code: UNK. Stamped 9/75 by tobacconist on underside. Paired with: ice water Date: Sunday July 30, 2016 Start Time: 3:37PM EST Reviewers Notes: My style of cigar reviewing is “open”. I try to jot down what I’m experiencing with every draw. When you see a “/” consider that a break in between puffs. What I leave out in fancy prose is made up with observation. Consider each segment a play by play. This style works for me. I hope you enjoy it. Some History I bought two of these back in Montreal around 2011. They weren't the greatest looking cigars, one had two beetle holes, both seemed a bit crispy and possibly were bereft of all their oils. But at $15CAD per stick, that included the box , I couldn't resist. If even as an heirloom/showpiece. I doubted I'd ever see one of these again, let alone actually smoke one. Here it is, as is. Pre-light notes Visual: Light, milk chocolate wrapper with mottled repair patches of RACF wrapper. A good sized stick, closer to a Churchill than Lonsdale IMO. Here it is compared to the Selectos Finos. The darker patches are where I made the repairs to the beetle holes. Using donor tobacco from a horribly disfigured RACF, I ground up some of the smaller bits into dust via mortar and pestle and then filled in the beetle holes. Larger wrapper pieces were then affixed with Arabic gum. Not too pretty, but it did the job. Feel: Somewhat spongy. Took 3 years to revive from it's "crispy" state. Aroma at cold: Wrapper: light must, cedar, nutmeg Foot:pure cocoa old cedar box, 1st Third Applied medium punch, some of the wrapper below the head flaked away. Very frail cigar even after revival. Draw seems good though / Lightly toast the foot, smells like BBQ coals / good opening / slight mustiness / excellent draw hits of cedar / good hit of nutmeg and or baking spice / toasty tobacco / interesting tannic finish on the draw, like a dry red wine, similar to the grape stem / dark chocolate / nice tanginess / great burn / toasty tobacco, some baking spice / hickory like finish on the draw / wine tannins on two draws, so it has a slight bitterness to it, but not something i’d call unpleasant / bitter chocolate / nice sharp, tangy flavour / sipping this cigar as slowly as possible to catch the nuances / nice white ash / bit more dark chocolate / some vegetal notes / ash falls off easy as i place the cigar back on the rest / tannic, with slight cocoa finish / some ice water to clean the palate / sharp, bitter chocolate / some good hits of sweetness and cedar on a few draws / chocolate / toasty tobacco / vegetal notes / slight canoe developing / correct the burn, thought i hated to do so / nice creamy coffee / some ice water again / wine tannins again / dark chocolate, slightly bitter, ashy finish / sharp, tangy vegetal notes / blustery ash falls on my shirt before i can set it down / 2nd Third bitter chocolate / some very green vegetal notes which is surprising for such an old cigar / the cigar burns very cool i notice / a few deep draws helps keep the flame alive / more tannins but with a nice cedary finish / touch up- relight needed / bitter chocolate follows / more pleasant, creamy coffee flavour returns / cocoa / more cocoa / still some canoeing going on / bitter chocolate / very blustery ash / nice, smooth nutmeg draw / sweet, cedary notes / cocoa, flavours seems to be settling down / cocoa again, slightly dry finish / ice water time / coffee / chocolate with a coffee finish / yikes! Very strong, ashy flavour (dead beetle BBQ?) / quick touch up, nasty flavour gone, back to bitter chocolate / ice water to clean palate / a smooth coffee draw with a building ashy taste on the finish, not as gross, but odd / sharp tannic notes / ice water / chance of pace! Beans! Like a black bean in chili, minus the chili / shart, dark chocolate / burn corrected, nice white ash too / wine tannins return / 3rd Third hickory with a bit of char / ash falls off easy / holy crap! Tar buildup on the head? In a cigar this old? I did not expect this given that it was dry as a bone when I bought it. Going to have to guillotine the offending bit off / ice water / surgery successful, not too much damage / better draw, smoother flavour / nutmeg / cocoa / nice cocoa hits, cigar has smoothed out / maybe i shouldn't have smoked the damaged stick first? / wrapper starts to flake off and unravel i fix it with a bit of water / toasty tobacco / nice creamy coffee draw, very full bodied / more canoeing / beans again on the finish / really nice rich, tobacco flavour / touch up needed to correct burn / another tasty pull, coffee with a cedary finish / ice water / slight anise flavour / rich tobacco hit, like a spicy NC / increased smoke production / nice beany hit / cedar notes linger on the finish a bit / another spicy hit, with a strong bean finish / another good draw, cedar and cocoa, lost a bit more of wrapper though / lots of smoke, some white pepper and a nice lingering cedar finish on the tongue / ice water / beans again / peppery, cedar finish / a bit of anise with a hint of sweetness at the end / lots of smoke still / cedar seems to linger on the tongue / very rich cedar hit / a quick touch up to keep things inline / nubbing this for sure / more beans and cedar / this last third is really shining which i kind of expected/hoped (will explain more later) / mouthful of cedar / tangy tobacco / cigar has heated up / tangy tobacco / sipping cigar now / cedar returns / oily draw, full of toasty tobacco / nubbing now / beany hit / removed band, cigar splinters a bit / cedary draw / last puffs, some good old cedar with a nice peppery finish / FIN Done @ 5:22 EST Conclusions After many long years of trying to revive these two samples, I was finally able to smoke one. This one I call "the ugly one". Having smoked this, maybe the better one will get a long stay of execution? I didn't know what to expect with this cigar. Given that it was dry and that almost all of its' oils bled into the cellophane over the decades, I wasn't sure there would be much to taste. Much to my surprise and delight, the revival process showed some promise over time in that there was still a very pleasant aroma from the wrapper and foot of these cigars. That I was able to get as much flavour and enjoyment out of it at all is a miracle. I've been pretty fanatic about the Selectos Finos when they came out, so being able to go back in time with this cigar was a joy. Of course, I have zero idea on how these smoked fresh. From what I've read, the marca was on the very strong side and lost it's following over time. While this cigar was no powerhouse compared to the Selectos Finos and Don Jose, I could "sense" that it may have been there originally given that it still was a decent, medium bodied smoke after so many decades of rest. There's a belief that strong blends survive well over time. That may be the case with this particular release. I was expecting the complexity of a dusty, rolled up newspaper. What I experienced was far better than I hoped. Smoking this was a relaxing trip back in time. Outside of a couple of really harsh tasting draws, this was an experience well worth the wait. Thanks for reading. BW Bonus Pics.

Had a good friend bomb me a La Escepcion Don Jose. Here's the review! If you want to listen to the podcast: Podbean - http://podcast.cigarfederation.com/e/cigar-review-la-escepcion-don-jose-italia-edition-2015/ iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cigar-federation/id718340445?mt=2

With the dust settled from the Montreal herf, I've had some time to take some shots of a little discovery we made while browsing an odd cigar store prior to the herf. We found some interesting sticks but this item in particular struck me. A box of 1970's era Le Escepcions. Coronas Extra Largas Here's the top. A close up of the label. The back of the box with the words "CLARO" and "9-75" which I am assuming could be the date September 1975 Side shot. Open box. Two surviving sticks in their cello. Unfortunately, there's a beetle hole or two. On the plus side, the cigars have some give to them when I pinch the foot. Perhaps they can be revived? A closeup of the cigar bands. An interesting label that may have been attached prior to sale to comply with language laws in Quebec or a standard item? The four languages are English, Spanish, French and German.