La Escepción Selectos Finos

[almudawi]

General Information:

Vitola: Parejos

Size: 6.5″ x 38

Smoking time: 2 hours

La Escepción was a sister brand of the Hoyo de Monterrey marca and was notoriously known for its very full strength cigars. The range was discontinued in 1989 after a huge plummet in sales due to changes in smoking preference and trends. However, in 2011, the brand was temporarily brought back from the dead for the release of the Selectos Finos (Italian Regional Edition) where only 2000 boxes were produced.

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Enough with the travia.. lets get the review going!!!

The Secreto Finos sampled in this review had a very sweet barn yard scent which is always a telling sign of a good cigar.

The La Escepción had perfect silky chocolaty wrapper with zero blemishes and no veins with some oil present. In terms of construction the cigar was perfectly filled and had no apparent issues.

The draw at cold was fantastic with a slight resistance (very cubanisque construction). While the cold draw brought notes of sweet baked bread like flavors (butter milk bread to be precise).

The 1st third.. The La Escepción had a very strong opening from the get go. The flavors were intense and kept generously engulfing my palate with robust cubanisque flavors. Rich waves of black pepper ebbed and flowed over the sides of the palette and back of the throat throughout the third. However, pepper and power were not the only traits of this third. The cigar exhibited dark fruit (cherry to be precise) sweetness too. The La Escepción Selecto Fino had quite a spicy yet floral (Jasmine like) profile on the retrohale… Something that struck me at the end of that third was that this is a cigar imposes respect on its smoker.

The 2nd third.. The cherry notes intensified into a dried dark fruit profile that was accompanied with a baked component, which mingled nicely producing sweet yet earthy flavor profiles resembling those experienced while having a Christmas pudding..

Things became interesting halfway through the third. Where a bitter, yet very sweet component manifested itself, accompanied with flavors of toasted tobacco, which resembled to my shock and delight flavors akin to marmalade on toast..

The final third.. The cigar upped the ante a notch or two, and very spicy yet sweet profiles were apparent. A flavor profile that resembled gourmet chili chocolate dominated the flavor spectrum in this third. Which left a nice tingling sensation on the lips and tip of the tongue akin to the one experienced while eating a chili pepper

Final verdict: 96

Final Thoughts:

• The La Escepción Selecto Fino was one of the most complex smokes that I ever had. The vast spectrum of flavors one samples while having one of those beauties was a joy.
  
• Distinctive flavors of cherries, christmas pudding, marmalade and chili pepper mingled seamlessly throughout the cigar.
  
• Although the Selecto Fino lived to its original roots reputation in terms of power, it was never overwhelming. Habanos was on the button in terms of blend vs power thus providing us with a powerhouse yet satisfying smoke This cigar demands respect. Kudos to Habanos and Diadema (Italian distributor) for producing a cigar worthy of being the 1st of hopefully many more La Escepción resurrections
  

If you enjoyed my review, please feel free to drop by my blog and comment

[Michel1968]

Nice review! Only got a single (with a bit of luck a few more this week). It's going to be a hard time resisting that single to smoke on short notice after reading your review...

[Ghabanos]

Nice... May have to reach out for a trade or make a trip to Italy

[Colt45]

Thanks for the review. Gino and Guy had similar takes on this one, and both rated it highly as well.

[orangedog]

thanks for posting. seemed to me that the strength was covering a fair amount still. While you noted that it was one of the most complex cigars you've had I think letting these settle down will bring out a lot more in terms of the breadth of flavors. Good cigar that has a chance to become great.

[cottierm]

Fine review as always. Many thanks for sharing your impressions.

Best,

Michel

[pjansen]

Great review! Wish I could try one of these heard they are great!

[Professor Twain]

Well done sir! Great to see you here. Small world.

[Wil]

Great review! And what a great size cigar! Shame there are only 2000 boxes

[almudawi]

Glad you guys enjoyed the review as much as I enjoyed doing it. in terms of aging, yes this box is currently buried deep in my cabinet. The blend has great potential to improve with time. Here is to hoping I forget about this box for a couple of years