Quesada BBQ Pig - MAY 21 (AARW)

[saltbox]

I've had this sitting in the tupperdor for a month now. It's a bit of an absurd cigar and I wasn't sure when I'd actually smoke it. I don't purchase many NCs nowadays, but it turned out that I ended up moving quite nearby to a local B&M that carries LCA's cigars. LCA (Limited Cigar Association) sells one-off small batch cigars. The marketing and branding is, honestly, a bit cringy, but the idea behind the program is noble: encouraging people to shop at and support local B&Ms. In the interest of supporting a local business and to see what it was all about, I wanted to check it out.

The branding is a bit crazy. The flavor notes (barbecued meats) are not what I typically look for. The vitola is the exact opposite of what I normally reach for.

First third: opens with a nice creamy and rich tobacco note, with black pepper spice on the retrohale. There's maybe an occasional note of hickory but I'm also really looking for it based on the suggested tasting notes.

Middle third: more straightforward rich tobacco. At the halfway point there's a sudden appearance of savory spices, like a dry rub, but it quickly fades from the profile. At this point, I realized the ash felt incredibly sturdy, so decided to try to get the longest ash I could, something I typically couldn't care at all about.

Last third: more straightforward rich tobacco, through to the end. Managed to keep the ash fully intact from the beginning through to the end.

Overall: I didn't get much of the supposed barbecued meat notes. It was basically just straight rich and creamy tobacco from beginning to end. I've tried some of their other work as well and have had better experiences with them, but overall the near cult fanaticism around these doesn't seem warranted. That said, when I talked to the owner of my local B&M he mentioned that it did seem to be successful in bringing in new customers, so how bad can it be? 83/100

[JohnS]

Wow, what an incredible ash though! 😉

[El Presidente]