Nudies 2020 Rosado N1 Lancero (XNYRW1)

[saltbox]

I was the lucky recipient of a few extras with one of my purchases a few months ago, and this cigar was one of them. Based on a similar label I saw in JohnS' review of the scrapped 2020 Nudies here, I suspect that this was one of the sample cigars of the 2020 test blends. As a still regular smoker of NC cigars and the impending release of the 2021 Nudies, I was excited to be able to try one of these. Unfortunately I've never tried the cigars these were based on, the Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No. 1.

I let these rest for about 2 months before finally lighting one up. This one sat at 65RH with the rest of my NC stock, but I've got one more N1 Lancero at 62RH with my CC stock. This cigar had a bit of damage, so I applied my go to rolling paper patches to shore up the structural integrity of the wrapper.

First third: opens with creamy honeyed nuts, not unlike Honey Nut Cheerios. There's a touch of pepper on the retrohale that is more characteristic of NC blends, but none on the palate. There's a nice green apple brightness on the finish that reminds me of the SLR Regios I've had recently.

Middle third: the apple note fades, but the cream and honeyed nuts continue chugging along.

Last third: the profile picks up some richness to it, with some coffee cream joining the mix of flavors.

Overall: pretty good! As someone new to CCs, I don't have a lot of experience with the vitolas of bygone eras and can't speak to how these compare to them. In comparison to modern CCs, these are definitely missing the characteristic creamy twang I get, and given that I still regularly smoke NC cigars I don't think I would confuse this with a CC.

That said, it's a major departure from what you typically see in the NC spectrum. The best way I can describe it is if you took the concept of Illusione and ran with it even further. Illusione created blends that showed what amazing flavor NC tobacco was capable of without relying on heavy spicy ligero, and this takes it even further in that direction. The profile has even less spice and more cream than most Illusione blends I've had, and if you told me this was a well-aged Illusione I would believe it. I've got some Illusione Epernay and Fume D'Amour that have around a year or more of age to them now, so I'll have to carve out some time to smoke one of them to compare. 90/100

 

[JohnS]

Yes, this is 2020 Nudies N1 Lancero (Rosado) Version Two sample cigar. Cigars with natural colorado wrapper shades are labelled as 'Rosado' in Non-Cuban circles. I could easily smoke another right now if I had one. A very, very easy to smoke and nice cigar all-round.

[el chino]

Thanks Philipl for taking the time to put up your very well written N1 experience.  

I've often wondered, on the scientific level, what soil/chemical properties give the leaf that Cuban twang?  

Looking forward to trying some of these Nudies out when they become available!  Having not given up 100% on NC just yet. This is only due to construction issue$  I recently purchased Illusione Fume D'Amore Clemetes, Epernay Le' Matin and La Ferme singles to try out.  As well as a Tatuaje Havana IV along with my perfect draw.  Never tried them. I got tired of a couple of my P$P Cabs of side-burners I've had over the years.