Juan Lopez Seleccion No. 2 - MOL ABR 18 (RotR25)

[Luca]

Fortunately it was a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon here in Sydney. I have a few boxes of Juan Lopez Seleccion No.2 aging away. So why not try one for this review! The first ever JL S no.2 I had was from our host - Rob Ayala at a State of Origin Football Night at @JohnS place. Rob mentioned that good examples of this cigar (especially when aged) is like having a smoky Negroni.

I had this Juan Lopez dry boxed for about 4 - 5 days. Decided to pair this cigar with an Aperol Spritz which went quite well.

First third: a mild start with subtle coffee notes. As I progress the coffee notes have intensified. Think bitter espresso. Interestingly it reminds me of the bitter espresso note I had in a Saint Luis Rey Churchill (sadly discontinued in 2010) I smoked a couple of years ago.

Second third: The bitter espresso note has died down now. Slight negroni notes of Campari/gin bitterness and red vermouth sweetness coming through. Very nice.

Last third: the negroni notes have died down now. Back to a pleasant mild coffee and nutty note.

Construction and burn was good especially noting it was a bit windy. Did have to do a bit of a touch up with the lighter towards the end.

Overall 7.5/10 – I was really hoping for more intense Negroni notes in this. Still – a very pleasant smoke to end the week.

Keen to hear if anyone has smoked an aged JL and what your thoughts were. Did you get the same or similar negroni and bitter espresso notes?

Thanks for reading!

[JohnS]

I do remember that night. Good night, good memories, good cigars. Those Juan Lopez Seleccion No.2s had a 'softer' blend to them, with notes of orange cointreau and jaffa chocolate. I've been trying to replicate the experience ever since.

[mikejh]

Do you usually dry box that long?

[Havanaaddict]

I had a cab of MUR 13 that were outstanding! They had a rich orange chocolate flavor that was soooooo good! I have had a few from the mid 90's they were a lot more velvety and had Citrus type flavors!   

[SCgarman]

I never tasted the orange/chocolate thing, but JL2 reminds me of a PSD4 on steroids, without the paprika spice nuance. A lot more "in your face" than complex and nuanced.

[Wlu1988]

I busted out a few of these from my first 6 sampler from FOH a few months ago at duck hunting camp with the fellas and they were unanimously enjoyed. I have gotten the orange choc taste on all I have had to date - 2023/2024 box dates. 

On an unrelated note, how does one get one of the folding FOH cigar stands? I see these in so many of the pictures and have officially gotten envious. 

[Luca]

14 hours ago, mikejh said:

Do you usually dry box that long?

No - usually one or two days. Depends on the weather here also. How long do you dry box your cigars for? 

[Luca]

17 hours ago, Havanaaddict said:

I had a cab of MUR 13 that were outstanding! They had a rich orange chocolate flavor that was soooooo good! I have had a few from the mid 90's they were a lot more velvety and had Citrus type flavors!   

Oh man. That's something I've been longing for they do have an orange note too. Like @JohnS - orange citrus/cointreau. 

[mikejh]

6 hours ago, Luca said:

No - usually one or two days. Depends on the weather here also. How long do you dry box your cigars for? 

12-24 hours usually.

[joeypots]

For me the JL #2 requires age. I had a fiver years ago and remember being disappointed with the first few. So I put the rest away and forgot about them. The last one had the citrus flavor and blew me away. Nice review and pics.

[Luca]

On 3/9/2025 at 12:56 PM, Wlu1988 said:

I busted out a few of these from my first 6 sampler from FOH a few months ago at duck hunting camp with the fellas and they were unanimously enjoyed. I have gotten the orange choc taste on all I have had to date - 2023/2024 box dates. 

On an unrelated note, how does one get one of the folding FOH cigar stands? I see these in so many of the pictures and have officially gotten envious. 

Nice to hear the 2023/2024s are smoking well. I'll look for some singles to buy to try for comparison. In regards to the cigar stands, we used to get them on certain purchases of cigars from Fabrica 5/FoH Marketplace. I'm not sure when or if they will be available again though.