Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan (Esteli)
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano, Dominican Corojo
Size: 5.5 x 46
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $7.00 MSRP
Today we take a look at the Señorial by Jose Blanco.
Jose and Emma Blanco’s newly formed company, Las Cumbres Tabaco is the home for the Señorial. It is located in Tamboril, Dominican Republic. The Senorial is made at Jochi Blanco´s Factory, Tabacalera Palma..which was founded by the Blanco family in 1936. Many other brands and blends have been made at that factory. Tabacalera Palma is now even a member of ProCigar.
From the Las Cumbres Tabaco web site:
“Now is a good time as ever for Jose Blanco to come out with his own brand. His great grand-father, his grand-father and his father all grew tobacco back in Tamboril, Santiago, Dominican Republic – all from the Blanco-side. It was Jose´s Uncle Arnaldo Blanco who founded Tabacalera Palma in 1936, and it is now his son (meaning Jose´s first cousin) Jochi Blanco who is running the factory. Jose Blanco learned to work tobaccos with his family ever since his first cigar when he was 16 years old and onwards.
“Nonetheless, he spent 30 years working for La Empreza Leon Jimenes, former owners of La Aurora. He went from Marlboro cigarettes (without smoking them, he always only smoke cigars) to Presidente Beer, all through which he was always part of the tasting panel of La Aurora´s cigars. It was in 1999 when he was finally moved to work officially for La Aurora , for which he climbed up the ranks to Sales Director, as well as blending, all throughout those years. Blanco retired from La Aurora in 2011 in order to start his own brand, but he made a two-year-contract for his Senior Vice Presidency of Joya de Nicaragua, which was a decision based on his great interest in Nicaraguan tobaccos as blended into his chosen variety of origins. In 2013, he moved back to his Dominican roots to start working on his own.
“In February 2014, his own company, Las Cumbres Tabaco was officially founded by himself and his wife Emma Viktorsson, to carry Jose´s own cigar, Señorial. Everything about Señorial cigars and Las Cumbres Tabaco have been created within the family, from the blend (blended by himself) to the production at Tabacalera Palm, to the name and designs by Emma. See more about this story in detail in Emma Viktorsson´s blog called The Cigar Enchanteress.”
According to their web site:
“The profile of this cigar, in Jose’s words “this is a full-bodied and truly a full-flavored cigar. The flavors are rich and complex throughout the smoke, with some spice and a hint of sweetness.’”
The Señorial was released this summer and made its debut at the 2014 IPCPR trade show.
There are five sizes:
Corona Gorda No.5 5.5 X 46
Paco Robusto 5.25 X 52
Toro Bravo 6 X 54
Le Grand 6 X 60
Belicoso No.2 6.25 X 52
The Señorial by Jose Blanco, having a rustic appearance, is a nice looking stick. I am a sucker for a mottled reddish tinged brown wrapper. It doesn’t look polished and the visibility of the tobacco leaf is evident to the point of being graphic. I much prefer that to a perfect looking “painted” cigar wrapper.
The triple cap is flawless. The wrapper is silky smooth. Seams are damn near invisible. And there are small veins here and there. The cigar is packed with tobacco and not a soft spot seen, or felt, anywhere.
I like the cigar band. Ornate, but not overboard. Simple, but classy.
I clip the cap and find aromas of strong spice, sweetness, rich earthiness, mixed nuts, cedar, and leather.
Time to light up.
The draw is perfect. There is a very sweet component made up of different sweet elements. There is a very strong dried fruit flavor: raisins and figs.
And then a massive dose of red pepper assaults the senses. Wow. Now, we’re cooking.
I get a fresh bread out of the oven flavor; yeasty and buttery. There is an oiliness that feels like it is fairies dancing on my lips. (Don’t-I know you people)
The mixed nuts form into almond, hazelnut and cashew…all sweet nuts when eaten raw.
I want to thank Rene Cardona for the samples. Good guy. “Life is Good.”
The earthiness is as deep as a well on the Señorial by Jose Blanco. I can taste the soil. I can taste the air that surrounds the plants.
Here are the flavors: Sweetness, spice, rich earthiness, newly added creaminess, nuts, bread, dried fruit, cedar, and leather.
The Señorial by Jose Blanco is a damn fine cigar but with all the anticipation of its release, we all knew that would be the case. CyB is a great blend. And the Señorial takes the line another step forward.
The creaminess and dried fruit and spice make an interesting trifecta of flavors. And then a small dose of cocoa arrives.
1-1/4” into the cigar, it reaches full flavor bomb status. The balance is on point and the finish is long and chewy.
The strength is classic medium body. I can feel it snorting at the gate to be let loose and hit medium/full or even full bodied.
It is a dreary day here in Wisconsin; for a change. My photos suck.
The spiciness is still very strong. Sinus clearing strong.
The flavor profile, in just an instant, hits the uber stage of flavor bomb status. And the cigar finds its complexity.
Coffee appears. With half & half.
The second third begins. And I get a big dose of that fresh bread once again.
The sweetness wanes a bit and the earthiness really takes hold. This is not what I expected. The multi country blend has given this cigar a very unique flavor profile. It is not the typical Nicaraguan bunch of flavors. But has the best of the lot.
A reader commented asking me what unique meant. I couldn’t. For me, the word unique means something out of the ordinary; something new to the senses that cannot be quantified or explained properly as it is out of my comfort zone of describing exactly what a cigar tastes like.
The Señorial by Jose Blanco is for the very experienced palate. The multitude of flavors is almost baffling. They are subtle and nuanced; but even more than that…they meld together creating their own flavors. Ones not easily described. Especially by me.
This is one of the most complex blends I’ve smoked. It takes total concentration to appreciate what is going on.
The strength remains at medium body.
I’ve had these cigars in my humidor for a month. I’ve heard tell that they are good to go ROTT. I believe it.
I want to list the flavors once more but they are so complicated it would take an essay to do so.
Cinnamon shows itself for the first time. The blend is a cornucopia of a decadent gooey cinnamon roll, mocha latte, fruitiness, and a big blend of different nuts.
The spice is still on point. But not as pervasive as earlier.
I love this cigar.
The price point. Right on the money due to the unique complexity. I want to say, “Only $7.00?” Senor Blanco could have raped our wallets and for that I tip my hat. The Señorial by Jose Blanco is a one of a kind blend. And thus, Jose could have charged more. $9.00+ would not be out of the question. I hope Jose doesn’t read this.
I am at the halfway mark.
I highly suggest that you smoke this cigar as the first one of the day. A couple sticks under your belt, and then the Señorial by Jose Blanco will skew your palate and you will miss out on the great nuances and balance and complexity.
Rene also sent me a Toro Bravo, 6 x 54, and while it tasted great, it doesn’t have the complexity of this smaller cigar.
The last third begins.
Man, what I wouldn’t do for a box of these.
The strength makes its move to medium/full. Along with it comes some nicotine.
The construction of this cigar has been perfect. Great char line. No touch ups required. And the wrapper behaved nicely.
Due to all the tobacco packed into the cigar, I’ve invested well over an hour by this point.
The strength begins to reach full bodied.
I will try to list the flavors: Creaminess, mocha latte, dried fruit, bread, cocoa, sweetness, cedar, cinnamon, and other flavors I just cannot describe.
The Señorial by Jose Blanco is masterful blending. There aren’t a lot of places online to purchase this cigar so if you know of a good place, please list it in the comment section below the review.
I know Cigar Federation carries them. So does 2guyscigars.com, fumeecigars.com, and cigarearth.com.
The Señorial by Jose Blanco ends full bodied.
A marvelous blend. Lots of sizes to choose from. A great cigar. Kudos to Jose Blanco.
And now for something completely different (Thanks to Rene Cardona for reminding me of this story):
1975. Recording at Island Studios in London…in the Jamaican district. Food was great there.
The studio could accommodate two bands at once. So we were in Studio A and the Baker-Gurvitz Army was in Studio B. For you old timers, you remember Ginger Baker? The drummer in Cream? This was his follow up with two brothers from NYC.
I had to baby sit my girlfriend’s 3 year old daughter while she worked. I had basically finished my end of the recording. Back then, we laid down the rhythm section first and then layered the rest of the instruments.
Hanging out in the booth during the rest of recording and mixing was a blast and I certainly didn’t have anything better to do. I was a star inside that building and got treated as such.
The studio had a modest lounge. A small kitchenette and a game room…a couple of pin ball machines. I was sitting on the couch eating my lunch when the “Army” came out for a break. Ginger walks over to one of the machines and drops some coins in. He plays for a few minutes when little Jennifer slowly walks over and stands next to him, looking up. Ginger stops playing and grabs a milk crate and tilts it on one end. He motions Jennifer to stand on it. Now she’s at the perfect height to observe and even play as Ginger teaches her.
Ginger never says a word, even when a direct statement is pointed his way. He is completely focused on the game. Jennifer is making little screeches of joy as she gets the hang of it. Ginger is shaking the machine to make the ball do what he wants it to do. Jennifer imitates his motions.
They do this for an hour. The band’s manager has been telling Ginger that they need to get back into the studio. Ginger ignores him for a while, but finally relents. He asks Jennifer her name and she hugs him. His eyes widen and it was the only time in a month I saw him smile.
As the days and weeks passed in the studio, Ginger’s time at the pin ball machine got longer and longer. I was happy because little Jenny was happy. Every night, she would chatter incessantly to her mother about her new friend, Ginger. This astounded her mother and she took me aside early and asked if I was always in their company? I nodded yes. There wasn’t a weird bone in Ginger’s body when it came to Jennifer.
During this time, the band’s manager pleaded with me to leave Jennifer at home. This was costing them a fortune. He even brought in the band’s wives to volunteer to baby sit her. I refused. I told them that I didn’t know them and I wasn’t leaving her in their care.
So the manager got a hold of our manager, Miles Copeland, and pleaded with him to do something. He just shrugged it off and told him to control his talent. Not his problem.
At the end of a month, we were done in the studio. Ginger still had another month booked. It was a very tender moment when the two said good bye. Jennifer cried and hugged and hugged Ginger. She wouldn’t let go when I tried to take her away. Ginger looked at me and I could actually see tears welling. The man had still never said a word to me.
Jennifer asked every day if we were going back? She cried every time I told her no. I had never seen anything like this. Jennifer’s best friend, while in London, was Ginger Baker.
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Katman, what a nice and interesting story and it make one think about how different a person can be at the presence of an innocent little soul since he was consider a very grouchy individual; your review of the Señorial like always in all your reviews just right at point, truly you are for me and for many I’m sure a talented writer with a hell of a developed palate. Thanks for the acknowledgement.
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