Wrapper: Nicaraguan Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6.12 x 58 Toro Extra ~ Box Pressed
Strength: Full
Price: $15.00
Date Released: April 2026
Quantity Released: Limited
Factory: San Lotano Factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
This is a Long Tall Sally of a cigar. Espinosa took some real pride in this stick’s presentation. Smooth coffee colored wrapper with an oily sheen not unlike the high polish I keep on the body parts I still use.
Back in the 1840’s, when Espinosa was in his teens, he came up with the 601 La Bomba. I bought a box and there was a warning on the lid about its strength. Great marketing idea. Flies swarming to detritus…but in this case, the cigar was pure gold with full color hallucinations.
Since that 2012 debut, lots of cigar blenders followed suit and made stronger cigars. The original La Bomba isn’t as strong as I remember. Hence, the release of limited editions over the years that up the strength and finds other sizes to play with.
First at bat is a deep, dark chocolate that is pure cacao. There is creaminess along with a sweet caramel that is food for the nostrils. Before I go further, this blend ain’t nothing new in terms of a Nic puro. I smell the same things I smell in most Nic blends: Licorice, espresso, cinnamon, peanuts, bread, heavy malt, lemon citrus, cedar, barnyard, and dried fruit.
The cold draw presents flavors of dark bittersweet chocolate, espresso, licorice, malt, caramel, vanilla, creaminess, dried fruit, sweet bread, and carraway seeds.
Thank goodness the cigar is rolled by professionals instead of retired prisoners of the New Jersey shore. The flow of air is on the money. I gently lift my PerfecDraw and place it in its oxygen filled Lucite case, so it doesn’t age. I used a hyperbaric device for a while but a nearby data center put the kibosh on that.
Right away, the cigar blend sings to me…arias from Puccini, symphonics from Bach, violin concertos from Vivaldi, and Best of The Archies 1965-1965.
A tease of complexity hits the airwaves. There are sweet notes of stone fruit, vanilla ice cream, black licorice, chocolate nougat, intense maltiness from an English Guinness, caramel, black cherries, cedar, and black pepper.
The strength is toying with me. It is merely at an easy going medium. As I have smoked two sticks prior to this review, I know the dastardly deed this blend plans for me. The second half will require that you hire an Esperanto translator to make any sense of my garbled verbiage.
The cigar is packed to the gullets…gallstones? Mood stones? The pubic bone? In other words, a very slow roll here.
Strength, after only half an inch, strides up to medium/full. I feel the effects of being lost in the inner city and asking folks if they can release the pressure on my brain.
Savory kicks in with notes of beef jerky, buttered corn bread, and marsupial jelly.
Balance is invaluable to this blend. Sweet v. Savory is right there and will get better. Strength is heightening and I already feel my vision dissipating. Only 4-1/2” to go.
As strong as the cigar is becoming, it maintains an even keel of smooth and erotic behaviors…I say erotic because my boxers are bunched up around my jaunty naughty bits.
And then Courteney Cox jumps on stage with The Boss. A deeper, richer complexity hits my palate like a mohel out of control and drunk. I’ve been circumcised 3 times. By accident of course. Unfortunately, there was no Krazy Glue in 1950. My dad used a caulking gun to put back some of the penile flesh that looked like sauteed mushrooms. I know, too visionistic.
The blend becomes a stunning example of richness, transitions and finish. I get a slit of root beer now. As well as a Fleet enema cocktail with bourbon back.
Sammy the cat stands nearby holding the defibrillator paddles. He is a patient feline. I just never know when he’ll yell, “Clear!”
We now have full tilt.
This behemoth of strength cauterizes my natural openings. And then my colostomy bag fills instantly with katman juice.
Have I ever mentioned that it was Copeland and I that played on the old hit, “Year of the Cat” by Al Stewart? We got conned into playing with him in the studio when we were mixing the 1975 Curved Air Live album at Air Studio. Naturally, we got no credit and no dough. The first time I heard that song was after I returned to the States and wondered why the song sounded so familiar. And when I saw Copeland in Santa Barbara in 1980, the first thing I asked Stewart was if that was us playing? His older brother, Miles, just smiled and walked away. I can’t listen to the song and I doubt you will either.
I keep finding myself just staring at the laptop screen. I can’t move. I can’t write. We could have killed Castro with this cigar.
I couldn’t finish the first two sticks I smoked. I will finish this cigar even if it causes brain damage and turns me into a trombone player.
No idea how I got here.
This is the strongest cigar I’ve smoked in years.
I need to pee, but I can’t get up from my chair.
Sips of water unleash a cornucopia of flavors. Everything I’ve described is in the mix.
It is difficult to be funny or clever when the brain shuts down. I’m struggling just to stay conscious.
I’m now further into the cigar that I’ve gotten previously. I’m now in the unassailable mode.
Still, a very smooth blend. No sudden lurches. I try to slow down and be more careful of my input. Remember when you were 12 and you got your first BJ with a girl wearing braces…it’s like that.
I still carry those scars.
The complex nature of this cigar has been on a true path. Never wavering. Always balanced and smooth.
I don’t recommend smoking this cigar on an empty stomach…like me. What was I thinking?
I see people I don’t know in that tunnel of light. Most wave me on by.
I know why Espinosa made this a limited edition…Liability and illegal aftereffects.
My personality dissolves into a flaccid no man’s land.
If you can man up and aren’t prone to sudden crying, this is the cigar for you.
My sponsor Cigar Page sells the 10-count box for $112.50 instead of the retail $150. If you’re a Page Plus member, that box price drops down to $86.26.
RATING: 94
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
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