Being a little late to the game when it came to trying the FDG line I missed some opportunities to write about their products closer to the time they were released. After meeting Yadi at an event and trying a few of her cigars I decided to write about a few of them anyway just incase anyone else was behind like I was. I decided to start with the RA Lancero, even though this cigar has been out for nearly 3 years and was a limited production of 1,500 boxes of 20 you can still find some with relative ease if you know where to look.

The over all look of the wrapper is dark espresso in color with a slightly lighter color near the veins and has a slight oily sheen to it. Veins are clearly visible but are light, there is a small amount of toothiness but still mostly smooth to the touch. The roll looks solid and the seams are tight, the cigar feels nice and spongy through the entire stick with no apparent empty spots.

The smell from the body is sweet like smoky chocolate. The foot is covered but I remove the covering to get a better smell. From the foot the odor is very sweet and candy like with rich cedar notes, similar to a sweet unflavored pipe tobacco.

The cap has a small pigtail to it, which cuts easily and cleanly with no issues. The cigar lights with no trouble and immediately produces a good amount of smoke. The draw offers a fair amount of resistance but it isn’t a struggle.

Through the first third the flavors have a bit of spice with charred oak and fruit and a touch of pepper. These flavors slowly change to a bitter dark chocolate, leather and spice when approaching the halfway point and up to the final third.

In the final third those chocolate, leather and spice notes move to the back and all but disappear leaving a rich sweet tobacco flavor. It shoves its way to the front pulling a slight taste of graham cracker with it. Throughout the smoke the ash stays a medium to dark grey color falling off about every ¼ inch or so.

I’ve really been enjoying the catalog from FDG cigars and the lancero has been a lot of fun to smoke. It has great complex flavors that pair well with most drinks however I would recommend a nice bourbon, (I preferred mine when I had it with a Bookers over when I had Elmer T Lee) and the price point won’t break the bank. I recommend tracking these down and stocking up since once they are gone they are gone.

 

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano

Binder: Nicaraguan Habano

Filler: Nicaragua

Vitola: 7” x 38 Lancero

Price: Around $7.50

Website: Fdgcigars.com