Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is medium brown with some darker marbling present throughout. One medium sized vein running down the back of the cigar along with some smaller veins towards the foot. The seams are barely visible and smooth. The head is finished off with a well applied triple cap while the foot is almost entirely covered with excess wrapper folded over. Two bands are present with the standard Southern Draw band being the primary. The secondary band denotes the line name. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of barnyard and leather while the foot presents more leather along with some cherry sweetness peeking out through the small opening of the foot. The cold draw brings a nice creamy leather with a pretty spicy tingle on my lips.

First Third

Initial draws bring a mix of wood, earthiness and black pepper. At a half inch in, the pepper settles down some and the earthiness goes away as the wood and newly joined coffee note is up front. At an inch and a quarter, the coffee and wood notes are working well with some pepper in the background. The retrohale is primarily pepper with a nice zing. As the third comes to a close, the coffee becomes darker and more prominent with the wood in the middle and pepper in the background. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the coffee settles back down and the wood moves up front. There is still some pepper in the background. At an inch in, the wood and coffee become even again. The retrohale is now a mix of wood and slight pepper. At an inch and a half, the coffee note goes away and the wood becomes a bit darker while slight pepper still remains in the background. As the third comes to a close, a creamy coffee note joins in with the wood. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, some bitterness joins the wood and pushes out the creamy coffee note. At a half inch in, the wood gains some char to it while a little bitterness remains in the background. The retrohale carries the charred wood as well. This is the profile the cigar finishes out with. The strength in this third was medium-full.

Burn

The burn was perfect as it was razor sharp the entire way. The ash held on in one inch increments.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

This is a serviceable cigar from Southern Draw. Not one of my favorites, but not bad by any means. It represents a typical cigar that I find that comes from AJ Fernandez’s factory with a similar flavor profile. Construction was fantastic and if you are already a Southern Draw or AJ Fernandez fan, it’s definitely something you should try. Lancero fans won’t be disappointed either as it has great performance. Not a bad cigar to introduce someone to the brand.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.13

Cost/Point

$1.47

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Southern Draw Firethorn Pome Lancero