Pre-light Experience

A dark brown wrapper with a few gnarly looking veins protruding and carrying a slightly lighter color to them. The seams are barely visible. There appears to be three well applied caps with the top cap finished with a twist that is snapped off. The cigar has a slight press to it. I can’t say that I detect anything from the wrapper, and the aroma from the foot is a very faint leather. The pre-light draw brings a more pronounced leather and some hay along with a slight spicy tingle to my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The 601 La Bomba Warhead III has a thick and hearty maduro shade wrapper. The box pressed cigar feels well bunched and rolled, providing a uniformed give. Veins are roughly pressed and seams tight, but visible. Cap is well applied being triple wrapped and thick. Nosing the wrapper gives a mixture of hay, white pepper and bread. Nosing the foot tells sweet and creamy dried nuts and white pepper. Cold draw tells a sense of meatiness, dry red chilis and dry wood.

First Third

Initial draws are very earthy with some black pepper in the background. At a half inch in, the pepper goes away and a very earthy profile remains. The black pepper is present on the retrohale where it carries quite a bite. At an inch in, a bit of coffee comes in to mix with the earthiness. The pepper on the retrohale has settled way down and moved to the background while a creamy woodiness has taken over. At two inches in, some cream joins the profile of earth and coffee to create a very nice mix of flavors. The strength was right at medium.

First Third

First third’s dominant notes are heated spiciness in the form of dry red chilis and hay. Secondary flavors consist of leather and bitter dark chocolate. Inch in, a noticeable and distinct creamed sweetness develops. Through retrohaling, a great mixture of sweet and spicy. Specifically, heated dry red chilis, creamed nuttiness, bread, sweet cream and sharp oak. The finish coats my palate with spicy dry red chilis, oak and dry nuts. In terms of strength and body, somewhere in between medium and medium-full.

Second Third

As this third begins, it’s a lot of creamy earth with some coffee in the background. At a half inch in, the earthiness morphs into an oak note and the creaminess has increased slightly. The retrohale is primarily cream with some of the oak in the background. At an inch in, a bit of pepper comes back into the profile to mix with the creamy oak. At two inches in, the pepper goes away and the oak transitions back to an earthiness while the cream remains. The strength in this third was right at medium.

Second Third

Moving onto the second third, the cigar picks up more cream and sweetness. The heated dry red chilis is toned down by around 40%. The profile loses it’s hay characteristic but maintains the same levels of leather and bitter dark chocolate. Through the nose, still a sweet and spicy delivery providing generic strong black pepper, creamed bread, dry nuts and sharp oak. The finish’s spice level also dies down, giving namely oak and dry nuts. Body and strength continues to be somewhere in between medium and medium-full mark.

Final Third

As this third begins, it is creamy earthiness. Three quarters of an inch in, the earth transitions back to oak with a little bitterness and the cream remains. At an inch and a half in, some mintiness takes over the profile with the creaminess now in the background and the oak going away. This is the profile the cigar finishes with. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

I’m mainly honed in on the sweetness and creaminess within the last third. There’s a tasty mixture of creamy bread and almost caramel like sweetness. Other notes still remain, ie bitter dark chocolate, toned down dry red chilis and leather. The retrohale remains unchanged, still providing generic strong black pepper, creamed bread, dry nuts and sharp oak. The finish also remains unchanged, still giving toned down spice, oak and dry nuts. Body and strength finishes somewhere in between medium and medium-full.

Burn

The burn line was pretty good the entire way although the cigar did go out on me once in the second third and required a re-light. The ash held on in one inch increments.

Burn

The burn was perfect. Slow burning cigar with total smoking time finishing at the two hour mark. Ashes held on tight, averaging 1.5 inch increments. Burn line was sharp, never needing a touch-up or re-light.

Draw

The draw was just slightly tighter than I prefer.

Overall

This cigar has a nice earthy profile with some welcome transitions between that and some oak. The creaminess that came in and out was welcome. A medium level strength profile makes it approachable to most smokers and those that enjoy lanceros may find something they really enjoy here. Definitely something the reach for when you’re looking for a darker profile. I could definitely see myself enjoying more of these in the future.

Draw

The draw although good, was on the tighter end of the spectrum, but not enough to pay close attention to.

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed the consistency of especially the dry red chili, bitter dark chocolate and leather notes. The most captivating part was the sweet cream delivery, helping the overall profile to be less spice and earth focused. In a market where there is quite a lack of thin ring gauge cigars (especially Connecticut broadleaf ones), this one provides enough uniqueness that warrants a must try.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.53

Cost/Point

$1.68

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.93

Cost/Point

$1.58

Scoring System