Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is medium brown with a slight orange tint to it. There are a couple of veins that run down one side of the cigar and the seams are smooth but pretty easily visible. The torpedo head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. The band is primarily black and brown along with some gold lettering and silver artwork. The aroma from the wrapper is a pretty sweet hay while the foot gives off a mix of wood and raisin. The pre-light draw brings a faint leather note.

Pre-light Experience

The Bandolero Pack II Traviesos has a gorgeous, shiny, medium brown wrapper. Veins are well pressed and seams are tight and visible. The torpedo style pointed head is done to perfection with a well adhered, thick triple cap. Bunch and roll feels well done providing a uniformed give throughout. Nosing the wrapper tells cedar, hay and subtle black pepper. Nosing the foot gives sharp black pepper, cardboard and hay. Cold draw notes consists of hay, dry wood and lightly toasted nuts.

First Third

Initial draws bring a mix of wood and baking spice. After a few draws, the wood note really ramps up and the baking spice is just a background note. At a half inch in, the baking spice in the background transitions to black pepper which is a little fuller, but still in the background. The retrohale also carries the same ratio of wood to pepper. At an inch in, the black pepper has reduced a bit. At an inch and a quarter, the wood gains a nice char and the pepper has completely left the profile. As the third comes to a close, the char reduces as some cream joins the profile. The strength in this third was right at medium.

First Third

The first third has copious amount of nuttiness and toastiness. Specifically, notes of toasted nuts and lightly charred oak. There’s also balanced black pepper and slight meatiness working well off the other notes. Through retrohaling, deeper notes of black pepper and toasted nuts. The finish is primarily lingering with a moderately dry wood. Strength and body is at the medium mark.

Second Third

As the third begins, some pepper rejoins the profile to mix with the wood and cream. At a half inch in, the pepper leaves again and some char joins with the wood and cream. The retrohale is a slightly charred wood. At three quarters of an inch, the char increases which causes the cream to drop back a bit. At an inch and a quarter, some bitterness joins in with the charred wood while the cream has completely left the profile. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Second Third

The second third shows the black pepper spice moving towards the background, leaving me with a profile that is centered around toasted nuts, slight meatiness and lightly charred oak. The retrohale still has deeper notes of toasted nuts and black pepper, but also picks up hay. The finish still lingers with moderately dry wood, in addition to a balanced black pepper. Strength and body continues to be at the medium mark.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the profile is charred wood and slight bitterness with some cream that returns. At a quarter inch in, the bitterness backs off to just the finish. At a half inch in, the cigar begins to warm up a bit as the ring gauge starts to decrease. At three quarters of an inch, the char drops back and lets the wood take front stage. The bitterness is completely gone. As the cigar comes to a close, a creamy nuttiness joins with the wood. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

The last third becomes less complex leaving me with namely drying wood and layered black pepper. The retrohale is my favorite part, still giving deeper notes of black pepper and toasted nuts. The finish is a combination of dry wood and sharper black pepper spice. Strength and body finishes at the medium mark.

Burn

There were some slight waves here and there, but overall it was very straight. The ash held on in one inch increments.

Burn

The burn was quite a let down. Three major touch-ups was the culprit. Vast majority of the wrapper refused to burn within the entire smoking experience. Ashes were slightly flaky, averaging 1 inch self tapped ash marks. Smoking time however was good, clocking in at 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Draw

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

Overall

Not a lot in the way of transitions, but the flavor profile was solid in the first third and then became fairly average the rest of the way. The great performance allowed me to just focus on the flavors which is always appreciated. I know that this line gets lost with the Atabey and Byron getting most of the attention, but this is still a pretty solid smoke. I would be very interested in trying some of the other vitolas in this line to see what differences I may come across. I would definitely recommend picking one up to give a try.

Draw

The draw was very good especially considering the torpedo style head. Just a tad on the tighter end of the spectrum but nonetheless, fantastic.

Overall

This was an overall average cigar for me. Although I did enjoy the plethora of toastiness and nuttiness, the major touch-ups directed my attention from fully enjoying the flavors. For a premium cigar with a price tag on the higher end at $12, I expect better construction performance. Hopefully this is a one off situation and Aaron had better burn performance than me.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$2.00

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.93

Cost/Point

$2.02

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Bandolero Pack II Traviesos