Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu is nice in presentation. It is pressed well and finished with a light maduro wrapper. It has a chocolate coloring. The wrapper sports few veins, has a little bit of tooth and has a fine grit texture with some leather qualities. It is firm throughout with an aroma of rich earth, tobacco, dark chocolate, damp wood and warm spices.
John: The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu features a Colorado Maduro wrapper, approaching full Maduro darkness, with an artisanal complication of a soft box press. I weighed the cigar at 16.7 grams and measured the humidity with the HumidiMeter Pro at 63.8%. Aromas from the wrapper were aged wood and barnyard, with supporting notes of hay. From the foot, I was picking up mild sweet tobacco and hay.
Jiunn: The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu has a Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. The wrapper feels and looks of good quality with a fine grit sandpaper smoothness to it. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of slight campfire and barnyard.

Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with lovely earth and tobacco notes. Bits of wood and chocolate are present with some sweet spices and mineral notes. Some lead qualities on the finish, but subtle. Nice balance with the cigar and flavor profile. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with a blast of medium-full strength black pepper, combined with earth, while sweet tobacco trails underneath. The post draw is dominated by full pepper early on. As the first third settles in, some wood moves into the post draw and the black pepper reduces in intensity, backing down to medium-full and flirting with medium strength. Around the 20-minute mark, the retrohale takes on more nuance as baking spices and pastry notes emerge, coinciding with the pepper calming further to medium-minus strength. Chocolate joins the retrohale shortly thereafter, adding welcome depth.
Jiunn: The first third provides medium strength and body profile. Flavors consist of dry cocoa, leather and minerals. On the retrohale, there’s a nice burst of red pepper spice followed by cedar and mixed nuts. The finish is fairly long but quite drying on the palate with leather and dry cocoa.

Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu

Second Third

Seth: The second third was in line with the first. Earth, tobacco, wood and chocolate notes. Some sweet spices with mineral qualities as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: The cigar transitions into the second third with a combination of creamy pepper, chocolate, tobacco sweetness and earth. Wood joins the profile through the center of the retrohale, while leather enters the post draw as the second third settles in. Approaching the halfway point, the profile becomes more structured and cohesive: creamy wood leads, spices and pepper combine through the center and wood is joined by leather on the post draw.
Jiunn: The second third is highly (more) earthy, being dirt and mineral driven. The finish lengthens but in a worse way as it’s highlighting more of the dry and tannic leather. Strength and body remains medium.

Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu

Final Third

Seth: The final third is fairly in line with the first and second. A little bit more mineral qualities are present. Core flavor profile of earth, tobacco, wood, chocolate and sweet spices. Like the first two thirds, medium in strength and body.
John: The final third opens with creamy wood, with mild spices and wood combining through the finish. Tobacco sweetness returns and settles into the post draw. As the last third continues, baking spices, wood and earth define the retrohale, while light-plus lingering pepper remains present on the post draw. By the halfway point of the final third, earth joins the post draw at medium strength, slightly tilting the balance of the profile.
Jiunn: The final third shows no changes from the second third. It’s still highly earthy with dirt and minerals, combined with a plethora of tannins and palate drying leather and dry cocoa. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu

Burn

Seth: The burn was good from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the first third before becoming briefly uneven. It corrected itself and remained straight through both the second and final thirds without requiring intervention.
Jiunn: Burn was nearly perfect. The only dock is the flowery ashes consistent throughout the entire cigar.

Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu

Draw

Seth: The draw was perfect throughout.
John: I measured the draw at 30 inches of water with the Cigar Medics draw machine. Subjectively, the draw was squarely in the ideal range, earning an Amazing draw score.
Jiunn: The draw was perfect, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu was an average to good cigar. I will go with average, and the reasoning behind that is the final third. The final third is somewhat flat when compared with the opening of the cigar. The cigar somewhat plateaued in the second third, and it didn’t have enough to keep my interest in the final third. The burn and draw were not a problem, and the ash held on well throughout. Nice core flavors of earth, tobacco, wood, chocolate and sweet spices.
John: The Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu delivers a confident and engaging experience, particularly through its first two thirds, where bold pepper, chocolate, baking spices and evolving secondary notes come together in a way that feels deliberate rather than aggressive. The opening blast of pepper immediately grabs attention, but what stands out most is how quickly that intensity settles and allows more nuanced flavors to emerge. The transition from raw pepper into pastry notes, baking spices and chocolate gives the cigar a sense of progression early on, and the second third builds on that foundation with improved balance and cohesion. The addition of leather and creamy wood helps round out the profile, creating a satisfying middle portion that feels complete and well-structured. In the final third, the cigar loses some of that earlier complexity as earth and wood begin to dominate. While the flavors remain pleasant and the strength stays controlled, the profile becomes more straightforward, lacking the dynamic interplay that defined the earlier sections. Construction is excellent throughout, with an ideal draw and a largely self-correcting burn that allows the cigar to be enjoyed without distraction. Taken as a whole, the Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu earns its Good rating by offering a strong opening, a well-balanced and flavorful middle and a respectable finish. It’s a cigar that rewards attention early and maintains enough composure throughout to leave a positive final impression, even if it doesn’t fully sustain its early highs to the end. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 34 minutes.
Jiunn: One of my least favorite characteristic of a cigar is having a dry palate. This takes away from the spotlight of flavors and requires a lot of water breaks. This Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu gave me all of this and it was to the point where I looked forward to finishing, especially with all the ashes falling on my lap. Easy pass for me.

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.25

Cost/Point

$2.56

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$2.35

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$2.83

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu