Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the box pressed Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT is between light and medium brown and has some lightly raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps very well applied. There are three bands, with the primary sitting mostly on top of the secondary and both having a gold, white and green color combination. The primary denotes the line and the secondary denotes the sub-line. The foot has a forest green ribbon. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of wood and earth with some stewed fruit sweetness. The foot brings cedar, bread and stewed fruit. The pre-light draw is cedar, bread and light amounts of floral notes and spice.
Seth: The Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT is a nice looking cigar. The dark green bands really pop against the wrapper, and the wrapper has a lovely, marbled Colorado Maduro coloring. Dark tobacco coloring. Nice veins throughout with a fine grit and silky texture. Strong aromas on the cigar. Spices, leather, tobacco, earth and barnyard. Rich earth on the foot. Lovely aromas.
John: The Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT came in cellophane and did not have a UPC sticker. There was a primary Espinosa Las 6 Provincias band on top of a secondary ORT band and a tertiary green foot band ribbon. Additionally, the cigar has an artisanal complication of a firm square press shape. I weighed the cigar at 16.5 grams and measured the humidity at 61.5% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included tobacco, wood and mild hay. From the foot, I could pick out sweet tobacco and hay.
Jiunn: The Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT has an even shade of Colorado Maduro. The wrapper feels of good quality, as there’s natural essential oils. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of pungent barnyard, cedar and black tea.

Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a heavy dose of black pepper along with toasted oak and some earth. At a quarter inch in, the pepper mellows a bit, and the toasted cedar and earth are even just behind the pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper mellows significantly, and the toasted cedar and earth are now a bit ahead of the pepper. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the earth takes a slight lead over the toasted cedar. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are back to even up front, with the black pepper in the middle of the profile. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third begins with some cream and tobacco flavors. Bits of earth and cedar are present with cocoa and soft sweet spices on the finish. Some toastiness is present as well. Balanced and smoking at a medium level in terms of strength and body.
John: My initial flavor impressions are earthy tobacco, sweet spices in the center and wood to finish. Some sweet tobacco and spices team up to form the retrohale. As the first third continues, an herbal note moves into the center of the retrohale. That note is balanced against the tobacco and spices and serves as a flavor accent. Passing the 25 minute mark, cocoa also moves into the retrohale. By the bottom half of the first third, wood is leading the post draw.
Jiunn: There’s a surprising amount of subtleties in the cigar that puts me off my game. There’s no classic Espinosa red pepper spice kick upfront. Instead, it’s a soft combination of layered mixed nuts, dry cedar and black/red pepper spice. Retrohaling awakens the palate with increased dried red pepper spice and cedar. The finish is short, with layered mixed nuts and dry cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth takes a slight lead again and the pepper is now very mellow. At a half inch in, some creamy leather joins the profile. The retrohale is now just toasted cedar and earth. As the third comes to a close, the earth is a bit ahead of the toasted cedar, with black pepper and creamy leather in the back half of the profile. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third sees a rise in the spice and earth notes, but it is still balanced. There are some cocoa and earth qualities present, cream and tobacco also, and the finish has some sweet spices with cedar. Again, medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy tobacco greets me in the second third, as wood follows and finishes. The wood on the post draw takes on some mild dryness. As the second third settles in, the profile consists of creamy tobacco, chocolate in the center, medium strength spices to follow and the same spices along with wood to finish. That profile remains consistent as the cigar moves towards the halfway point. In the bottom half, wood has moved into the center of the profile, displacing the chocolate. The profile in the bottom half is creamy spices and tobacco, with wood in the center and finish.
Jiunn: There’s no changes to the second third. The profile continues to show much of the same subtleties as the first third (layered mixed nuts, dry cedar, black/red pepper spice) except for the retrohale. I wish the intensity of flavors on the mouth draws matched the retrohales. Strength and body remains medium.

Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the creamy leather picks up a bit. At a half inch in, the black pepper picks up a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth with some creamy leather. At an inch and a quarter in, the black pepper is now right behind the toasted cedar. As the cigar wraps up, the earth is just ahead of the toasted cedar, with black pepper a bit further behind and creamy leather in the middle of the profile. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third has a nice creaminess with sweet pepper spice. Tobacco, earth and cedar are present as well. Some toastiness like before. The cocoa notes are much softer in this third, but it still delivers a great profile while smoking at that medium level in strength and body.
John: Creamy tobacco is again the leading note, earth and spices form up in the center, and wood and spices define the finish. Through the post draw, the spices jump from a light-plus strength up to medium. Tannic wood joins the post draw as the last third settles in. Those tannins continue to build in intensity, reaching medium strength as the cigar progresses to the halfway point. In the bottom half, earth has joined the post draw.
Jiunn: The final third shows the exact same profile as the second third with subtleties through mouth draws but proper levels of intensity of flavors through retrohales. At this point, the flavor profile feels mundane and disengaging. Strength and body remains the same medium.

Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times, and the cigar went out once, requiring a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: Beautiful burn from start to finish.
John: The burn line was straight for the first and second thirds, and developed some waviness at times in the last third.
Jiunn: No issues with the burn performance, providing a relatively sharp burn, cool burning temperatures and solid ashes.

Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: Great draw from beginning to end.
John: The draw was at most one notch towards the resistant spectrum, putting it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: The draw had the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a heavy dose of black pepper along with toasted oak and some earth. The earth mellowed fairly quickly and then a fair amount more and the earth took a slight lead in the profile. The second third saw some creamy leather join in. The final third saw the pepper bump up a fair amount and the leather just a bit. The Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around the earth and toasted cedar. The creamy leather was nice, but didn’t do enough to elevate the profile. This iteration is fairly on par with the last couple of iterations and I don’t see it as a cigar I’d really come back to.
Seth: The Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT is probably my favorite Las 6 Provincias. It’s right there with the CMW. I loved the flavor profile produced, and the cigar remained balanced throughout. There was a lot going on while smoking at a solid medium level for strength and body. It has a flavor profile that every cigar smoker will enjoy, and it is approachable to all smokers with strength and body. I gave Espinosa a hard time for having these made at San Lotano, but I am understanding the reason more and more each year. I have smoked multiple of these and look forward to smoking more in the future with some age on them.
John: The Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT is another strong release candidate in the Las 6 Provincias portfolio. Overall, I found the strength and body to be softer and more nuanced than some of the previous offerings. Construction was on point for both the draw and burn. I’m not sure what I expected going into the review, but the strength was restrained, the flavors were balanced and I was provided an enjoyable and engaging smoking experience that I will happily seek out again. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 24 minutes.
Jiunn: This Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT was not the Espinosa style of cigars that I have come to know and enjoy. The flavor profile had too many subtleties. That and a fairly linear flavor range equated to a cigar that was right down the middle average experience. I expected more out of this line.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.40

Cost/Point

$3.33

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

8.23

Cost/Point

$2.19

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$2.64

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$3.13

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Espinosa Las 6 Provincias ORT