Pre-light Experience

Seth: The LaVega Il Cane is finished with a lovely Colorado wrapper. It is this light red clay coloring, and it has a very fine grit texture to touch. The cigar is rolled well, and it is firm throughout. Veins are small in size, and the cigar is giving off aromas of warm spices, dry earth, wood, tobacco and cocoa powder. Appears to be a robusto extra.
John: The LaVega Il Cane has a Colorado color wrapper approaching Colorado Rosado, and it appears to be a Robusto vitola, or slightly larger in ring gauge than a typical Robusto. I weighed the cigar at 17.5 grams and measured the humidity at 66.3% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included medium-strength dry wood with light barnyard underneath. From the foot, I was getting sweet tobacco leading, followed by dry wood.
Jiunn: The LaVega Il Cane has a natural Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give that good ol’ barnyard stanky stank.

LaVega Il Cane

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with sharp spices that are paired with dry earth, tobacco and wood. Some leather notes are present with a pepper spice finish that lingers on the palate. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with baking spices and wood teaming up to lead off, while sweet tobacco and baking spices also combine through the retrohale. Mild earth and char enter the finish as I find myself struggling to get adequate smoke production. Baking spices on the retrohale move up to medium strength, and the smoke production improves at roughly an inch in. Tobacco sweetness joins the retrohale lead at medium minus strength. Moving toward the halfway point, wood takes the lead through the retrohale, but by the halfway point, the baking spices have pushed back to take over. Musty tobacco joins the finish through the bottom half of the first third.
Jiunn: The first third has mundane flavors of cedar, baking spices and leather. Retrohaling wakes me up a little with assertive dried red pepper spice. The finish gives aged cedar and medium tannins. Strength and body is medium.

LaVega Il Cane

Second Third

Seth: The second third is in line with the first. Sharp spices with dry earth, tobacco, wood and leather. Pepper notes on the finish with some coffee. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: The second third gets going with musty wood and light plus strength earth through the finish. As the second third settles in, tannic wood joins the finish and has some edge to it. Tannic, mildly dry wood defines the post draw as the second third continues. By the halfway point, the profile becomes primarily wood driven, with some light plus strength baking spices adding an accent.
Jiunn: The second third ups the complexities by introducing anise but the overall vibe is still mundane with the same remaining flavors of cedar, baking spices and leather. Strength and body continues to be medium.

LaVega Il Cane

Final Third

Seth: The final third is in line with the second, but I am also getting some mineral notes on the finish. Medium-full to full in strength and body.
John: The last third begins with baking spices and wood taking the lead, with dryness accenting the wood through the center of the profile. The baking spices linger on the post draw at roughly light plus strength. The dryness and tannins increase as the last third continues. There is increasing bitterness through the finish by the halfway point of the final third.
Jiunn: The final third is still humdrum with the same flavors of anise, cedar, baking spices and leather. As I’m listing these flavors, you would think the experience wouldn’t be boring but it is, lacking character and deepness of flavors. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

LaVega Il Cane

Burn

Seth: The burn is terrible from start to finish.
John: As with every review, I lit the cigar with my Xikar Tactical single torch lighter. The cigar struggled to burn immediately and was uneven as it continued. The burn eventually straightened out but went out at the halfway point, requiring a re-light. The burn remained straight through the second third. It struggled again in the last third, threatening to stall.
Jiunn: Flawless burn with even burn, tight ashes, cool burning temperatures and plenty smoke production.

LaVega Il Cane

Draw

Seth: The draw is fairly restricted throughout the cigar.
John: As with every review, I used my Colibri SV to make a V-cut. I measured the draw with the Cigar Medics draw machine at 40 inches of water. Subjectively, the draw was one and a half to two notches into the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: Flawless draw as well striking the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The LaVega Il Cane comes off as a Dominican blend. It has that dryer spice, with a lot of wood and tobacco notes that you get with Dominican tobacco. It also burned terribly from start to finish. The draw was restricted throughout, which took away from the smoking experience, and what was left was a one-dimensional flavor profile of leather, dried wood, tobacco, dry earth and warm spices.
John: Blind Cigar #1615 starts with some potentially interesting components, particularly the combination of baking spices, wood and sweet tobacco, but the smoking experience never really manages to develop into a balanced profile. The opening is immediately complicated by poor smoke production and a burn that struggles to establish itself. While both issues improve somewhat after the first inch, the initial difficulty sets the tone for what becomes an increasingly challenging cigar. The first third does offer some movement. Baking spices build to medium strength through the retrohale before wood takes over, only for the baking spices to push back again by the halfway point. Tobacco sweetness provides another layer, and musty tobacco eventually joins the finish. There is enough evolution here to keep the profile from being completely static, but the combination of wood, earth, char and inconsistent smoke production makes the experience less cohesive than it could be. The second third narrows the profile considerably. Musty wood becomes the dominant characteristic, with light plus earth and tannic wood adding support. The tannic wood develops an edge and increasingly defines the post draw, while the baking spices retreat into more of an accent role. By the halfway point, the cigar has become primarily wood driven, with relatively little remaining to offset the dryness and tannins. The final third takes that progression further in the wrong direction. Baking spices and wood initially lead, but increasing dryness and tannins begin to dominate the center of the profile. By the halfway point, bitterness has joined the finish, further unbalancing an already dry and tannic profile. The result is a final third that becomes increasingly difficult to enjoy as the cigar progresses. Construction is mixed. The draw is very good and remains comfortably within a usable range, but the burn struggles repeatedly. It is uneven early, goes out around the halfway point, and then threatens to stall again in the final third. Those issues don’t completely prevent the cigar from being smoked, but they add another layer of frustration to an already challenging flavor experience. Ultimately, the LaVega Il Cane never quite finds the balance suggested by its initial combination of sweet tobacco and baking spices. There are moments of interest, particularly when the baking spices and tobacco sweetness are working together through the first third, but those moments are increasingly overwhelmed by dry, tannic wood as the cigar progresses. The growing bitterness in the final third compounds the problem, leaving the cigar with a profile that becomes progressively less balanced and less enjoyable. Combined with the inconsistent burn and struggle to produce consistent smoke, the overall experience lands firmly in the Subpar range. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Jiunn: Mundane. Common and boring: It describes routine tasks or everyday life that lack excitement or novelty. For example: “Smoking the LaVega Il Cane is a mundane chore.” Easy pass for me.

Seth Geise

SCORE

4.90

Cost/Point

$2.14

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

4.68

Cost/Point

$2.24

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.83

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: LaVega Il Cane