Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is light brown and the areas around the slightly raised veins carry an even lighter color to them. The seams are very well hidden, even with the color variations of the wrapper. The head has a single cap that is finished off with a twist and has a small flag from it. The single band is the new style for the brand and is in blue, black, silver and red. The aroma from the wrapper is an aromatic barnyard while the foot brings a mix of graham cracker and leather. The pre-light draw brings a sweet wood note.

Pre-light Experience

Let me begin by saying this is not a Lancero. It is more of a Lonsdale than anything. It is well rolled and is finished with a nice pigtail cap. The wrapper has a nice coloring that is between Natural and Colorado, and there are some decent sized veins present throughout. The wrapper is smooth in texture showing some oils here and there. The foot of the cigar showing this light cedar and musty wood aroma, and it is paired with some mushroom and vegetation like qualities. There is this grassiness present as well, and it is light and enjoyable. The wrapper is giving off a floral like quality and with that is some soft spice and leather. The cold draw is smooth and is delivering those qualities from the foot.

Pre-light Experience

The Villiger La Flor de Ynclan Lancero Especial has a striking black, blue and silver accented band. The wrapper on the cigar is a smooth milk chocolate with pigtail cap. Nosing the wrapper, I pick up barnyard, hay and aged wood. In the foot, the barnyard and hay are intensified, and there is also some sour citrus.

Pre-light Experience

The Villiger La Flor de Ynclan Lancero Especial has a nice medium leather brown wrapper with a slick and silky feel. Bunch and roll is fairly loose but it is even. Veins are well pressed, seams tight and the flared cap is well wrapped. Aromas from the wrapper give pungent barnyard and bread yeast. Aromas from the foot introduce a white pepper spice and mixed nuts. Cold draw tells mixed nuts and aged cedar.

First Third

The cigar begins with an abundance of smooth wood, cream and baking spice. At a quarter inch in, the cream and baking spice become even fuller. At an inch in, the cream and spice settle in as the wood takes the lead of the profile again. The retrohale carries the same group of flavors but with the cream in front. At an inch and three quarters, the wood gains a toasted note. As the third comes to a close, the cream ramps up to take the lead over the toasted wood while the baking spice mellows out. The strength in this third was slightly below medium.

First Third

The first third begins with a nice bit of rich spices and it has some peppery qualities to it. I am picking up some nutmeg to the cigar, cinnamon as well and it has some sugary qualities also. There are some floral and herbal notes with that and it has a creamy and nutty finish while still showing some peppery spice. I would classify the strength as being medium to medium-full and the body and flavors are at a full level.

First Third

The flavors open with bright wood and cocoa. The retrohale has mild baking spices and green wood on the post draw. As I take each new draw, the retrohale builds in intensity and complexity. Once the first third settles in, some sweetness joins in with clover or heather vegetal notes. At the halfway point, the green wood has evolved into sweet cedar.

First Third

The first third does a good job of lathering the palate with certainly more robust flavors as compared to the thicker ring gauged formats. Flavors of baking spices, cedar, coffee beans, a well managed palate coating black pepper spice and bread. Through retrohaling, citrus, cedar and black pepper comes forward. The finish is fairly earthy with namely leather and cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the toasted wood and cream are at even levels while the baking spice is in the background. At an inch in, the cream fades back significantly while the wood remains up front although it has lost its toast note. The retrohale carries a creamy wood. At an inch and three quarters, the cream ramps back up to become even with the wood. As the third comes to a close, the profile of creamy wood become a bit fuller. The strength in this third bumped up to right at medium.

Second Third

I am in the second third of the cigar now and it is showing some great transitioning from the first third. The peppery spice notes have dialed back some and it is showing more creamy and nutty qualities with after notes of pepper and sweet spice. It is not as sweet as it was in the first third, but showing some more toasty and dry wood notes. There is a faint orange rind quality present as well and I would say the cigar is smoking at a medium-full level in terms of body, strength and flavors.

Second Third

The flavor profile continues to be dominated by a combination of cocoa and sweet wood notes transitioning into the second third. There are still rich baking spices that add a nuanced level of complexity on the retrohale. I don’t taste any other major changes throughout the rest of the middle third.

Second Third

A couple things I notice smoking through the second third. One, the profile becomes spicier and in a way, that gives it a more robust character. The mouth coating spice forward delivery is still well complimented by cedar, but coffee beans and bread take a back step. Second, the strength and body bumps up, not to the point where it is medium-full, but pretty close to it.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the wood gains some char as the cream decreases once again. At an inch in, the char has continued to pick as some spice also joins in with the cream in the background. A little further in, a light earthiness joins the profile. The retrohale carries a mixture of creamy wood and some earthiness. As the cigar comes to a close, the cream ramps back up to smooth out the char on the wood along with some earthiness remaining in the profile. The strength in this third bumped up to slightly above medium.

Final Third

When I get into the final third of the cigar I find more transitioning once again and it is showing a return of the spice and pepper notes that were present in the first third. It is paired with some toasty and nutty qualities and on top of that is some cream and cocoa flavors. It is not delivering that orange rind quality in this third, but instead has a nice mellow finish which is great counter to the start of the cigar. I would say it is between medium and medium-full in terms of strength and body, and the same go for the flavors.

Final Third

There’s some heat and slight char as the La Flor de Ynclan Lancero moves into the final third. The char gives way, and the overall intensity of flavors falls to a light to light-plus. Some hay and mild cedar join in as the cocoa and baking spices fall off.

Final Third

The last third continues the spice delivery. Baking spices, cedar, black pepper are all firing on full cylinders. At times the coffee bean note is very prevalent while the bread note completely drops. Strength moves up to a consistent medium-full while body is still essentially medium.

Burn

The burn was quite wavy throughout and required a couple of touch-ups to keep the cigar burning in unison. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Burn

The cigar had a fairly uneven burn line throughout and required some touch-ups. The wrapper came undone near the band, which happens but played no part in how the cigar smoked. Some touch-ups were needed throughout, but overall it did not present a problem with the cigar and did not truly take away from the smoking experience.

Burn

The burn was fairly straight with the ash holding on in 1+ inch increments. The cigar went out at the halfway point requiring a re-light.

Burn

Wrapper burn was an issue. About 1/4 of the wrapper refused to burn in collaboration with the remaining cigar. This led to a few minor touch-ups. Other than that, the ashes were tight and burn was cool.

Draw

The draw was perfect with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.

Overall

This cigar was full on flavor from the get go with lots of wood, cream and baking spice. Getting into the second third, the flavor was focused around wood and cream with some char and earthiness becoming present in the latter half. The burn wasn’t the greatest, but didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the cigar. In having smoked the previous vitolas of this cigar, I’d have to say that the Lancero Especial is the gem in the line. With strength being right around medium and full flavors present from first light, this cigar might win a bunch of fans early on. It brings a very good flavor profile and I would have no problem smoking more of these fairly frequently and would urge others to give it a try.

Draw

The draw was perfect throughout and presented no problems on that end. It smoked cool and the ring gauge was to my liking, presenting no problems in terms of construction/draw.

Overall

I have thoroughly enjoyed Villiger’s La Flor de Ynclan since it was brought back in 2017. The Robusto offering is very good and was my vitola of choice, but this new offering is fantastic and the cigar really does well with a smaller ring gauge. As I said earlier, they classify it as a Lancero but it really is more of a Lonsdale and I am okay with that. I don’t think there are enough Lonsdales on the market and I think the Lonsdale size allows manufacturers the opportunity to make a smaller ring gauge offering but not be as dependent on the wrapper as they are with the Lancero. I think the Lancero name is “sexier,” but they tend to fail more often than not. This cigar has depth and is complex from start to finish. There is a good bit of transitioning and the body and strength are fantastic throughout. I really enjoyed the spice and nutty qualities present throughout and creamy and orange rind notes in the second third make for a great experience. The one issue I had with the cigar was the burn line and that the wrapper came loose near the end, but that didn’t ruin the experience. Overall, a really enjoyable cigar that I will come back to down the road.

Draw

There is a slight resistance on the draw, making it perfect.

Overall

Blending and rolling a great Lancero is one of the most difficult things in the cigar industry. Even rarer is when a Lancero vitola outperforms a previously top rated release in the same line. The Flor de Ynclan release in 2017 was a great cigar, but they’ve managed to create a Lancero that represents a peak of flavor performance. There is no doubt in my mind the Villiger La Flor de Ynclan Lancero Especial is a cigar that is going to be talked about on every top list at the end of 2018.

Draw

No issues with the draw. Perfect.

Overall

This is another winner in the La Flor de Ynclan line. In comparison to it’s thicker ring gauged siblings, the Lancero Especial is a bolder rendition not only in terms of strength but in terms of flavors provided. The flavor mix of baking spices, cedar, coffee beans, fairly well managed palate coating black pepper spice and bread worked well when the wrapper burned in unison with the remaining leaves. But when it didn’t it lost character. Personally, I prefer the thicker ring gauged formats since it’s more balanced. But for a slightly bolder variation, this one fits the bill quite nicely.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

7.32

Cost/Point

$1.50

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.97

Cost/Point

$1.58

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

8.03

Cost/Point

$1.37

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.97

Cost/Point

$1.58

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Villiger La Flor de Ynclan Lancero Especial