Cigar Review: Alec Bradley Nica Puro H-Town

• Vitola: Lancero
• 7” x 40 ring gauge 
• Price $7.95
• Provided by Stogies World Class Cigars

Background

Today we have another installment in the “H-Town” series from Stogies World Class Cigars, which is a sponsor of this blog. For those who didn’t see the first review I did on an H-Town…shame on you! but please go read it…Stogies is located in Houston, Texas (H-Town) and the owner apparently likes Lanceros, so he has been working with quite a few manufacturers to make store exclusive Lanceros for him. Alec Bradley was one company that answered the call, and luckily they did so with what is really the only blend of theirs I care to go back to on a regular basis: Nica Puro.

You shouldn’t read the last sentence so much as a “dig” on Alec Bradley as just me being honest with my preferences. My preferences run to Nicaraguan-heavy blends and some Dominican blends. There have been a few Honduran-based blends I’ve enjoyed, but really they are the exception to the rule. Alec Bradley cigars tend to be very “Honduran-heavy” so I end up not getting into them most of the time…same with Rocky Patel sticks. This blend, though, is not Honduran-heavy, as is indicated by the name.

Nica Puro is a short way of saying this is a Nicaraguan puro…every leaf used is from Nicaragua: filler, binder, and wrapper. I’ve had a couple of Nica Puros before this review stick (including another Lancero that was sent to me by Stogies).

Prelight

The band on these is anything but understated, but it is a good old-fashioned look…not quite deco, but something from around the same time period. AB hasn’t fallen into the trap Gurkha got into with making bands overly ornate…over the top, really. The dark chocolate-colored wrapper leaf had a moderate amount of oils to the touch and smelled of barnyard and leather. The foot had scents of earth and grass.

The cold draw was slightly tight, but had a pleasing raisin and earth flavor.

Flavor

I lit up the Nica Puro H-Town and was immediately greeted by a solid earthiness and espresso bean flavor up front, with some dried fruit and black pepper on the finish. The retrohale was very peppery. As the first third burned on I got some unsweetened cocoa notes as well.

The second third saw the cocoa powder notes come on strong. There was enough sweetness to balance it out and a good amount of pepper remained. Earthier qualities were still in there, too, but in a more unstated way.

In the last third, the flavors of Nicaraguan leaf were all there: earth, cocoa powder, slight sweetness, coffee beans, pepper. Really a great mix.

Construction

The Nica Puro needed a couple minor touch-ups to the burn line, but other than that, everything was perfect in terms of construction.

Value

As with most cigars in the Alec Bradley catalog, the price was very reasonable and with it delivering a great smoking experience, I would say it generated excellent value.

Conclusions

In the end I think the Puro Nica H-Town ended up being my favorite Alec Bradley of all time…at least in a very long time. It had a great blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos with a slightly full body and a long finish. The price makes it very easy to recommend, although you can only get them at Stogies, so either get to Houston or get your fingers walking across the keyboard.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10