Vitola: Guajiro- 5.5” x 52 ring gauge
- ~$15
- Sample provided by Plasencia Cigars
Background
The other day I took a look at the first release from Plasencia Cigars, the first time in the 150 year history of the Plasencia family that they have released cigars under their own name. I gave a good overview of the history of the famous tobacco family in that review. The initial release from Plasencia was the Alma Fuerte (“strong soul”) and it is a truly spectacular cigar, worth the fairly spendy price tag it carries.
The second release in the what I can only assume is going to be the “Alma” series is Alma del Campo (“soul of the field”). This cigar is again a Nicaraguan puro, made only from tobaccos from the Plasencia family farms. One source I looked at stated that this release uses a Habano wrapper. Alma del Campo is intended to showcase balance while being less strong and full-bodied than the Alma Fuerte.
This review is based on my first smoking of this blend. The cigar was given to me by Javier Carranza, Plasencia’s sales director.
Prelight
Alma del Campo is slightly less expensive than Alma Fuerte, and the look of the banding actually reflects this. The bands here follow the same format, with a top band that has just a series of “P” company logos all the way around, a main band that has “Plasencia,” the logo, and “Alma del Campo” on it, and a foot band that repeats the blend name in a reversed color scheme. The look is consistent with the other release, while being differentiated enough that people know they are looking at something else. Like Alma Fuerte, the box lid here doubles as an ashtray.
This wrapper leaf was a milk chocolate brown color with a very light oiliness to the eye and to the touch. It had a sweet, almost honey-like, aroma to it, along with a bit of earthiness. The foot had stronger earthy notes with secondary cedar aroma and just a touch of that same sweetness I picked up on the wrapper.
After clipping the head, the cold draw was good and provided flavors of wood, natural tobacco, and a subtle sweetness.
Flavor
The Alma del Campo started off with a strong cedar flavor up front, followed by notes of natural tobacco, earth and red pepper on the palate. Blowing the smoke through the nose produced more wood and pepper notes, along with additional roasted almond notes. The first third of the Alma del Campo was medium-bodied. The cedar gave way to a more balanced mix of wood and earth notes as the cigar burned along. Red pepper spice and tobacco sweetness played subtle, but important, roles in the background.
The second third saw earthiness come completely to the forefront, with the cedar flavor tamped down as purely a supporting note. The pepper burn continued in the background, while the sweetness morphed into almost a sweet hay note and was joined on occasion by a nice floral accent.
The sweet and floral notes came forward in the last third, merging with the earth and cedar to create a very nice complex ending for the Alma del Campo. Pepper spice faded away until it was almost absent at the end.
Construction
Build quality was excellent. I had a very good draw, even burn line that needed no touching up, and an ash that held on for over an inch at the beginning.
Value
Cheaper than the Alma Fuerte, the Alma del Campo slots into a $15 to $20 price point and holds it own against other Nicaraguan Puros in that range.
Conclusions
While not having the “wow” factor of the Alma Fuerte, Plasencia’s Alma del Campo is a really nice second cigar in the line, displaying a beautiful complexity in a medium-bodied cigar. I would comfortably say that if you enjoy the Cohiba Nicaragua or Davidoff Nicaragua—both of which use Plasencia’s tobaccos and are in the same price range—you will probably find something you like here.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
