Vitola: Robusto- 5.25” x 54 ring gauge
- MSRP $8.99
- Cigars provided by General Cigar Company
Background
Show of hands…who here remembers when they had their first experience with the Diesel cigar brand? For myself, I want to say it was around 2007 or 2008. I believe I was still living in California at the time and my friends and I would often order new and different things from catalogs and online retailers. Diesel was an A.J. Fernandez-created brand, and those were only found on Cigars International at that time. Fast forward a dozen years and we have several Diesel blends on the shelves of any brick-and-mortar shop that wants to carry them, as well as those CI-exclusive blends to choose from. A.J. Fernandez has gone from being one of the bright young minds of the cigar business to being a titan of the industry with the biggest cigar factory in central America, creating blends for his own brand as well as various brands owned by General (Diesel and Punch among them) and Altadis (Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann, and Montecristo all being represented).
One of the newest releases from the Tabacalera AJ Fernandez is the Diesel Estelí Puro, which was officially made available on September 1, 2020. It is described as a “tobacco-forward release…poised to become a core product in the Diesel portfolio.” All the tobacco comes from AJ’s farms around Estelí, including wrapper from La Lilia, binder from San José, and some of the filler originating in the San Lotano farm. Senior Brand Manager, Justin Andrews, said, “This is a cigar that demands the smoker’s full attention with deep and balanced flavor, a strong presentation, and an attractive price point.”
This review sample is the 3rd or 4th time I have smoked this blend. General Cigar Company sent me the samples for this review. If your local B&M doesn’t carry Diesel cigars, you can get them delivered by Small Batch Cigar, a Leaf Enthusiast sponsor.
Prelight
The pictures sent by GCC show a nice wooden box. It looks nice without threatening to win any packaging awards…in other words, probably just about right for a cigar at this price point. The cigar itself has a medium-plus sized band in black and silver, showcasing the Diesel logo prominently, with “Esteli Puro” in very small type. In case you miss it, though, the blend name is also printed on the cedar sheath covering a little more than half of the bottom of the cigar.
Taking off the cedar, I could see that the wrapper was a medium brown color. It was smooth and slightly oily with an aroma that had strong cedar, with slighter notes of earth and hay. The foot had cedar, wet earth, coffee bean, and bell pepper notes.
After clipping I found a decent draw that had flavors of hay and cedar up front, with black pepper and earth coming in just after.
Flavor
The Diesel Estelí Puro started off medium-plus in body with tons of cedar and cinnamon up front, followed up quickly by earthiness and hay. There was a slight peppery tingle on the palate, but the retrohale was extremely fiery. Subsequent puffs gave up bell pepper and toasty flavors intertwined with the wood and earth.
The second third continued with plenty of cedar and earth, backed up by a continued slight peppery burn on the palate. Despite the fact that I don’t normally like overly cedary blends, this one was hitting my palate really well, with enough complexity to keep interesting and not overwhelm me with just straight up wood notes.
In the last third I started to get a mild citrus note, adding some sweetness to the cedar and earth notes, while pepper remained at the back of the palate and full-force on the nose.
Construction
I had a very good draw, even enough burn line, and solid ash the entire way.
Value
As with most of the other Diesel releases the price point on this is very good. It delivers a good experience, as well, so I call it good value.
Conclusions
The Diesel Estelí Puro is a very good example of just how complex and interesting a cigar can be when made with only tobaccos from a single region of a single country. It puts an exclamation point on the statement that Estelí isn’t just about strength with a medium-to-full bodied blend that is only strong on complexity. Good blend and a worthy addition to the catalog.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
