Cigar Review: Guerrilla 305 BLK SHP by Tarazona Cigars

• Vitola: Lancero
• 7” x 38 ring gauge
• ~$11
• Samples provided by Tarazona Cigars

Background

In May, Eddie Tarazona came to Burns to do a Friday night “mini event.” It had been on the books for a couple months, but I was originally told it would just be his new rep (Scott) in attendance. A few days before, Eddie phoned me to let me know he was going to be there, too, and that we could debut a couple new releases that evening: the Guerrilla 305 Liber8 and the 2016 version of the Guerrilla 305 BLK SHP. Impromptu product launch party…and Eddie gave me some samples of each one. The Liber8 is a Torpedo with a 54 ring gauge and I have to be honest…it just did nothing for me. Sorry, Eddie…I know it’s your favorite size, but I wasn’t feeling it.

More in my wheelhouse was the BLK SHP Lancero, a vitola that had been produced in limited quantities in previous years…when it was produced at the William Ventura factory. This year’s version comes from the TL Johnson factory in the Dominican Republic and is reportedly composed of Nicaraguan Jalapa ligero and Dominican Criollo 98 viso and seco fillers, a Dominican Criollo 98 binder, and a Dominican Negrito wrapper.

This review is based on the third sample of this blend and vitola that I’ve smoked. All three were provided to me by Tarazona Cigars.

Prelight

The band on this stick is the same as used on the regular release Guerrilla 305. It’s a good-looking piece of art with a gorilla as a guerrilla…smoking a cigar, wearing a combat helmet and surrounded by bullets and hand grenades artfully arranged. The wrapper leaf was a nice milk chocolate brown with some slightly darker mottling in places. I got an aroma of earth mostly from it, with just a touch of leather and hay. The foot had more earth with cedar mixed in.

The cold draw was good and had a taste that mixed earth, coffee and dried fruit.

Flavor

The BLK SHP was easy to light and soon I was puffing away, enjoying flavors of cedar and creamy coffee, along with a slight floral note and an undefined, subtle sweetness. As I got into it a little more, there were notes of graham on the front end along with slight notes of almost a baking spice on the finish. The retrohale featured a quick hit of red pepper that burned intensely but just for a few moments before fading away. Before the first third was over, notes of unsweetened cocoa pushed the cedar flavors out of the way and dominated the front of each puff.

The second third had more cocoa powder with an introduction of pepper spice on the palate, a slow-building burn at the back of my mouth. There was still earth and coffee in the mix, as well as a faint graham and baking spice note. It all mixed together in a lush, creamy smoke.

The last third of the Guerrilla 305 BLK SHP saw a sharp increase in pepper notes which punctuated the cocoa powder flavor quite well. I got a touch of caramel sweetness in the mix and touches of floral aroma.

Construction

This sample (and the first) had a great draw, solid ash that hung on for over half an inch, and an even enough burn line. The second sample I smoked was so tight as to be unsmokable…I threw it out after about 10 minutes of trying. I’m not reviewing that cigar so no points are being deducted, but it is worth pointing out that Lanceros will always have a higher chance of bad draw.

Value

Limited production. Boutique company. Unique blend. All adds up to slightly higher price point, but I think it’s worth it in this case.

Conclusions

When the draw is good, the Guerrilla 305 BLK SHP is the best Tarazona blend I’ve ever had. It was medium in body to start, progressing linearly to a medium-to-full body with plenty of complexity and flavor change-up along the way. This is one you should definitely seek out and give a try to…then buy a 12-count box if you like it. The way the future looks with the impending FDA regulations, it’s hard to say how many more of these will be produced, but being mostly Dominican leaf, they should age well.

By-The-Numbers

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