Cigar Review: San Lotano Bull by A.J. Fernandez

• Vitola: Toro
• 6” x 54 ring gauge
• MSRP $9.85
• Gifted by local area rep

Background

In 2014, A.J. Fernandez Cigars had a major hit with the New World, a Nicaraguan puro with a budget-friendly price. It kind of overshadowed the other AJF major release of the year, a new cigar under the San Lotano line: The Bull. The Bull was actually tested with Meier & Dutch first (basically meaning it was distributed by Cigars International), then released to the rest of the world early in 2014. I had not had the opportunity to try the Bull…I had pretty much forgotten about it, to be honest…until we recently had a couple events with our local A.J. Fernandez rep, Michelle.

At the first event, Michelle gave me her last San Lotano Bull and I enjoyed it. At the second event, a couple months later, she brought more. I smoked one there at the event, then saved one until later so I could do a write-up on it. Not to give away too much, but I guess it’s pretty obvious that I enjoyed the cigar by now.

The Bull uses “premium, select cuts of Nicaraguan long-filler” and binder tobacco, along with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper leaf. It is box-pressed and available in 4 sizes, priced from about $9.60 to about $10.50 per stick. At that rate, it’s not the extreme bargain New World is, but it’s hardly the highest priced item in the AJF catalog. I’ve smoke a couple of these before this review stick…as noted, all were provided to me by the rep.

Prelight

The regular San Lotano line was round. The Oval was…well…oval. The Bull is box-pressed. I actually was expecting another oval-shaped cigar since I liked the SL Oval so much…wishful thinking, I guess…so I was a little surprised by the definitive nature of the corners on this pressed cigar. Not sharp, but not overly rounded. The band seems to be the same thing that was used on the original SL line. Instead of a secondary band on this one, though, the entire cigar under the band is covered with a cedar sheath, emblazoned with a black bull’s head shape and finished with a black ribbon on the foot. It’s a good look, although I would rather see the cigar more, to be honest.

I slid the cedar sheath off and was presented with a gorgeous milk chocolate brown wrapper leaf that had a slightly oily feel to it, along with a rich earthy aroma. The foot had more earth, along with chocolate notes. The cold draw was very good and had a nice sweet flavor of dried fruit, as well as touches of earth and cocoa powder and a slight metallic twang.

Flavor

I lit up the San Lotano Bull…a Toro size, so I guess this was the San Lotano Bull Bull…sorta like the new Davidoff Winston Churchill Churchill…not confusing or redundant at all, but I digress. Once I got it going, the cigar had a solidly Nicaraguan flavor profile of earth and semi-sweet chocolate, along with some coffee notes. There was the slightest copper note that I often get from Ecuadorian Sumatra leaf, but it wasn’t distracting or off-putting in this blend and at this level. There was a little pepper spice on the palate, but quite a bit more on the retrohale.

The spice toned down considerably as I got into the second third, but there were still notes of chocolate and coffee. Woody cedar flavor also came into play at this point.

Pepper spice made a comeback in the final third, accompanied by a healthy dose of cedar. I still got earth and a touch of chocolate, but they were subdued by the other flavors near the end.

Construction

The draw was excellent, the burn line was good enough and the ash was very solid. All in all, great construction.

Value

This is one of the best prices for all the San Lotano series and the flavor is great, so I call it good value.

Conclusions

The Bull is proof that A.J. Fernandez’s San Lotano line still has plenty of life left in it. This was a full-bodied, medium-to-full strength cigar with a pleasing amount of complexity and great flavor that lasted from end to end.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10