Cigar Review: Señorial 65th Anniversary by Jose Blanco

• Vitola: Perfecto Elégance (figurado)
• 5.75” x 55 ring gauge 
• Price $14.99
• Purchased from Burns Tobacconist

Background

Hope you’ll indulge me in a short trip down memory lane…

I met Jose Blanco for the first time about 4 years ago, when I was invited by La Aurora for a “blogger tour” of the Dominican Republic. I quickly came to learn that he was one of the most knowledgeable cigar people I had ever met. While at La Aurora, he was directly involved in blending the 100 Años and Guillermo Leon Reserve, among other cigars.

Another 2 years went by before I caught up with Jose while I was on another blogger trip to Nicaragua. At that point he was working with Joya de Nicaragua and had blended the CyB for them, a cigar that still stands out as the most complex and flavorful stick Joya has made (at least in my mind).

Me, Jose…rockin’ with the Doc!

Fast forward to last November when I caught up with Jose yet again, this time when he was in Chattanooga to do a blending seminar while promoting his newest release, this time working for himself (well…and his wife, Emma). He and his wife founded Las Cumbres Tabaco in 2014 and released the Señorial.

Not long after that, he happened to come into Burns on a Saturday morning while I was working (accompanied by his rep in our area). His rep gave me a Señorial 65th Anniversary and we all talked for some time about cigars, tobacco-growing countries, politics, and all manner of other topics. From the time I lit up that first 65th Anniversary, I knew this was a cigar I would have to try to get into the shop.

At that point, there were no more 65th’s available. They had first shipped in late 2014, to celebrate Jose’s 65th birthday, but more were on the way. The plan is for only a limited run of Señorial 65th Anniversary cigars before the blend goes away. When our rep called to let me know they were available, I got the boss’s approval to order up some boxes so we wouldn’t miss out on them again.

Unlike the original Señorial, the 65th is a Dominican puro. So much a puro, in fact, that all the leaf is sourced from Jochi Blanco’s (Jose’s cousin) farms (as well as being produced in Jochi’s factory). The wrapper is a 7 year old Piloto Cubano, the binder is Corojo, the filler consists of Piloto Cubano ligero, Corojo Viso, and Corojo Seco, all of which have 5 years of age on them. (Tip of the hat to halfwheel for the news story on this stick.) I have smoked several of this blend, all of which I bought except for the first one.

Prelight

First time I picked one of these up, I thought it was exactly the same banding as the regular Señorial. Later I realized that while the overall design and the image in the middle of the band are the same, the background colors have been altered. The original has a blue-dominated multi-color oil-painting look, while the 65th is more of a salmon/pink oil painting/texture look. It’s enough of a difference to set this apart from the regular line…but the secondary band doesn’t hurt in that respect, either.

The wrapper leaf had a moderate amount of oiliness to the touch and the color of peanut butter, with just a touch of mottling throughout. The smell of it was faintly barnyard earth, a touch of wood, and some grassiness, while the foot had some milder earthiness, hay and a touch of pepper. Once cut the cold draw was excellent and had flavors of hay and honey, earth and wood.

Flavor

Initial puffs on the Señorial 65th Anniversary produced thick, oily plumes of smoke that had flavors of earth and cedar, followed closely by creamy, grassy notes. The finish was short and clean, with just a touch of white pepper. The retrohale had nuttier notes and more pepper.

As I smoked through the second third, I noted that the 65th Anniversary was medium-to-full in body and very full in flavor. I got more of the grassy flavor during this third, with earth close behind. Cedar faded a bit, but the pepper stayed around nicely. There were also occasional touches of graham and citrus.

The pepper came through really strongly toward the end. Earthiness and natural tobacco notes came closely behind and cedar made a comeback.

Construction

I needed to touch up the burn line a few times during the process of smoking this cigar, but nothing big. The draw was consistently great and the ash was solid as a rock.

Value

$14-15 (or more, depending on where you live) is a steep price for a cigar, but this is a limited production stick and the experience it delivers is worth the price.

Conclusions

This is truly a special cigar from Jose Blanco, displaying all the complexity his blends are known for, along with body that ramped up to full by the end of the proceedings. Having been in the industry for about four decades, you might expect this to be a traditional old-school Dominican smoke, but it stands up to anything the new wave of DR producers, like Caldwell, Bellatto, or Rodrigo, have produced. Excellent cigar and one you should get your hands on before they are all gone.

By-The-Numbers

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