Short Take: Passport by Crux Cigars

Vitola: Lancero
Size: 7” x 40 ring gauge
Price $??
Gifted by Jon Siddle (who received them from Crux)

Background

Fellow blogger, Jon Siddle, got several samples from Crux Cigars recently and he’s been featuring them during his blog posts, but he did get enough that he sent me a Passport Lancero. Jon did a full review of a different size, so I thought I’d record some of my impressions of the first time I smoked something by Crux. At the time of this writing, the company had not disclosed the countries of origin for filler, binder and wrapper, so this is what I like to call a “REAL blind review”: I know a little bit about the company, I don’t know anything about the tobaccos used. I really don’t even know how much these cost! But judging from the other cigars they’ve released, the price is probably reasonable. Let’s smoke!

Notes

The cigar looks great and I love the band, with the sideways logo and the subtle hidden things like the United States seal (because that’s the country Crux’s owners are based in) and the wavy lines that are kind of like a passport stamp. It’s modern from the color palate to the die-cut shape of the band. Today I love it; on the other hand, in 10 years, it might seem dated. Hard to say how these things will go.

The leaf was oily and smooth, with an aroma of molasses with a touch of earth. After lighting, I got more cedar than anything else; the lesser flavors were of earth and coffee. At the outset, it could have used a touch more sweetness. As I made my way through the first third, the cedar toned down a bit, allowing for some orange rind and red pepper flavors to make their way into the mix.

I got more citrus and an even amount of pepper as I went through. In the end, I enjoyed the Crux Passport a lot and would definitely burn them regularly if I had a local source of them. So that makes another cigar to recommend to Burns.