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| A CIGAR THAT'S NO SQUIRE |
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Page 1 of 2  Tasting and grading the three-blend Sancho Panza line from General CigarLos Angeles, May 16 – In Miguel de Cervantes’ famed novel, Don Quixote, Sancho Panza serves as the squire – attendant – to the story’s main character. Cervantes reportedly wrote his masterwork in 1605, but it was Sancho Panza for whom a cigar brand was named by a Havana manufacturer named Emilio Olmstedt in 1848, although some sources date it from 1852. Never a premiere Havana brand, it was owned by the Rey del Mundo Cigar Company prior to the nationalization of the Cuban cigar industry by the Castro regime. Somehow, the Sancho Panza brand has survived and is produced in Cuba in small quantities today. It’s considered a very soft, very flavorful blend and has devoted fans, although there are not that many of them. In the U.S., the Sancho Panza trademark was registered in 1981 by Villazon & Company, which was later acquired by General Cigar. Although some Sanchos were made to keep the trademark going, it wasn’t until 2000 that a serious run at creating a Sancho Panza brand in the U.S. was made. General’s theme for the brand is “enjoy 365 sunsets a year” and unlike so many slogans, this one actually seems to fit. We tasted all three of the current Sancho Panza blends made at the famed Villazon facility in Cofradia, Honduras and found new life in this old brand, as well as a very nice value. Sancho Panza: [Honduras: available in 6 sizes] Veteran smokers will recognize the look of this edition of Sancho Panza, with a familiar brown band in the more or less the same style as that used for the brand in Cuba. That, however, is where the similarities end. Where the Havana version is considered fairly soft, the Honduran edition – introduced in 2000 – has a medium-to-full-bodied taste and a solid presence in the mouth. It features a toasty aroma and has a light, caramelized taste with a dark, Connecticut Shade wrapper and Connecticut Broadleaf binder. There’s a long, clean finish to this blend. This is a mellow cigar, but very well constructed with an even burn. There’s a small presence of spice that develops on the finish at the midway point and remains into the second half. The flavor becomes a bit less intense as you roll toward the end, but the smoothness of this cigar is impressive. This is an excellent daytime cigar, with the Toro-sized Glorioso also a fine candidate for a summer’s evening after a light supper. Offered in boxes of 20, the standard Sancho is also an excellent value, with retail prices of just $3.70 to $5.25 each, depending on size and not including local sales and tobacco taxes. Overall grade: A-: Excellent. |
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Did you know?
“Although rarely seen today, coin-operated cigar dispensers have been around since at least 1893.
