Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

UNDERRATED . . . AND TIRED OF IT!

Tasting the Los Blancos and Helix lines . . . they’re pretty good!

Los Angeles, June 29 – The father and son team of Cesar and David Blanco started Los Blancos cigars during the Cigar Boom . . . and they’re still standing.

Not that there weren’t some difficult times, like the bust that came on in the same year they introduced their cigars, but their attention to detail helped them reach national distribution in 2001 and they haven’t had to look back.

Decidedly “under the radar,” we wanted to try the four-blend Los Blancos Premiere Selection to see exactly why their brand has grown so consistently. After tasting, it became obvious.

We also came back to one of our favorite brands, the mild-bodied Helix made by General Cigar, long underrated for no substantial reason. We found it’s as good as ever!

Los Blancos Premiere Selection – Connecticut:
[Nicaragua: available in 6 sizes]
The Los Blancos line is easy to understand: four different blends, each with a different wrapper, all made in the same shapes and all reasonably priced at $4.90 to $6.00 per cigar, before local tobacco taxes.

The “Connecticut” version features a Nicaraguan-grown, Connecticut-seed wrapper you can recognize by its blue band (pictured above). It offers a medium-bodied flavor with a toasty and spicy aroma.

There’s a light caramelized taste to this cigar with a creamy texture and a medium finish without even a hint of spice. That makes it easy to smoke and easy to enjoy. It remains consistent to the end with an even burn and a pleasant, accommodating stance. Perfect for a summer’s afternoon.
Overall grade: A: Exceptional.

Los Blancos Premiere Selection – Criollo:
[Nicaragua: available in 6 sizes]
The Criollo line features a Honduran-grown wrapper and has a green band. It’s also medium in body and has toasty and just slightly spicy aroma to it.

The most recent blend to be introduced, in 2005, the Criollo showcases a sweet taste to start that’s surprisingly subtle. It’s not at all overpowering like a flavored cigar, but is well balanced and burns evenly.

The power we expected came through in the second half, however and concentrated the flavor. It became a touch grassy at times, but not unpleasant.
Overall grade: B+: Very Good.

Los Blancos Premiere Selection – Maduro:
[Nicaragua: available in 6 sizes]
This blend bears a yellow band with an unusual leaf – Habana 2000 grown in Nicaragua – used for the maduro wrapper instead of the more widely featured Connecticut Broadleaf, Mexican Morron or Brazilian Mata Fina. It’s a good choice, though, as the blend offers a medium-to-full body and a spicy aroma. The flavor is lightly caramelized with a medium finish and an absence of spicy or peppery flavors that might stand in the way.

Instead, this is a very smooth smoke, balanced and even. The ones we tried smoked more slowly than the others and while the flavor is rich and satisfying, it is not as bright and tangy as some other maduro-wrapped blends. But this is a nice cigar and a good one to relax with if you can give it the time it deserves.
Overall grade: A-: Excellent.

Los Blancos Premiere Selection – Sumatra:
[Nicaragua: available in 6 sizes]
The Sumatra style actually features a wrapper grown on the Indonesian island of Sumatra! This cigar bears a red band and has a rich, medium-to-full body to it and a light, toasty aroma.

The flavor is creamy with a slightly sweet, caramelized undertone and a medium finish. It’s easy to smoke, burns perfectly and is amazingly smooth and well balanced. There’s a light note of spice that develops in the second half that signals you’re approaching the end of the cigar, but it’s never harsh or aggressive. Well made, well blended and just a very nice smoke.
Overall grade: A-: Excellent.

While enjoying the Los Blancos line, we turned our thoughts to cigars which should have more recognition, but don’t for some reason. That sent us to right to General Cigar’s Helix.

Originally developed by U.S. Tobacco in 2002, Helix was a sensation in a Honduran-made cigar. It was mild with delicate flavors and broke all the rules with its electric-blue packaging.

General Cigar inherited the brand along with Astral, Don Tomas and others when U.S. Tobacco handed over its cigar division to General as part of a settlement over UST’s core smokeless tobacco business a couple of years ago. In a company that already has the no. 1-selling cigar in the country – the mild-bodied Macanudo – it’s easy to understand why Helix could get a little lost.

But we found that this cigar – once again – is worth finding:

Helix – Natural:
[Honduras: available in 9 sizes]
The Helix brand was introduced solely with Connecticut Shade wrappers in 2002. It offers an ever-so-gently spiced aroma and a delicate, mild-bodied smoking experience.

But it’s hardly tasteless. There’s a light, caramelized taste that floats gently throughout the cigar, entertaining the palate but leaving only the barest impression. The combination of sweetness, smoothness and excellent construction is so impressive that you will ask yourself, “where has this cigar been all my life?”

The elegant blue smoke that this blend produces matches the shade of the electric-blue band. Consistent well into the second half, the flavor simply recedes near the end, signaling that your pleasure is at an end. Best of all, at suggested retail prices of $2.95 to $4.30, it’s an absolute steal.
Overall grade: A: Exceptional.

Helix – Maduro:
[Honduras: available in 7 sizes]
The maduro version of Helix debuted in 2003. It uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and General’s edition of the blend is an improvement over that used by U.S. Tobacco.

This is a mild-to-medium-bodied cigar with a light, spicy aroma. It has a more pronounced, richer, caramelized taste that the natural-wrapped edition and a medium-length, sweet finish.

It’s also very well made, with a tight ash and an impressively solid feel in the hand that draws perfectly. It’s brighter and less subtle than the Connecticut Shade version, but is terrific in its own way and is again a great value at $3.25 to $4.30 per cigar.
Overall grade: A: Exceptional.

Both Los Blancos and Helix may not be the first cigars you think of when visiting your local smokeshop. But if you prefer smooth-smoking cigars that tend toward a lighter body and an elegant, balanced taste in caramelized and creamy tones, please add these two brands to your shopping list.
~ Rich Perelman

Bookmark

Email This

Comments (0) add comment