El Centuiron Belicoso

Joined Feb 2014
29 Posts | 3+
Upstate New York
I ordered the El Centurions (from Garcia y Garcia - the makers of My Father, et al) a few weeks ago and decided to ash one last night at half time of the Super Bowl. I prefer Belicosos and Robustos since I usually don't have a lot of time to devote to smoking something bigger.
This line was originally released as a small-batch / short run offering a few years back. Well, it's back in a "regular line" from Don Pepin now, and available from a number of vendors.

The cigar itself, is typical Pepin. It's draped in a nice, dark and oily wrapper with good construction from cap to foot. The wrapper is a bit more "toothy" than the typical My Father offerings, but not "rugged". It definitely adds to the pre-light aroma and lets you know you're going to be getting into something medium-full to full in flavor and strength.
Right out of the cellophane, you get a distinct "barnyard" aroma of earth. The pre-light draw is easy, with faint spices and leathery notes. Once lit, the leather hits you right up front.
As you get into the first third of the cigar, the leather flavor backs down and the spices start to come into the picture more, with hints of light pepper on the top. The smoke is generous, and the burn is straight. The firm ash held on for almost two inches before I tapped it off. The lighting was poor where I was, but the ash appeared to be pretty light in color.
The second third was more of the same intensity, with the spices taking over what was dominated by leather in the first third. There was nothing exceptional in the spicy flavors, yet everything seemed to be very balanced. Draw remained very good, as did the burn. The strength remained consistant.
In the last third of the smoke, the finish became more apparent, leaving more warm nutmeg and coffee flavors on the palate. The burn remained good, and the cigar didn't get too hot - even when I was down to the last half inch, fighting to maintain a grip on the tapered end without burning my fingers or lips.
Overall, a very satisfying and balanced smoke that lasted about an hour. I'd guess that with another six months or more in the humidor, this cigar could be outstanding. As it is a fairly new release, and hasn't had much time to "rest" or age, I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt and rate it at an 88-89 out of 100. It may not be fair to rate this smoke on only one stick, but since it's new, I wanted to get this out there.
If you like medium-full sticks, and are a fan of Don Pepin, I'd suggest getting a 5'er now and tucking them away for later. If they age as I think they will, you'll be glad they're waiting for you in your humidor after that big Turkey dinner. Lord knows smoking this cigar was much more fun and held my interest far longer than Super Bowl XLVIII did. :thumbsup:
 
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Nice review. I wonder if the new Pepins are as good. I bid on them at auction, but they went for more than I was willing to pay for an unknown.
 
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Nice review. I wonder if the new Pepins are as good. I bid on them at auction, but they went for more than I was willing to pay for an unknown.
Which one are you referring to? I have all of them except the Jaime Garcia Reserve...
 
The El Centurions.
Well, if you compare the El Centurion to the My Father cigars (regular OR Le Bijou), the Centurions are a notch below the MFs. That's not to say they're a bad cigar. It IS saying the My Father line is "that good". Sets the bar quite high.