This Nicaraguan puro punches above its weight class with a sun-drenched flavor bomb wrapped in oily Ecuadorian Sumatra-seed leaf. At 6"x54, the belicoso shape offers perfect draw control for its earthy core. I burned one fresh from the box after a 2-week rest - the wrapper gleamed like polished mahogany with minimal veins.
First Third: Immediate dark roast coffee notes over black pepper spice, tight ash holding 1.5". Needed one minor touch-up at the 25-minute mark - drier than most Nicaraguans.
Mid-Section: Switched gears at 40 minutes with toasted almond sweetness balancing the spice. Retrohale kicked up cinnamon heat without throat irritation. Burn line stayed razor-sharp.
Final Stretch: Last inch brought leather and dark chocolate intensity. Didn't turn bitter but accumulated enough nicotine punch to satisfy seasoned smokers. Cut it at 1hr45m with fingers slightly sticky from wrapper oils.
The box-pressed belicosos arrived in perfect condition - no wrapper cracks despite thin veins. Triple-cap pigtail head unraveled cleanly with Xikar Xi2 cutter. Draw tension was Goldilocks-zone: not too open to lose complexity, not too tight to frustrate. Burn rate matched my slow sipping Speyside Scotch pairing.
Nick Perdomo's sun-grown wrapper recipe shines here - 5-year aged leaves from their Esteli farms create that signature oil sheen. Unlike the Maduro version's molasses sweetness, this sungrown variant leans toward earthier Nicaraguan terroir. Let it rest below 65% RH to prevent the wrapper from becoming brittle.
