La Duena No.7 (Petite Lancero) Review

Cigar: La Duena No. 7
Size: Petit lancero 6" x 42
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: MSRP ~$8.00

Initial Impression/Prelight
The La Duena No. 7 is a good looking cigar, there's no doubt about it. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper was almost vein-free, a little toothy, and had very little oil. The cigar was clearly well rolled, with a nice triple-cap topped with a little pigtail. In appearance the wrapper reminded me of a Liga Privada #9, with some lighter and darker variations and that charcoal-sketch sort of appearance where the almost invisible veins seem to brushed over with a piece of coal or a pencil. This cigar wasn't quite as dark as the LP to my eye though. It had some nice toothiness to it, and overall is very aesthetically pleasing.

I got some nice raisin and pepper aroma from the wrapper. I tried pulling the pigtail with my teeth, but it didn't open up quite enough and I had to clip the end. The prelight draw was excellent and revealed more pepper and earth.

I've had this cigar in the humidor at 65% for almost 6 months, and finally got around to pulling it out on this sunny 75 degree day as a reward for trimming up my hedges and cleaning up my flower beds.

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1st Third
The La Duena started off a touch rough with some big pepper and earth flavor, and no sweetness that I could pick up. I got a good bit of spiciness too, and some bold, dark coffee on the retrohale. It put off a very good amount of smoke for a lancero, and the smoke itself was a very light tan color. Burn was wavy but acceptable.

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2nd Third
I started picking up some bittersweet chocolate in this section, along with some coffee, generic woodiness, and plenty of spice. The cigar still has some edge to it with just a hint of bitterness on the finish. The ash held on like a champ for over an inch each time before I tapped it, and the burn remained wavy. I'll call it med+ flavor and medium strength to this point.

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Final Third
The last section was mostly characterized by oak, espresso, and some cocoa powder to go with the ever-present lip tingling spiciness. There was still a little bite to the cigar - it's not really bad, but it's not smooth either. Finishing up the strength and flavor stay about the same levels as before, and it did get pretty hot toward the nub.

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Overall Impression
Not bad. Not great.

La Duena comes out of My Father Cigars. I didn't know that prior to doing a little research on this stick. If you didn't know, My Father also makes Flor de las Antillas, El Centurion, Tobacos Baez, Jaime Garcia, and the Don Pepin Garcia lines in addition to the My Father and My Father Le Bijou lines.
The Flor de las Antillas is one of my go-to smokes, and it has a richness and smoothness that the La Duena is missing to me. I've smoked one My Father Le Bijou and enjoyed it, I think I had an El Centurion and liked it last year, and I've got a Jaime Garcia or two in the humi waiting to be burned.
According to the website, this cigar is blended by Jaime Garcia and Pete Johnson of Tatuaje fame.
I happen to also really love another Pete Johnson petit lancero, the Tatuaje Black Label.
In my opinion, My Father has the packaging and band market cornered. I really love all their artwork, and the Flor de las Antillas band might be my favorite band of any cigar. This La Duena band is awesome in a different and more subtle way. It looks like an old ivory cameo on the red background, and has some super cool details like the raised relief around the oval portion, and the tight script on the 'La Duena' and the filigree on the sides and back. It's really a cool band.
Maybe my perception is just skewed, but I seem to be on a real run of big smoke producers and this was no exception. The good if wavy burn was also pretty solid for a lancero.
This was a really beautiful cigar, I'll give it that. You can see a little of the tooth in some of the photos, but overall the pics don't do the wrapper or band justice.


So this one was just a little rough around the edges for me. Some of the flavors were good, especially the cocoa and coffee, and if I was judging based on looks it'd be about a 99. However, under the hood there was just a little tinge of bitterness and bite from the pepper. I wanted a little creaminess or smoothness, but never got it. Maybe some time would mellow it, but 6 months in my humi wasn't enough. If you're a big pepper/spice fiend you may dig this one, but I don't think I'll pick up any more. I honestly wouldn't be sad if I got this in a pass or something - I'd just stick it in the back of the humidor for a couple years and see what happened.

Final recommendation, try a single.

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