2020 Version Two Nudies Rosado and Maduro N1 Lancero Reviews

[JohnS]

2020 Nudies N1 Lancero (Rosado) Version Two

After smoking the 2020 N3 Rosado and Maduro Carlotas I was interested in sampling the N1 Lanceros to compare them to the 2020 Carlotas and last year's 2019 debut run of N1 Lanceros. The Lancero is a long and skinny with a 38 ring gauge x 192 mm (or 7½ inches) length.

The cold draw was similarly grassy as the Rosado N3 Carlota was a few days ago. The first few puffs upon lighting were a revelation of the most distinct apple and pear citrus flavours combined with strong cocoa, like a youthful Ramon Allones cigar without spice. This continued until the middle of the first third whereby the cigar settled nicely.

In the middle third, the apple and pear citrus flavours were still lurking in the background but at this point the cigar took on a stonefruit flavour reminiscent of a Saint Luis Rey cigar. The cocoa really settled, it was much more in the background and I got hints of peach or dried apricot, even a little coffee. Retrohaling along the way also proved a revelation as normally with Cuban cigars I'd get quite a bit of spice through the nose with a cigar that was smoking like this but instead I got a full-flavoured cocoa hit. It was quite unique, for my experience.

In the last third the cigar revealed its underlying tannic and grassy nature, more akin to the 2019 N1 Lancero with its core coffee, sourdough and leather flavours.

In summary, this was a beautifully complex long and skinny. I wouldn't hesitate to smoke another if I had the chance to.

2020 Nudies N1 Lancero (Maduro) Version Two

After enjoying the 2020 Rosado N1 Lancero I was curious to see if the Maduro version was a 'step-up' according to my palate, as was the case for the 2020 Carlotas. The cold draw was nowhere near as distinctively grassy and tannic, rather it was simple cocoa and 'run-of-the-mill' tobacco, much more muted than the Rosado N1 Lancero.

This cigar was nowhere near as complex as the N1 Rosado Lancero. I got flavours similar to the 2019 N1 Lancero; coffee, sourdough and leather with a nice, subtle coating of cocoa powder. Unlike the Rosado N1 Lancero, I didn't get those sweet and pleasant citrus flavours which made the Rosado lancero so endearing. Both Lanceros were easy on the nose to retrohale and around the medium to medium-mild mark in strength.

I was fortunate enough to be on a mid-week FoH ZOOM meet-up whereby El Pres explained that the Natural cigars in this series are graded Rosado according to Nicaraguan custom, whereas for Cuban cigars they'd be labelled Colorado wrappers. The other fact that he mentioned was that the blends in the Lanceros were identical, the only differences in the cigars were the wrappers.

All I can say is...what a difference the wrapper makes!

[alloy]

Would luv to get some of the rosado. ?

[Sir Diggamus]

These definitely sound interesting. Thanks for sharing the review!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Connoisseur Kim]

6 hours ago, JohnS said:

2020 Nudies N1 Lancero (Rosado) Version Two

After smoking the 2020 N3 Rosado and Maduro Carlotas I was interested in sampling the N1 Lanceros to compare them to the 2020 Carlotas and last year's 2019 debut run of N1 Lanceros. The Lancero is a long and skinny with a 38 ring gauge x 192 mm (or 7½ inches) length.

The cold draw was similarly grassy as the Rosado N3 Carlota was a few days ago. The first few puffs upon lighting were a revelation of the most distinct apple and pear citrus flavours combined with strong cocoa, like a youthful Ramon Allones cigar without spice. This continued until the middle of the first third whereby the cigar settled nicely.

In the middle third, the apple and pear citrus flavours were still lurking in the background but at this point the cigar took on a stonefruit flavour reminiscent of a Saint Luis Rey cigar. The cocoa really settled, it was much more in the background and I got hints of peach or dried apricot, even a little coffee. Retrohaling along the way also proved a revelation as normally with Cuban cigars I'd get quite a bit of spice through the nose with a cigar that was smoking like this but instead I got a full-flavoured cocoa hit. It was quite unique, for my experience.

In the last third the cigar revealed its underlying tannic and grassy nature, more akin to the 2019 N1 Lancero with its core coffee, sourdough and leather flavours.

In summary, this was a beautifully complex long and skinny. I wouldn't hesitate to smoke another if I had the chance to.

2020 Nudies N1 Lancero (Maduro) Version Two

After enjoying the 2020 Rosado N1 Lancero I was curious to see if the Maduro version was a 'step-up' according to my palate, as was the case for the 2020 Carlotas. The cold draw was nowhere near as distinctively grassy and tannic, rather it was simple cocoa and 'run-of-the-mill' tobacco, much more muted than the Rosado N1 Lancero.

This cigar was nowhere near as complex as the N1 Rosado Lancero. I got flavours similar to the 2019 N1 Lancero; coffee, sourdough and leather with a nice, subtle coating of cocoa powder. Unlike the Rosado N1 Lancero, I didn't get those sweet and pleasant citrus flavours which made the Rosado lancero so endearing. Both Lanceros were easy on the nose to retrohale and around the medium to medium-mild mark in strength.

I was fortunate enough to be on a mid-week FoH ZOOM meet-up whereby El Pres explained that the Natural cigars in this series are graded Rosado according to Nicaraguan custom, whereas for Cuban cigars they'd be labelled Colorado wrappers. The other fact that he mentioned was that the blends in the Lanceros were identical, the only differences in the cigars were the wrappers.

All I can say is...what a difference the wrapper makes!

I also think Colorado/Rosado fits better than Maduro for N1 @JohnS. Hope my PSP HQ RyJ Rosado Ex4s will perform well in the next Kimfession Series. ?

[jay8354]

I will add my review and impressions under John's comprehensive in-depth review of the 2020 Nudies Lanceros.

First of all thanks Rob for giving me this opportunity to try and taste the 2020 Nudies. 

Please note that the below are from my limited perspective and may not be the same as other people. 

TLDR -

The Rosado is much more balanced, have more complexity and approachable young from the sample I have been given.
The Maduro is ok, not as nice but I think that it needs at least 6-12 months to really show its potential. 

I did not realise that the blend was the same and only the wrapper was different. 

Review:

Both the Maduro and the Rosado were smoked side by side as recommended by Rob.
While this does give you the best comparison in term of flavour, this gave me the worst overload of nicotine.
They have been sitting in the humidor for 1.5 weeks have receiving them. 

I started with the Maduro, as it had loads of potential. From cold, it smell of cocoa, coffee and stout. Strong, dark, bitter. 

Lighting it, it had a great burn for the whole smoking session, the first third had what was promised, cocoa, coffee, stout beer, hints of sweetness. 

However, going from the first to second third, the profile changed. It went towards capsicum, sichuan peppers and almost a spicyness. Not unpleasant but unexpected with the about change in flavours which is at time jarring to my expectations in my mind. 

From there it didn't really change in flavours, the last third did get a harshness and tar. From there, I had to frequently stop and purge but that did not help much. Eventually I had to put it down. 

As for the Rosado, from cold it smelled faintly of slightly hay, sourdough bread, hints of apricots. 

On lighting the first third, there is a slight sweetness (honey?), very faint which was very pleasant. There wasn't any cocoa that I could pick-up, the sweetness was only in the first third for me. 

Going to the second third, the stone fruit flavours can to the forefront, though I did wish for the honey notes to be more prominent. 

At this point, I am reaching for the Rosado more than the Maduro, as it was by far the better smoke between the two. 

Going to the final third, it was still pleasant but more hay and breadiness came back and did have slight harshness of the tannins from how young this cigar is. 

 

[99call]

On 8/13/2020 at 9:37 PM, JohnS said:

In the middle third, the apple and pear citrus flavours were still lurking in the background but at this point the cigar took on a stonefruit flavour reminiscent of a Saint Luis Rey cigar. The cocoa really settled, it was much more in the background and I got hints of peach or dried apricot, even a little coffee. Retrohaling along the way also proved a revelation as normally with Cuban cigars I'd get quite a bit of spice through the nose with a cigar that was smoking like this but instead I got a full-flavoured cocoa hit. It was quite unique, for my experience.

Can't believe i've missed this post until now,  Lovely stuff 

I've recently gone for the mixed wheel of N1s  as i was a bit torn.  In seeing the images Rob released I couldn't quite get my head around the profile of he 2019 N1 with a Colorado Claro wrapper on it (or at least that how the image looked to me).    Rob mentioned Upmann, and with you mentioning all these fruit notes, In my head I'm picturing an Upmann Mag 50 with more helf, in a Lancero......what can I say.......that sounds ideal. 

Will be interested to try the Maduro, but I always find them quite linear experiences. 

Wish I'd read this a month ago, I think my cart would have slightly different. Ha!

Hats off John

[JohnS]

2 hours ago, 99call said:

Wish I'd read this a month ago, I think my cart would have slightly different. Ha!

Hats off John

Thank you Stefan ! 👍