Sancho Panza Double Maduro Lancero

Sancho Panza cigars originated in Havana, Cuba in 1852 and are still made there today with an amazingly mild taste for traditional Cuban cigars. In 2001 they were finally available to the United States market when General Cigars starting making them in Honduras. The Maduro line which we’re featuring this month debuted in 2002. Under the supervision of Estelo Padron, each square-pressed cigar is made with a specially selected blend of Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Honduran Piloto fillers, then a Connecticut broadleaf binder is covered with an oily Oscuro wrapper. The construction of this cigar is nearly flawless, as are the flavors. True to the maduro style, this cigar has flavors of dark bitter chocolate and mocha with hints of spiciness. We love this cigar and so does Cigar Aficionado who gave it a rating of 91. To bring out the full flavors in this exquisite cigar we suggest pairing it with a malbec.

Honduras has been a tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing area for hundreds of years, but it was the Communist revolution in Cuba that really put Honduras on the map. In the 1960s, many Cuban cigar makers fled their homeland and arrived in Honduras to re-establish their way of life. The immigrants took advantage of the climate, soil, and geography, which were well-suited to tobacco growing, and began producing high quality cigars. The center of the Honduran cigar industry is the city of Danli and the nearby Jamastran Valley. The majority of the world’s pure Corojo tobacco is grown here, now that Cuba has stopped production of this iconic, spicy, and rich variety in favor of Corojo hybrids. Other important areas of Honduran cigar production include the Talanga Valley, Copan, and Trojes.