Vitola: Ninfa
Size: 7” x 33 ring gauge
Price $15.00
Purchased at Silo Cigars
Background
I start this review with a simple question: what defines a “limited edition” cigar? On the one end of the scale are those manufacturers who put out enough sticks in a “limited edition” that 4 years later, they are still plentiful everywhere in the country…despite the fact that they were, and continued to be, popular. I would argue that when you produce 100,000 sticks of any blend, it really just isn’t that limited. Room 101’s Namakubi debuted almost 3 years ago with a “limited run” of 100K…and they still keep getting re-stocked.
Somewhere in the middle of the argument you have those production runs between 5,000 and 20,000 sticks. A single-store Tatuaje release may be closer to the first number; a Monster series run might be closer to the second. Either number is sure to sell out within a few days to a few weeks.
Then there is the “micro-run” which is what I would call what happened with the latest Selección España. For 2014, Quesada elected to produce a very limited number of the blend in a size called Ninfa…it resembles an anorexic Lancero. “How many are there going to be?” you ask. 600. Not 600 per store…just 600 for the entire year. Each month, Quesada is selecting one deserving retailer to receive a single 50-count cabinet of Selección España NInfas. Paul, the owner of Silo, decided to limit each customer to 2 sticks. He was out within 2 days. After he and the store manager smoked two sticks that were damaged (1 stick each), they were able to make 24 of their customers happy. I was lucky enough to be one of them. (To be clear and fair, this isn’t the first time Quesada did this…last year’s Lancero vitola of the same blend was limited to the same number.)
According to the Quesada website, the Selección España is made up of Connecticut Broadleaf, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers; a Dominican binder; and an Ecuarodian Arapiraca wrapper. I thoroughly enjoyed the previous Españas I’ve had, so I bought two of these at a premium price without having tried the vitola. I would like to have smoked one before doing this review, but…well, if I like it, I want to keep the second one! So this review is based on my first experience with this vitola.
Prelight
The Ninfa vitola is pencil thin…if it were white, it would look like a very long cigarette. The banding is as attractive as I recall it being from previous releases. The wrapper was oily and smooth under my fingers and had an almost cinnamon-brown hue to it, with just a hint of red. It is said that there really is no room for error in rolling this vitola, and that may be true internally; externally, the seam of the wrapper didn’t lie completely flat in the small space between the band and the head. A minor thing, but I wondered if it could cause an issue later. The wrapper had a sweet smell with touches of hay and molasses. I picked up a little earthiness from the foot, but a little is all..after all the ring gauge is so small on this stick that I risked getting the cigar lodged in my sinuses if I inhaled too deeply. Giving the cigar a prelight taste, I picked up hay and earth…a little bit of cedar. The prelight draw was excellent, indicating that the persons (person?) who rolled these is highly skilled.
Flavor
So I lit up and started the important part of any cigar review…the smoking! The Selección España started off with notes of cedar, hay, black pepper and a touch of earth. There was an undercurrent of sweetness, but it was not very pronounced at all. The retrohale was a bit nutty with a dash of red pepper.
A long cigar, but not much tobacco to it…I was through the first third and into the second pretty rapidly. As I worked my way to that, the pepper spice increased, as did the notes of cedar and some citrusy sweet and sour notes.
In the last third, the citrus notes increased as did the pepper, making for a very good balance of sweet, spicy and sour notes.
Construction
To get a draw this good on a handmade cigar this thin is a great act of skill. The ash was solid enough for this thin of a cigar and the burn line was nearly perfect.
Value
The originally announced MSRP was $12.50, which is a bit steep for a cigar with this little tobacco, but when you consider it is probably the single most exclusive cigar being distributed nationwide this year, it’s really not that much. I paid $15 per stick, which is a little harder to do, but still…you’re not going to get another chance at these!
Conclusions
The Quesada Selección España provided a short but satisfying smoking experience. It had a solid construction with medium-to-full body and a good amount of complexity. I would say I enjoyed this vitola about as much as I did the Robusto I smoked last year, but I still have yet to try the Corona, which could just be the sweet spot for this blend.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
Interesting smoke. I will probably never see these, but I am curious to see your review of the corona. I am looking for a great short late night smoke.
Eh… I have stated in the past I have zero to -zero interest in cigars that I can’t get. I don’t understand the point in these. I mean I can see Quesada making cigars for certain B&Ms I guess thats a nice little touch. I often wonder how these develop. Do they only have a short supply of certain tobacco and decided to make a cigar out of what they have and call it quits after that (Four Kicks Mule Kick) or do they do this for a selling point to catch the eye of the cigar chaser to hunt down the most rare sticks out there and pay more then they are worth? Something just doesn’t sit right with me on sticks like this….
I agree with czerve in his statement about hard to get cigars. I understand the point of limited edition or online only but when you read about something and know you cant get it, well it kind of sucks. In saying my peace I will have to say great review. I have been impresses with the Quesada line, I really enjoy the Heisenberg and the Oktoberfest. IF I do see these I might just have to pick two up.
I understand what you both are saying on this subject. Personally, I don’t chase LEs…these days there are just too many and my money doesn’t go far enough as it is. When something does come around to one of my regular shops, though, I usually try to get in on it.
As for reviewing them…well, let’s just say that we’re never going to be “that blog” that looks for the hardest-to-find, most-rare cigars then smokes them so they can give them a crummy number. Our main focus has been and continues to be honest reviews of cigars that just about anyone can get their hands on fairly easily…and occasionally we’ll throw in something too expensive for most people or something that’s impossible to find…just to keep things interesting!
Thanks for reading!
Completely agree and understand Dave. Love the reviews and have been fortunate enough to chat with Keith on a regular basis on twitter and love his recommendations when I hit my shop. I just enjoy the peace and quiet and relaxation from smoking a cigar and have learned that it doesn’t have to be anything special but just something that I enjoy. I do enjoy getting real and honest reviews that might open my eyes to try something new. Keep up the great work.
I understand the lure of a limited edition but I do agree how limited are they when they are still all over the place. I think Limited is a word thrown around too much.