I started writing this review about 10 minutes after Spain won the World Cup 2026 Tournament. I am going to call it a “victory cigar” since the Spanish National Team spent the majority of their time in America in Chattanooga. Their hotel (Embassy Suites downtown) was about 200 yards from where I work…their training facility (Baylor School) is one hill removed from where I live. I can’t say I took much interest in the game or in the team, I am very happy that my little city played host to the team that won it all. Now let’s get on to the cigar…
Triunfal was announced by Plasencia Cigars during this year’s trade show. They declared that it was meant to honor “a historic international celebration that brings nations together through passion, resilience, and the enduring spirit of the beautiful game: fútbol.” (I personally think baseball is much, much more beautiful, but that’s beside the point.) Plasencia has been making cigars under their own label for about a decade, but they have been growing tobacco for over a century and a half, so it is fitting that they grew all the leaf for this blend. The fillers are 100% organic Jalapa from Nicaragua and 100% organic Jamastran from Honduras. The binder is a Honduran Olancho leaf and the wrapper is a Honduran Jamastran leaf. They offered these in a single Gran Toro (6.25” x 54 ring gauge) size, limited to 5,000 boxes of 10 cigars, retailing for $59.99 per cigar. I received a review sample from the company.
I have to admit when I opened the packaging on this, I was expecting something Brazilian…their green and gold just automatically puts me in that mindset, I guess. The Honduran wrapper was a medium brown color with a nice oily feel to it and aromas of natural tobacco and light earth. The foot of the cigar had a richer earthiness, along with a mix of hay and cedar. The cold draw was easy and had the oddest mint note. The last time I can recall getting a minty note like that on a cigar was on a Padilla well over a decade ago.
Thankfully, the mint didn’t translate much to the burning cigar…if I wanted that, I’d be smoking Java Mint! When I fired up the Plasencia Triunfal, I got a really pleasant mix of hay and cedar, backed up with some herbal notes and a little pepper spice. The first few puffs seemed like the cigar was going to fall into the medium-bodied range. As I burned along, the Triunfal delivered up a very pleasant smoking experience, if not the most complex one.
I felt like the herbal and floral notes definitely took the lead most of the way, with some accents of white pepper and cedar. For a mostly Honduran blend, I was impressed with the flavor, but there are several Plasencia regular blends that I personally prefer. I am grateful to have the chance to try this and will say that if your taste preferences lean more toward Honduran leaf, this is probably going to be a spectacular experience for you.
