I’ve had this one on my hit list for a whileeeee now. I actually ordered some of these right before Christmas, and the good ol’ USPS managed to lose my package (along with a Foundation Senetjer which is now sold out everywhere). The Bandolero marca is brought to you by United Tobacco, and the now ubiquitous Nelson Alfonso. Alfonso is responsible for bringing us the Byron, Atabey, and Alfonso marcas – big budget sticks with a ton of great marketing. The Bandoleros sort of falls in the shadows of it’s high end brothers, but does it punch above it’s weight?
The draw is a bit tight, but I tend to prefer smaller RG cigars, so a slightly snug draw is right in my wheelhouse. Rich cocoa, sweet cedar, bright citrus on the retro. Molasses on the finish. Great start! Blackberry notes on the palate. This has the brightness that only my favorite cigars have. The chocolate, wood, and blackberry on the palate are playing really well together. There’s a tinge of black pepper in the mix to keep things interesting. Also picking up on some musty vanilla/oak. As perfect of a burn line as I’ve seen, and just look at that ash!
Lighter pulls are bright and spicy. Deep pulls are rich in chocolate and woody notes. I love a cigar with this kind of complexity. It just makes the smoking experience so fun. The fruit notes are becoming a bit more jammy, and the wood is becoming more prevalent. This is reminding me very much of a very good dessert wine. Construction and ash are impeccable here.
Leading up to the band the cocoa pushed itself to the front of the palate. Along with the cedar, oak and black pepper. The fruit is still present but it’s an overripe fruit note now. I’ve only tasted that note in other Peruvian tobaccos. The Lampert Don Patron comes to mind. Is this Peruvian twang? The brightness has fallen off unfortunately, but the blend is interesting enough here to keep me tuned in. I’m curious how this would be in the corona gorda vitola. I’m already shopping for more and I’m barely in the final third.
The final third here is a bit more linear. Musty cocoa, cedar, woody vanilla. There are tinges of brightness and sweetness here, but not nearly as much as the first third, which is to be expected. I’m also still getting a touch of that yeasty fruit note. I decided to put this one down when there was about an inch left.
The expectations were very high with this stick, and I can confidently say that they were met. It had some unique flavor notes, and managed to fold those into a really well balanced profile. The construction was also impeccable. I’d strongly consider including this cigar in my rotation. I’ll likely try the corona gorda first and see which one I prefer, but I definitely see myself getting a box of these soon. These cigars can be had for $12.50 which given the performance is an absolute deal. Byrons and Atabeys go for 2x-4x the price of this stick, and even outside of the price point I can see myself reaching for the Bandolero more often than either of those.
