Lampert Cigars My Cigar Lab "El Gringo" Review

Lampert Cigars was established in 2016 by Austrian Lawyer Dr. Sefan Lampert. The cigar lines that followed were My Cigar Lab, Ocean Breeze, and Lampert 1675 Edicion Azul. The latter was the cigar that caught my attention for this brand upon its release to the US earlier this year. The cigar I am reviewing today, however, is from Lampert’s inaugural line, My Cigar Lab, and is called “El Gringo”.

The My Cigar Lab line of cigars was originally crafted as the customized cigar. This is an idea that, from what I understand, stemmed from Stefan’s experience with custom suits.  I need to further understand the full scope of what My Cigar Lab has to offer, but there are some “Standard” my cigar lab offerings that are always available. These include “El Gringo”, “Don Patron”, and “Gatsby”. They are touted as “a very light cigar that you can smoke daily twice or even more”.

Country of Origin: Costa Rica

Factory: Tabacos De Costa Rica S.A.

Wrapper: Ecuador

Binder: Ecuador

Filler: Dominican Republic & Peru

Vitola: 5 x 50 Robusto

Price: $11.00 MSRP

Release Date: US Pre-Release August 2020 

Company Website: https://lampertcigars.com

Expectations

From the description I expect a mild strength smoking experience. From the reception of the El Gringo from people I know, I expect medium-full flavor and body. From the blend I expect flavors of musty earth, grass, nuts, cream, and maybe some pepper and woods.

Prelight Characteristics 

I am not really a fan of the primary band. I like the simple idea, but I am not a fan of solid gold, especially against this wrapper shade. I like the secondary band a lot, both in design and the textured feel. The cigar smells of damp pine sawdust. Reminiscent to when the barn animals stomp their wet feet in their pine bedding. The cold draw is subtle berries and cream with some baking spice.

First Third

The cigar starts off full in body and flavor with notes of wood, some peppery earth, and a bit of a bitter grassiness. The retrohale shows some pepper sting and a bit of cream. A ½” in its down to medium flavor, medium-full body. The peppery earth has dropped out and the flavors remaining are a bit of wood, nuttiness, and a bit of a metallic vegetal note. The draw is quite good and the cigar is burning well with just a slight lagging spot that corrected itself. Nearing the end of the first third the wood and nuts are foremost with a bit of earthiness reappearing. The retrohale still has some pepper sting followed by vanilla and a bright nuttiness.

Second Third

Moving into the second third there’s a touch of grassiness returning, and some cream becoming present. The ash dropped around halfway and there was a bright sweetness that joined the profile. It is almost like an artificial sweetener. This doesn’t last long before settling into a more slightly sweet cream forward profile with some wood and a touch of earthiness to balance it out. The finish is showing some bread notes. Ending this third the profile is becoming fuller in flavor and body and the burn seems to be getting harder to stay going. The flavors are taking on more earth, wood, fruity sweetness, and subtle spices. I must be getting into some higher priming tobaccos.

Final Third

The wood is picking up and the fruity sweetness is more citrusy. There’s a bit of creamy leather. The draw flavors are becoming cream forward again. The retrohale is bright sweetness, cream, and a bit of pepper. The finish is long with a lot of sweetness, cream, and a slight woodiness that balances the sweetness nicely. It needed a slight touch up. Some grassiness is coming back in. Into the primary band it is still creamy, but citrus and nuts are primary now. There’s a pepper build on the finish. The strength is medium and the flavor and body are full. Coming to an end at medium-full strength with earth, wood, grass, and spices; the flavors are quite deep and have the kind of strength you start feeling in your chest.

 

Overall Experience

This cigar came to an end at around an hour and 35 minute smoking time. Overall, I found this cigar to be enjoyable, but not quite as built for my profile as the 1675 Edicion Azul. This El Gringo did have a lot of nice flavors throughout. The cream, nuts, and sweetness seemed to almost always be balanced nicely with different levels of wood, earth, grass, and pepper. The last third offered a surprise transition in flavor and strength. The cigar burned and performed quite well throughout. I would smoke the My Cigar Lab El Gringo again, but I won’t being seeking another one out.

Try the cigar yourself at Small Batch Cigars and let me know what you think! Use code “Whiskey” to get 10% off your entire order. Plus, sign up and begin earning 5% back in rewards points with each purchase.

Feel free to reach out to me with questions, concerns, criticisms, or just to talk at @guitarsandcigarsfarm on Instagram, or via email at trevor@whiskeyandwhitetails.com.


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