Quesada Jalapa Belicoso

Before we started halfwheel, Brooks Whittington and I both had our own cigar blogs. His was called Smoking Stogie and mine was TheCigarFeed. 

I was a reader of Smoking Stogie at the tail of its first iteration,  ogling over the rare cigars that Brooks was reviewing at the time. At some point, realizing that there were only so many rare Arturo Fuentes and vintage Davidoffs he could review, Brooks had pivoted to also reviewing cigars before they came out, “prerelease cigars” as we called them in the early days of halfwheel. Shortly after that, he and I were regularly contacting the same people about the same cigars. Brooks was regularly reaching out to people to get a hold of those cigars to review, while I was contacting those same people to get information to write news stories about the cigars. All without knowing that we were doing essentially the same work, albeit for different purposes.

One of the moments when I realized our paths had crossed was the early days of the Quesada Selección España.

Spain is one of the largest markets for handmade cigars outside of the U.S. Quesada decided to create a line just for the market, called Selección España. During the 2011 Procigar Festival in the Dominican Republic, the company gave guests the chance to smoke some of the prototypes, including the Hutsons, the owners of Just for Him, a retailer in Wichita, Kan.

The Hutsons, Brooks and I all agreed that the España was quite good, but the story was that it would remain a Spanish exclusive. Eventually, Quesada acquiesced and brought the España blend to the U.S., however, the company struggled to get enough of the Ecuadorian arapiraca wrapper that the line used.

To help alleviate the demand, the company took the internal España blend and paired it with a wrapper from Jalapa that was grown as a test crop by Nestor Plasencia in 2002.

The line, Quesada Jalapa, was offered in three vitolas, each limited to 1,000 boxes.

• Quesada Jalapa Robusto (4 7/8 x 50) — $7.75 (Boxes of 10, $77.50)
• Quesada Jalapa Belicoso (6 1/8 x 52) — $8.75 (Boxes of 10, $87.50)
• Quesada Jalapa Prominente (7 5/8 x 49) — $8.25 (Boxes of 10, $82.50)

Here’s what I said when I first reviewed the cigar in the summer of 2012:

The question you are wondering is does this taste like the España? Unequivocally, no; not even close. And that is a good thing. The Quesada Jalapa is a very good cigar right now and dare-I-say-it, I like the line better than the España. This is not a cigar really made to compete with anything. With so much of the market focused on putting out Ecuadorian Connecticut-wrapped cigars made to have bolder flavor and bigger bodies for a more advanced consumer, the Jalapa just accomplishes the end goal better. The smoothness is there, the buttery flavor is easy to pick out, the creaminess somehow differentiates itself and there are reminders of complexities like orange peel and leather along the way. This isn’t España, this isn’t the new Connecticuts, this isn’t like anything Quesada has put out on the market—plain and simple, it’s just shockingly good.

• Cigar Reviewed: Quesada Jalapa Belicoso
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacos de Exportación
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Jalapa)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 6 1/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $8.75 (Boxes of 10, $87.50)
• Release Date: August 2012
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

When I first picked up this cigar, all I saw was the belicoso shape with a relatively light sand-colored wrapper and a small crack in the torpedo tip. There’s plenty of both texture and veins, enough that I didn’t realize the crack in the front of the cigar below the bands. While taking the photograph above, I noticed the crack. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like it would probably be fine. If not, I figured I’d find out once the cigar was lit and the fact that you are reading this means that crack ended up not leaking out smoke. This cigar was not stored in cellophane, and I’m not surprised to learn that a nearly 14-year-old cigar no longer has any detectable aroma. I make a handful of attempts, smelling different parts of the cigar, and there’s just nothing. The foot has a mild-medium smell that reminds me of aged wood and saltiness. Cutting the cigar produces a small crack on the wrapper, not great but also not surprising. Flavor-wise, there’s an old floral flavor that reminds me of perfume, along with some sugar candy sweetness, mustard and aged woods. It’s quite enjoyable and medium-plus.

The Quesada Jalapa Belicoso’s wrapper is giving plenty of signs that it is dry, so I’m a bit surprised that the cigar takes longer than average to get fully lit. The very first flavors are a mild, crisp and smooth wood flavor, though I’m more distracted by some loose tobacco in my mouth. Pretty early on, the cigar is exhibiting many of the core hallmarks of an aged cigar. First and probably most noticeably, the small crack on the cap is leading to unraveling of the cap. It’s mostly manageable, but also not something I expect to get better as time goes on. By contrast, the cigar is burning better than most fresh cigars will. I don’t test it, but I suspect I could go five minutes in between puffs. The flavor is a mixed bag. It’s super smooth, which is nice, though the profile in the mouth is pretty basic. There’s a very mild herbal cracker flavor over muted woods and a hint of black pepper. A milky creaminess, also quite mild, emerges during the finish with some sour hay at the very end. Fortunately, I can retrohale. Doing so produces a medium-full mixture of mint tea, leather, saltiness, woodiness and creaminess. It’s a complete contrast to what happens when I don’t retrohale. Not only are there more flavors, but they are also stronger. However, the biggest difference is that the flavors appear almost immediately and fade quickly. The finish just has some mild hints of pepper and creaminess. Flavor is medium, though medium-full when retrohaling, body is mild and strength is non-existent. Other than my annoyances with the cap, there’s nothing to complain about construction-wise.

Just as I think I’m in for a linear progression where the cigar gets milder, the Quesada Jalapa Belicoso takes a U-turn. Around the halfway mark, I find three or four consecutive puffs that are a lot thicker. While the flavor profile is stronger, the leading flavor doesn’t really taste like much. I’d peg it more like a water flavor than say a tobacco flavor, two things that taste completely different, though oddly could be confused when writing a cigar review. Secondary notes include woodiness, sweetness, white pepper and toastiness. Equally head-scratching is the finish, which is super dry but seemingly due to texture, almost like someone sprayed a dry sensation in my mouth. Flavor-wise, I can just taste mild toastiness and black pepper. Retrohales are still my favorite part of the experience, though they remind me more of a fresh cigar. There’s a mixture of minerals, back pepper, toastiness and saltiness, though very dry. On the right side of my tongue, there’s a lot of saltiness and terroir. Retrohales finish a touch sharp with white pepper. Flavor is medium-full, body is generally medium, though full when retrohaling, strength is faintly detectable. There are some puffs that make it difficult to identify flavors, but in the final third, creaminess has taken over, bringing some cereal, Pringles and a generic grain flavor. There are still lots of water-like sensations happening more and more now. That’s especially true on the finish, which otherwise just has some dry herbs. Retrohales are still more interesting than when not blowing smoke through my nose, but it’s not as unique as before. There’s peanuts, vinegar, leather and some saltiness—all quite thick and mature. They finish with saltiness, woodiness and some wet leaves, everything quite muted. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-plus and strength remains barely detectable. Given how much of the top of the cigar was unraveling in the first few minutes, I’m surprised that most of the top part of the wrapper is still intact by the end of the cigar. The normal construction categories—draw, combustion and burn—are all great for all hour and 50 minutes of the cigar.

Belicoso
Dominican Republic
Quesada Cigars
Quesada Jalapa
Quesada Jalapa Belicoso
Tabacos de Exportación