The next cigar I will try as part of my cigar challenge is from the Excalibur cigar brand. I will be smoking the Excalibur 1066 Lancelot.

The stats:

Length: 7.25
Ring Gauge: 54
Strength: Medium
Country of origin: Honduras

Background:

Excalibur cigars (named after the mythical sword) are part of the Hoyo De Monterry brand. Interestingly, Excalibur’s are sold with the Hoyo de Monterrey label in the U.S. (with the additional word and Excalibur at the bottom of the band), but simply as Excalibur in Europe for trademark reasons. Although I haven’t seen any of the later.

These cigars are made from a blend of the finest Dominican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan fillers. A Connecticut Broadleaf binder and a smooth Connecticut wrapper is employed to offer the mellow satisfaction Excalibur lovers have come to expect.

My experience:

Upon first impressions, this cigar looks impressive and gigantic in length. It has a very dark wrapper. It feels slightly uneven as you press it, and there is a strong chocolate-like aroma when you hold it close to your nose.

On lighting this cigar, whilst it smokes ok, I don’t capture any particular flavour notes. It’s relatively tasteless. It reminds me of those enormous cigars with the large ring gauges I smoked years ago that appear to be style over substance.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Next up… a cigar from the Fonseca brand!