"Ligero" seems to be one of those cigar buzzwords these days, as are "Don Pepin" and "lancero." I will not pretend to know the complete history of ligero-heavy smokes, but it seems the first time I saw the word ligero applied to a cigar was La Flor Dominicana's Ligero line, which was followed up with the Double Ligero line, epitomized by the "Chisel," a unique shape that is also one of the most consistently strong, yet wonderfully tasty, cigars on the market. LFD also makes a lancero vesion of the DL cigar and I've found it to be one of my favorites. Oliva debuted the "Serie V" a couple years ago, also a double-ligero cigar and shortly thereafter produced a lancero size. Last year, CAO jumped onto the bandwagen with the double-ligero LX2 and earlier this year the lancero size appeared, first in a special humidor and now as a general-sale product. Since both LFD and Oliva double-ligero lanceros are in my present "top 10" I was looking forward to this one quite a bit.Immediately upon releasing it from the cello-wrap, the LX2 hit me with a wall of aroma: woody, leathery, and just a little cocoa on the unlit foot. The cigar was moderately veiny and slightly lumpy. There are a couple spots where the wrapper seems a little sloppily rolled--I made a note to keep an eye on those to see if they caused any burn problems. The LX2 uses a double-band that is uneven in shape and quite large; they apparently use the same size bands on this very narrow ring-gauge cigar as on the larger sticks and that caused the bands to look kind of sloppy, too. Obviously this won't impact flavor or burn, but it does affect the presentation and that's too bad. Prelight draw, always a concern with this size, is easy.
The initial light is characterized mostly with spice, which I do not recall from my previous encounters with the LX2 in the other sizes. There is also an earthiness and leathery quality that is unlike the other DL lancero models on the market. The draw is fairly easy although it doesn't pull as much smoke as I would prefer. The body is definitely on the full side of the scale.
Through the first third, the cigar has been quite spicy and is definitley the best-tasting of all the LX2 sizes--there is just a very nice balance to the earth and leather and spice. I can definitely see putting this one on my "frequent smoke" list.
Overall, the LX2 still ranks as my third favorite of the three DL sticks I have mentioned, but before you go expecting that to be a diss--all three of these sticks are in my 10 favorites list. This is the best size in the line and I can heartily recommend it to anyone except beginning smokers who may be overwhelmed by the body and, to a less extent, the strength.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale:
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
P.S. I was able to tackle 2 of the 3 "buzzwords" in this review. In the next review, I'll look at the other one as I smoke the 601 Red.
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