Cigar Weekly

Sancho Panza has a Cuban lineage dating back to 1852. The cigar was named after the Sancho Panza character from the great Spanish novel, Don Quixote.

Crafted by Estelo Padron, the Honduran cigar master, the wrapper is Connecticut Shade. The binder is Connecticut Broadleaf and. the filler is a blend of the Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican Cubano Piloto.

General Cigar markets the Sancho Panza, which is manufactured by Honduras American Tabaco, S.A. in Cofradia, Honduras.

Cigar Weekly reviews are blind taste tests conducted by our readers. Reviewers are sent three samples with all identifying marks removed. Reviewers are chosen randomly from the list of everyone that has signed the Cigar Weekly Guest Book. Their comments are below.

Pre-Smoke Comments

Boyd Lawrence Nowlin (BOYD ): The overall appearance of the cigar was pleasing the texture was smooth, the cap-head was a medium, bunch was firm. The cigar was much larger in length then I prefer.

Dennis Bacon (DB): A solid, firm, extra large churchill with a nice brown wrapper.

Don Jackson (ACTJAC): This cigar looked well constructed and had a very good looking wrapper, almost a Colorado color. It had a medium to smooth wrapper with a slight oiliness. The first one that I smoked had soft spots and was unevenly rolled and ran badly. The construction on the second one was better. Both cigars had an easy draw.

Gregory Dutreix (GD): This is one nice looking cigar. It's brown, slightly oily, with small veins running throughout. It feels solid to the touch, with no real soft spots. It's not round but not box-pressed; the sides have been flattened out. It smells like a young cigar.

Ken Hoffman (tnfan): Well constructed. Nice wrapper. Cap could have been a little larger. Fairly firm with no soft spots or lumps. Mild aroma. Pre light draw was easy.

Michael Strange (mezz): Nice looking stick. Firm except two soft spots on both samples about 1/4 way down. Dark brown possibly ems wrapper. A few fine veins. Cap was smooth on top and a little ruff on the sides. The presmoke aroma was excellent.

Stephen Oliver (Miamiatty): This was a nice looking cigar that was constructed well. There were virtually no soft spots and the cigar seemed quite dense. The wrapper was nice and brown and smooth.

Smoke Comments

Boyd Lawrence Nowlin (BOYD ): When I first lit the cigar I found it to have a mild, flavorful smoke with some cinnamon-spice flavors and a medium-rich finish.

Dennis Bacon (DB): This cigar is a nice medium body, simple, straight forward cigar. It's woody flavor is consistent through out the smoke. There is a nice easy draw and is solidly constructed.

Don Jackson (ACTJAC): This cigar started off with a slightly bitter taste which got worse. It also developed a metallic taste which got stronger. This was a mild, bitter one dimensional cigar.

Gregory Dutreix (GD): The cigar lit easily, and this was followed by an easy draw, a great burn, and a rock solid ash that without a doubt is the whitest I've ever seen. The taste was never bitter, even at the start, which is always a good sign. It pleasantly tasted of spices, getting The last quarter of the cigar started to taste of ammonia, but I think this was because of the flavors of a cigar nearing its end, combined with both normal tobacco flavors and the flavors of spice.

Ken Hoffman (tnfan): Both samples burned very evenly. Draw was easy as expected on a larger ring gauge cigar. Short finish. Medium bodied and mild flavor and strength. No post smoke aftertaste. One dimensional and somewhat boring.

Michael Strange (mezz): The draw was perfect. The ash was nice and long about 1 to 1-1/4 inch long. Firm and solid. A whitish gray ash. The cigar produced a lot of smoke. Aroma was good, taste was smooth with just a hint of woodyness.

Stephen Oliver (Miamiatty): Although this cigar reminded me of a Ramon Allones, it didn't quite satisfy me as I thought it might. Although the burn and draw were both excellent, the aroma was very subtle and the flavor was average for a stick of this size. I didn't receive the "layers of flavors" I was expecting, yet it still was a pretty ok cigar.

Summary Comments

Boyd Lawrence Nowlin (BOYD ): This is a cigar that has it all flavor and mildness a smooth draw and an even white ash with a consistently mellow taste, with a nice natural wrappers. This is a cigar you can smoke day after day and never get tired of the taste. I suggest you keep a few in your humidor to offer when friends drops by.

Dennis Bacon (DB): This cigar is one you can really sink your teeth into. Thought I wouldn't sit out on my porch and smoke it, or, bring it to a Herf, I would be happy to bring it along fishing or golfing. It is a nice medium bodied, woody flavored cigar that is solidly packed that can take some abuse and still perform.

Don Jackson (ACTJAC): The best thing I can say about this cigar was the way it looked before I lit it. I did not like this cigar and would not recommend it.

Gregory Dutreix (GD): This was a flavorful cigar, but it could use some more time aging. I thought the Camacho Corojo was a change of pace from what I usually smoke, and this is another. Given my personal experience, I would half-heartedly recommend this cigar at this size to someone else, but in a smaller size, I think it'd be great!

Ken Hoffman (tnfan): I very seldom smoke a cigar of this size. Normally don't have the time to spend on a cigar this large. This was a well constructed cigar and easy smoke. Not one I would purchase but if you like this size a very sensible smoke.

Michael Strange (mezz): Over all I felt this was just a average cigar. The burn and draw were excellent. Great job by the roller. The smoked lacked notable character even thought it was good. It had not developed into a great smoke no matter how far down I smoked it. I always believed that a cigar like this will blossom into a much better cigar the longer you leave it in the humidor. I would recommend this cigar. But it would have to sit awhile.

Stephen Oliver (Miamiatty): A fair to good cigar for its size. Just didn't have the complexity I was after, but still had a decent taste. I wouldn't keep these to personally smoke, but would give them out to people just starting out. A little aging might improve this cigar.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 35.5 out of 50

4 Star -- Excellent

Our reviewers were split on this new cigar, but their combined scores were enough to push the Sancho Panza Primoroso into 4 Star territory. Generally a mild, straight forward cigar, some found it flavorful with cinnamon spice and a short finish. A good first showing for this new brand.