Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music | Cigar Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Pennsylvanian, Nicaraguan (Ligero)
Size: 6 x 48 “Chin Music”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $7.99 MSRP ($5.76 @ Small Batch Cigar including 10% discount)

Today we take a look at the Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music.
A big thank you goes out to Miguel Castro.

BACKGROUND:
Debuted at the 2015 IPCPR trade show.
Factory: American Caribbean Tobacco S.A, Nicaragua
Regular production.
Release Date: September 2015

Recently, Leccia Tobacco was acquired by General Cigar & Co. (as part of the Toraño sale)
The cigar sizes are named after the most well-known wrestling moves.

First, I’m not a big Sam Leccia fan. I think he is overrated. Starting off with that silly Nub thing that drives me crazy, and then on his own where he leaked out blends at a slow pace due to litigation recovery. I’ve reviewed four of his blends and I have to admit that they were decent cigars. Just nothing like what is coming out of the great boutique kitchens with names like Warped, Ezra Zion, Arandoza, Dante, D’Crossier, Epic, Emilio, La Barba, Maya Selva, Nomad, and Roma Craft Tobac.
I’m afraid Sam doesn’t hold a candle to these creative masters.
With that in mind, I am apparently the last guy on the block to review this cigar so thank you for sticking with me on this venture.

DESCRIPTION:
The sticks are so so looking. Exposed seams. Huge veins. Very light in the hand. Soft spots (Not good-Watch. I will have burn issues where the soft spots occur), and sloppy triple caps. Just like last time, Leccia is no longer a man in control of his own destiny as he was first tied to the hip of Oliva Cigars. And now to General Cigars and Torano Cigars. I guess he needs their production and distribution. Just spit ballin’ here.
Like all the other Luchador cigar bands, it is goofy looking. The mask of those macho Mexican wrestlers.
The wrappers look like seconds. I was given three samples and each one is a different color. Averaging them out, the wrapper is an oily, dark russet brown with a bit of extra fine sandpaper sized tooth.

SIZES AND PRICING:
Chin Music: 6 x 48 $7.99 MSRP
Pile Driver: 6 x 60 $8.49 MSRP
Squared Circle: 6.5 x 64 $8.79 MSRP
Frog Splash: 4.5 x 70 $8.25 MSRP
Boxes of 21.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell dark cocoa, barnyard, cinnamon, spice, floral notes, and some honey.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I smell strong barnyard, strong spice, chocolate, and honey.
The cold draw presents flavors of milk chocolate, spice, barnyard, roasted nuts, berries, cinnamon, and cedar.

FIRST THIRD:
It’s go time.
Good easy draw.
The start is full of black and red pepper, chocolate, black licorice, coffee, cedar, and generic sweetness.
Strength is medium body.

At the moment it tastes like a Pepin Garcia blend with that pepper bomb beginning.
There is a very nice finish that has me smacking my lips which attracts the dog and we do it in rhythm.
The foot immediately tries to canoe on me. Damn!

I torch the bloody wrapper and put the cigar down so it may cool off and stop the run. I’m not even an inch in. I smoked the first one yesterday and had the same problem although not as bad as this one.
But it was eventually tamed by taking small puffs and letting it cool for 2 minutes between puffs. I absolutely hate it when a cigar dictates to me how it should be smoked instead of the other way around. I’m the boss.

I go back and read my review of the original Luchador and I comment that it is “jam packed with tobacco.” This version is a pale comparison and feels like a cheap bundle cigar. As a result, it is smoking quickly.
I’m nearly to the second third and I’ve invested only 15 minutes.

But flavors get better. More expansive and definitive: Creaminess, red pepper, fresh berries, honey, chocolate, black licorice, lots of malt, cedar, buttery, and coffee.
Complexity is taking its baby steps.
The char line needs another touch up so I check out other reviews and read the same thing happened to them to some degree.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 18 minutes.
Flavors have stagnated. Not going anywhere. Just lying there like my first wife on our honeymoon. Crazy broad. Screwed like a rabbit before we got married in 1971 and on our honeymoon, she refused to have sex with me. She then spent 9 months in an asylum. And then we got divorced at just about a year of marriage. Nice, huh?

The Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music is very toasty with lots of creamy butter on it.
The spice is all but gone now. The chocolate, coffee, nuts, honey, and sweetness have moved into the space next to a black hole. No. Not my first wife.
In other reviews, I notice the bi-fecta description of “earthy and leather” a lot. LOL. Does this crack you up like it does me? You know what tastes like leather? My penis. Don’t ask.

This new version of the Luchador is a major disappointment. I loved the original. Plus it was packed to the gills with tobacco making it a nice slow smoke. This fucker is nearly smoking like a cigarette.
And the constant need for burn line touch ups is making me crazy(er).
One of the sloppy seams is beginning to unravel. And a crack forms on the other side. Time for glue. Drat. It is occurring exactly in the same place where a soft spot is.

The second third morphs to the halfway point in only 5 minutes. Holy shit.

I’ve got a really good cigar I plan to review tomorrow. And I have some great sticks that are ready to review to follow that up.
Clearly, Leccia or General or Torano used some crappy rollers in this effort. This is nothing like previous blends from Leccia. It is cheap and toxic.
Smoke time to the halfway point is 23 minutes.
Strength hits medium/full.

The spiciness returns in force. More flavors return: Chocolate, Malts, caramel, toasty, nuts, black licorice, and coffee.
Still, not very complex. A so so balance. And a fair finish.
I always feel bad when I diss a cigar that has been gifted to me. I’m sorry Miguel. But like the Chairman of the Board sang, “I gotta’ be me.” No matter how repugnant it is.

This cigar should have had a final smoke time of one hour 30 minutes. I doubt it will get halfway there.
The Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music is now very flavorful. But the transitions were schizophrenic.
And then I look at the price point. Same as a year ago with the original Luchador. But we only get half the quality and half the cigar. You can read my review of the Leccia Tobacco Luchador El Hombre and marvel at the difference.

The Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music is on cruise control now.
Just like that, flavors diminish some. The char line is still wavy but I’m done touching it up.

While I’m letting the cigar cool in the ashtray, I hike over to Halfwheel.com. Oh boy. He doesn’t care for it either. He gave it an 81. We are in total agreement. When I’m done with my review, I shall read his.

Leccia must have friends in high places for them to allow this travesty of a blend to be released. They should all be ashamed of themselves. The original Leccia Black and White blends were pretty good. What happened? Was Leccia told to keep the production cheap so they could make a big profit on the cigar? And in the process, ruin Leccia’s rep? Shame.
The Leccia Luchador El Gringo is going to do some serious harm to the Leccia line.

Nicotine pops up as the strength moves to full body.
I can’t help it. I stop and read Halfwheel’s review. Damn. I’ve written a carbon copy of his review. And I think he was a lot more polite than me.
But only I can get away with trashing cigars. At least at my level of expertise and readership count.

If the Toranos had anything to do with this, it wouldn’t surprise me. Torano is the king of the $6 cigar lines. And that’s what the Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music is worth. Not $8.

So if you choose to buy some Leccia Luchador El Gringos go to Small Batch Cigar and pay only $5.76 a stick. It’s true value. At the moment, they only have 5 packs for sale and only a few left of each.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is 33 minutes.
The Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music is devoid of complexity, transitions, balance, and finish.
I don’t enjoy trashing someone’s hard work. But my allegiance is to you, not the manufacturer.

There must be hundreds of smokers right now smoking the Leccia Luchador El Gringo and thinking to themselves, “What the fuck?”
If a blend is going to shine, it will happen in the last third. Not in this case. The Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music is flat. Flavors have disappeared leaving only “earthiness and leather.” LOL.
No really. It’s all gone.

Even the strength has moved back to medium body. And no nicotine. I don’t remember that ever happening.
I really hope that Miguel didn’t pay more than $6.00. I feel very guilty. Like a Jewish boy should.

Oh. Jimi playing “All Along the Watchtower.” How fine. My all time fave Jimi song. Although, I like the way Dylan does his song as well.
I’m killing time as I wait for this mess to finish and I can take my last photo.
Clearly, I don’t look upon the Leccia Luchador El Gringo Chin Music favorably.
Just don’t pay $8.00 if you must purchase this cigar.
Final smoke time is 42 minutes.

RATING: 80