Dapper El Borracho Natural Edmundo cigar: Well dressed and tasteful

The Dapper El Borracho Natural Edmundo is an unassuming and slightly deceptive cigar. At first glance the wrapper looks less natural than it does maduro, erring towards oscuro. It also has a very understated band that simply states the name of the cigar along with “PUROS FINOS”, which translates as “fine cigars”. With its name meaning “The Drunk”, you would wonder why Ian Reith, the man behind Dapper cigars, might choose such an anachronistic name for one of his cigars, but it works perfectly with the characteristics of this cigar.

My first impressions of this cigar were “There is no way this a natural wrapper” and “what a beautiful looking stick”. The El Borracho is a delightfully box pressed cigar with a deliciously oily wrapper encasing a mouth-watering blend of Nicaraguan tobacco from the Oliva Farms. With the familiar maduro aroma of cocoa being left on my fingers as I felt the firm cigar from foot to head being supplemented by coffee and hay from the foot, I was eager to cut and light this Dapper cigar and experience just what delights it had in store for me.

Surprisingly, my first mouthfuls of smoke were rather secco in nature. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel a little let down at this point, but no sooner had that thought entered my mind than a tickle of cocoa and liquorice crept across my tongue bringing a smile to my face. The El Borracho filled my mouth with large quantities of weighty smoke that filled the room with sweet and lingering clouds. The cocoa notes grew in sweetness becoming reminiscent of a chocolate cherry fudge cake. Both this and the liquorice flavours remained a constant companion for the first third with nutmeg, cinnamon and buttered corn taking it in turns to play a supporting role.

Entering the middle third the cocoa and chocolate backed off a little, instead being replaced with a creamy sweetness. As I sipped away on my Irresistible Manhattan, notes of Italian leather started to build and gave the Dapper El Borracho Natural Edmundo a warmer and more moist flavour. In contrast to the sweet, creaminess in my mouth, the retrohale had a warming note of freshly ground black pepper in it. Little did I know that this was a hint at what the final third was going to have in store for me.

By the final third, the cocoa flavours had bowed out, taking with them the fruitiness of the preceding portion of the cigar. Right the way through, after each draw my lips had been left with a oily sweetness on them characteristic of the best maduro wrappers. This ramped up a notch as I smoked my way right to the nub. By this time, rich smoke had filled the room giving it the atmosphere of an 80s discotheque – all that was missing was a glitter ball and lasers.

The pepperiness that had been hinted at through the retrohales came more to the fore, although never became too heavy. It allowed the more savoury, chargrilled meaty notes. The cocktail paired so beautifully with the cigar that I had to refresh my glass with another one. That being said, I was nearly swayed by the can of Innes and Gunn Mango IPA that I had in the fridge next to the cocktail glasses! The only downside to this cigar was the crumbly ash, although I’m sure this is not a general flaw with the cigar.

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Dapper El Borracho Natural Edmundo Cigar Details