Since it has been stormy these past few days, I decided to work part of the day from my local B&M, West Coast Cigars in San Jose, CA. When I got there, I just couldn’t figure out what I wanted to smoke, so Shane, who was manning the shop recommended the LCA Super Sea Monkey. He personally hadn’t had it but said some guys were raving about it. Since I was undecided, I thought, what the hell I’ll give it a shot.
Holy shit! I’m glad I took the plunge! I’m smoking it while I write and I’m swooning in its goodness. If you don’t want to read any further, this is a killer cigar! And as it’s a super-limited edition, I’m going to be buying several more while I’m here. I know that I’m probably paying a premium, but they’re selling out all over the place online.
I was going to entitle this the La Sirena Super Sea Monkey but I didn’t want to write a formal review on it just yet because this was the first I purchased. I want to smoke at least a couple more of these to get a full impression of the cigar. As Sanj Patel said in a video I saw of him (paraphrasing), “You should smoke three cigars before you form an opinion.”
But that said, I do have some first impressions. First, I’ve rarely seen a wrapper this dark and oily. According to descriptions I’ve seen, it uses a rare Nicaraguan Cameroon Negro wrapper, plus a revolutionary fermentation method developed by Raul Lanuza to create an ultra-dark and oily wrapper. The result is a fruity aroma with a smoke that’s redolent of stone fruit and raisins. Pretty fucking amazing.
I love the shaggy foot that starts off the cigar with influence coming entirely from the binder and filler. And yes, this is where the fruit comes from. Once the wrapper comes into play, the cigar shifts into high gear with floral and herbal notes to accompany the fruit. From there, it just gets super-complex as the cigar loads.
And the oils? Holy shit! My fingers are slightly sticky from the oils exuding from the wrapper! This is a real treat.
Unco B's Stogie Diary 