The world of premium cigars is a vast one, and sometimes I forget that. When you casually smoke multiple cigars every day and then review a stogie once or twice weekly like yours truly, it’s somewhat easy to slip into the mindset of “I’ve smoked something from every major company out there and if I haven’t then it’s for a damn good reason!” I’ll let you insert your own Ghurka joke here, go ahead, it feels good. Well the problem with this mindset is that one day you might wake up and realize that you have never smoked a Plasencia cigar before and that just doesn’t make any sense given that they are such a well-established, well-respected brand. I was certainly aware of Plasencia and I have no doubt that I’ve strolled past some Plasencia cigars displayed on the shelf of my favorite tobacconists, but for whatever reason it just never happened. Until tonight.
THE CIGAR – COSECHA 151 LA MUSICA by PLASENCIA CIGARS
Size: 5 x 50 (robusto)
Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduras
Price: $13.50 (head on over to Famous Smoke Shop right now and use promo code TNCC20 to receive $20 off your Plasencia purchase of $100 or more!)
The Cosecha 151 La Musica features aromas of leather and cedar and there’s an overwhelming, rich sweetness detected when sniffing the foot of the cigar directly. There are some slight bumps along the body; however, no soft spots are detected. The gold and black color scheme used on La Musica’s 3 separate bands is visually appealing, while these darker colors don’t necessarily “pop” they still work well in grabbing your attention.
After a quick and successful punch of the cap, La Musica’s cold draw reveals a dry floral flavor combined with a touch of unsalted cashews. Upon ignition, first impressions are of sharp black pepper backed by charred meat through the nose while the draw is cedar heavy early on. There’s a soft, chewy breadiness that’s lurking underneath the cedar along with a very faint floral presence as well. At around the 1” mark, the pepper spice’s strength begins to rapidly decline and it’s replaced by a bold leather note. That unusual charred meat flavor only lasted a few minutes before it vanished as well.
Construction so far has been very good with a smooth draw and an acceptably straight burn line. La Musica’s smoke production would best be described as copious. The retrohale is now rolling right along with clearly defined flavors of leather, minimal black pepper, and a newfound saltiness. The draw remains relatively unchanged with its core notes of cedar and dry flowers. The use of the word “dry” in the previous sentence is notable because La Musica is leaving my throat a bit dry here in the first half. It’s a minor criticism, at this point, and my only criticism so far…
A splash of must has now joined the leather, pepper, and salt via the retro. There’s a lot of action upstairs, so if you’re not blowing smoke out of your nose while puffing on La Musica you’re absolutely missing out. Remember that soft, chewy bread note that came and went early? Well, it’s suddenly back now and it’s more clearly defined as a much sweeter bread reminiscent of King’s Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. I was silently hoping that some of that sweetness found through the prelight cold draw would eventually show up, but I’d be lying if I said that I anticipated it to present itself as a Hawaiian sweet roll. After reviewing premium cigars for over a decade now, I’m fairly positive that’s a first*.
The dark grey ash drops right as La Musica approaches the fifty yard line. The cigar is best described as full bodied and medium/low strength. Construction continues to impress, as there have been no issues or maintenance required whatsoever. The black pepper is reclaiming some of its power here in the second half but it’s working with the leather, salt, and must as opposed to clashing with these flavors. And not only is the increased spice playing nice with those preexisting notes, it’s also more than welcoming of a new, warm sugar cookie sensation. Again, if you are not blowing smoke out of your nose while smoking the La Musica DO IT NOW. Seriously dude, what’s your hold up? That sugar cookie note didn’t last more than a few puffs unfortunately. Goddamn, that was really nice while it lasted.
There are so many other flavors at play here that I’d be an asshole to complain. The draw continues along with its steady profile of cedar and floral elements. It’s a perfectly fine flavor profile, with any other cigar it might just be the star of the show, but the draw is undeniably overshadowed here by the highly complex and highly enjoyable retrohale. The ash is quite flakey now in the final third, so I’m thumping it off frequently.
Everything is working so well here in La Musica’s last act that I’m starting to get sad knowing that the smoking experience will end soon. It’s thankfully a happy brand of sadness, for a change, if that makes sense. The strength is now squarely in medium territory and the body is as full as it’s ever been. Just before La Musica plays its final notes, the sugar cookie re-emerges and stands toe-to-toe with the pepper as the salt, must, and leather all graciously step aside. The Hawaiian sweet roll note is also no more, as the draw’s profile ends on that steady cedar/floral presentation. No complaints here, not a single one.
THE NUB
TNCC FINAL SCORE = 93
I smoke a lot of premium cigars. Many of them I’ve already forgotten about a few hours later. I’m confident that I won’t be forgetting about Cosecha 151 La Musica any time soon. It’s an extremely well constructed, complex Honduran puro that featured the most transitions I’ve experienced while smoking in a very long time. My major takeaway after reviewing this cigar is that I need to seek out more offerings from Plasencia as soon as possible.
* Hundreds of the TNCC’s cigar reviews were conducted while drinking heavily. That’s no secret, in fact, it’s kinda “our thing”. So there’s a very good chance that we have mentioned experiencing King’s Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls flavors before, perhaps multiple times!, in the past. Over the years, we have reviewed the Shiner Oktoberfest beer THREE TIMES and every time we honestly thought that we were drinking it for the very first time. Heroes? Idiots? Yes.
** Total Smoking Duration: 85 minutes
