Description

The Birthday Cabin and the Quiet Classic: A Review of the Juan López SelecciónNo.

When I consider it, on the anniversary of my birth each year, I think like this. I sling a rucksack into the back of something with more Germanic vowels than I care for, and pocket a bottle of kind-of-brown.assesed* as it – not to put too fine a.point on it – starts heading up towards yonder old family cabin that’s since).been left to moulder.in the corner of them there hills where even GPS goes to die. It’s a little bit of an adventure getting there itself — four-wheel drive is more suggestion than requirement, and the last mile is often a muddy jaunt through pines that have seen more winters than I ever will. No Wi-Fi, no pings from work, just the whistling of the wind through the rafters and a wood-burning stove that takes about three hours toreally get buzzing.

I like the isolation. It is quiet and gives me space to ponder, reflect on the year that’s beenwith hardly any noise. But best of all, it is when I choose a cigar once a year that has to get no pay. I’m not following the latest limitededition with its bling strap or price that makes my eyes water. I wantsomething that reflects the cabin in a real way: rugged, reliable and full of character. I’m looking for something that’s been around the block, but does not need to make a big dealout ofit.

And as the sun started, a notch at a time, dropping down behind the jags this year and casting long purple shadows across our porch, I reached into my bag for a slide-lid box. It was a double-dozen of wood that had been mine since 2015, the wood seasoned and very faintly smelling of cedar and time. I TOOK THE lid off, and there were the Robustos. No fuss, just honest tobacco.

That smoke? The JuanLópez Selección No. 2. Its a cigar that is sorely underappreciated in the Habanos arsenal because it doesn’t have the marketing muscles of a Montecristo or the panache of a Cohiba. But itis a go-to for those of us with experience knocking this business around. It’s the “insider’s” Robusto. I uncappedthe pen, watched the thick ribbon of smoke fade into mountain mist and leaned back.

The Specs

Construction and Feel

I must admit,there’s something about the feel of a Juan López in your hand. It’s a real Robusto — 4 7/8 inches of Cuban attitude. Thewrapper on the Selección No. 2 is a shinning, oily Colorado color. It is that chocolate-brown hue that I think of as the color of a saddle, brown not smooth but worn like leather. It isn’t “perfect” in the way of some other NewWorld cigars — you’ll see a vein here or there — but that is the beauty of it. It looks handmade, not machine-pressed.

Dr Rozi, running a thumb down the body, feels that the pack is not tight but dense. (Have had some issues with Cuban draws in the past — haven’t we all — but this 2015 batch hasbeen very firm.) The cold draw served up a whopping hay and cedar with just a hint of sweet citrus on thelips. I applied (a straight cut) and I just wanted that dragsensation, exactly what it felt like — you’re drinking a thickmilkshake through astraw. You’re plugged up, it’s horror,not too loose. Just right.

I sniffed the foot for a full minute before even bringing fire near thething. It has that classic Vuelta Abajo aroma — earthy, peppery and alittle floral. It’s a hint that this brand, founded by Juan López Díaz as far back as 1876, has not given up its soul despite being one of the littler guys in today’sHabanos roster.

The First Third: The Awakening

The first few puffs are always the most telling. Thanks to theSelección No. 2, it also doesn’t dawdle. All of a sudden, I had a big puff of black smoke in myface. While I’m sure you haven’t googled “cinnamon incense,” for all that there’s green and (mint also) in the name, since it smelled something like white toast at a crossroads between white bread and cedar (another warm wood), I bet your mind connected me talking about cinnamon and such to my responses. The first few minutes (cinnamon-y-broader-terms. tonic-noticer-details pitched down lower traffic 22nd st.)I struggle against silence-of-a-shell-shock of wave-noise in all that and nor nothing meant breaks far away from its side—A slowly cedary wood groans ever-so-slightly-flaming-here-to-gorwoods-chaws up mouthfuls of chewy warm un-wanting chaw full. It’s savory and comforting.

About 10 minutes in, that “Cuban twang” popped out. There’s this real pretty, sweet orangeor clementine note that kind of whooshes around the sides of your taste buds. And it’s not sweetness in the corn-syrupy sense, but likethe distilled effort of sweet from the fruit. It’s that citrus backed by an attendant coffee bean flavor and a sprinkle of cocoa. It’s a wound medium body kick off, really very approachable but you can feel the muscle underneath. I found the ash to be razor sharp, which is a testament to howwell-constructed this vitola really is!!

As I sat on the porch with a view of that cooling mountain air, that cocoa-coffee blend felt like a warm scarf. You know that smoke you feel… like a dick feels in the right pussy, orvice versa? This was it. No pepper burn, just creamy, silky transitions.

The Middle Third: The SweetSpot

By the second-third, strength increased to medium-full. This, more than anything else, is what truly makes the Juan López Selección No. 2 live up to its billing. The woodynose lifted from plain cedar to something herbaceous and mysterious. I started to get a note of a floral spice, something that made merecall dried wildflowers — the kind you discover pressed in a musty old paperback.

The creaminess intensified here. The texture is creamy and vanilla-like that clings to the mouth but gives the smoke a very rich, heavy feel. In the case of our relatively young Varnier-Fannière “Grand Elegance,” I’d say that brioche note at the start had shifted into one more toasted-bread-like, and that citrus zest went along for the ride just enough to prevent it from getting too heavy. There is also a swirl of sugarcane sweetness that comes and goes, which makes a good counterpoint to the earthy base.

I checked the ash, it was strong and light grey with a fine ring and had broken after about an inch and half.

I wasn’t rushing it. Life itself, more cake thancandle!” This is not a cigar to blast through. It’s a 60- to 75-minute experience, and in remote mountain time, I was unfazed by the wait.

The Final Third: The DeepDive

By the time I reached the final third, there was no sun left and between the branches of pineI could see stars. I had a fairly noticeable cange occurring, but never made the cigar any bittrr. The taste of charred oak and leather surfaced to replace the floral notes that lined the middle. It got a lot more “earthy” and “musky”—and in a good way. It felt grounded.

He tasted coffee notes again, but they seemed darker now, more like a double espresso. On the finish I got a touch of dried flowers and some more of the orange peel thengroovy, which continued to make your mouth pucker whilethe body climbed for its peak. It stayed cool all the way down to the nub, there were no “squishy/hot” flavors that turned it bad toward the end like most of my other reviews. It remained cool, and deliciously-flavored, long past the point where I thought it could be.Sadly though, the day eventually came when I had to give it up.

It’s a long, sweet finish. Even when I was done and the clock stopped, that mix of coffee and citrus lingered in my mouth. It’s a fantastic conclusion to a smoke that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but perfects it instead.

Pairing Recommendations

I tried the cabin side of things, soI dilated. I brought myflask of 12-year-old Highland Scotch — something with some money and heather to it. The Scotch sweetness was a great counterpoint to the orangezest and cedar in the Juan López. If you’re not into Scotch, a full-flavored dark Cuban rum such as HavanaClub 7) would be the “right” answer, really amplifying that cocoa and sugar cane angle.

Honestly? If you’re having this in the morning, a bit of jet fuel for breakfast or café con leche would do the trick. The Selección No. 2 is full in body to handle thecaffeine, andit only makes sense that the coffee notes found in the tobacco would pair well withthe real deal.

The Verdict

There’s some brands that I smoked over the years and I remember they justvanished. Juan López is a survivor. “It feels unreal, like I’ve never smoked a Dedacciai or something. You can thank the Selección No. 1 and No. 2 for that, a brand you don’t have to issue in million different vitolas for it to be relevant, just make the Selección No. And the No. 2, I think, is the heart of what a brand can be. It’s a solid Robusto that deliverslots of complexity, it gives something ever changing without being too bold or too aggressive.

Is it the “most exciting” cigar in a lot of years? Maybe not to someone in need of a nicotine bomb or agimmick. If you enjoy the taste of Vuelta Abajo tobacco, in all its earthy citrus creaminess, then toss it intoone of your humidors. It’s a sleeper hit. It’s the kind of cigar you order by the box and let age, something that – as my 2015 release proves – is only going to make it better after a few years in its bag.

Solid. That’s the word. Its a great solid quality Cuban puro that also gives me a stellar cigar experience every time I light one. I could not ask for better company with whom to start a mountain cabin birthday tradition.

Final Thoughts: If you come across a box of these don’t overthinkit. Just grab them. So there’s no getting away from the fact that whether you’re looking to expand your reparto whores, or you’re just interested in seeingwhat all this Cuban fuss is about, value for money must feature high up on the agenda and the Juan López Selección No.2 has plenty of it!