Smoke Rings: Smokingpipes Exclusive La Palina Blue Label Lancero

April 9, 2025 by Stephen Mawby in Cigar Certified

In this episode of Smoke Rings, Tyler Caldwell and I have the opportunity to share the latest Smokingpipes exclusive cigar: La Palina Blue Label in the special Lancero size, only available at Smokingpipes.

Note: The following transcription has been edited for clarity and brevity.

[Steve Mawby]: We've got the Smokingpipes exclusive from La Palina, the Blue Label Sumatra.

[Tyler Caldwell]: That's right, in a Lancero format here.

[SM]: Yeah, and I'm a big fan of the Lancero so this is right up my alley.

[TC]: Absolutely. The Blue Label by La Palina is a regular production, available in three other sizes: Robusto, Toro, and Gordo. This new Lancero is exclusively made just for us here at Smokingpipes.

Just like you, I'm a Lancero fiend, so it checks all my marks, especially knowing that the Blue Label has always been my personal favorite blend by La Palina. Now having it in my favorite size, it's even better.

[SM]: Yeah, I've always been a fan of the Blue Label, and I'm very excited to be having this one exclusively with Smokingpipes. It should be coming out in early April. There's a very nice box presentation here. These cigars come in boxes of 20. There were only 2,000 of these made, right?

[TC]: 2,000 cigars made, 100 boxes of 20.

[SM]: Right, and these were made in Honduras. This cigar has an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, a Honduran binder, and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers.

[TC]: Correct, and I would say the Nicaraguan and the filler here really ramps up the flavor profile and makes it stand out in a unique way compared to the regular-production sizes, especially in the thinner vitola.

There's more of a spicier tone where I would say normally this blend affords notes of creamy chocolate, nuttiness, and a little bit of baking spice and cinnamon flavors in its profile. In the Lancero vitola, to me, there's a lot more intensity in the spice. It's almost like a little bit of a spicier pepper, especially on the retrohale.

[SM]: Definitely getting the spice on the retro. I'm still getting a lot of that chocolate and the cinnamon like you were talking about there. I feel like that thinner ring gauge is really making these flavors a lot more bold. Everything's marrying together very nicely. It's very well balanced, but strong. You're getting a lot of kick, especially from that spice.

[TC]: Right, and this is a project that we've been working on with La Palina for quite a while. These cigars have sat for about a good year so you're going to get a nice little aging factor to go with that on top of everything else that we've discussed, which really enhances that flavor profile.

[SM]: You can definitely get that little bit of age in here. This is definitely not a young cigar. These are going to be ready to go as soon as you get that box home. You can cut these open, light 'em, and really enjoy 'em.

[TC]: I like that the box here is nice and compact, and you're going to get 20 delicious cigars to go with it. If you're a collector and you're worried about where to put another box, this is going to fit snugly easily.

[SM]: Yeah, I almost had a hard time believing that this was a 20-count box just from looking at 'em. It's very well compact but you're still getting a lot of flavor and a lot of smoke out of those 20 cigars.

[TC]: Again, this is an exclusive for Smokingpipes. This is our first from La Palina, but also our sixth exclusive in general, so if you are a fan of La Palina, if you're a fan of exclusivity, definitely check it out but also make sure you check out the rest of our exclusives online as well.

[SM]: I'm really excited about this exclusive. I've always been a fan of La Palina, and like you said, particularly the Blue Label. If you're excited about it too, it is coming out soon so check it out.