Stogie Guys Free Newsletter

Subscribe today for a chance to win great cigar prizes:


Presented by:

Stogie Reviews: J. Fuego Origen Lancero

5 Aug 2010

If you’ve met Jesus Fuego, I’m sure you’ll agree that he is a likable, animated cigar personality with a sincere passion for high-quality tobacco. My first encounter with him was at the IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans last summer.

Jesus Fuego Origen LanceroMore recently, we chatted at the Cigar Expo in June. That’s where he told me about the forthcoming full release of his Origen line, which is set to launch next week at the 2010 IPCPR Trade Show. Over the last two years, three limited edition Origen vitolas have been leaked to the market, starting with 500 boxes of the inaugural size, the Toro. Fuego said he chose this strategy to thank those retailers who have supported his brand from the beginning.

The Origen recipe is composed of 100% Cuban-seed corojo tobaccos with a Costa Rican binder and a two-country filler blend from Honduras and Nicaragua. The wrapper, a Brazilian corojo leaf, is “the darker sister of the wrapper of the 777 Corojo,” Fuego told me. It is intended to produce a “much richer blend.”

Now he is ready to share this blend on a larger scale with a complete lineup of sizes, including a Lancero (7.5 x 38). This slender smoke retails for approximately $6-7 apiece. It has a toothy, almost leathery exterior with modest veins and ample oils. Reddish in color and firm in the hand, it carries a sweet, earthy fragrance.

Establishing an even light is as easy as striking a match. From the outset, the medium-bodied flavor is of coffee beans, nuts, and dry wood with some sweet caramel on the finish. Balanced and savory. The draw is a tad tight but on par with what you’d expect from a typical lancero.

Moving into the midway point, the profile becomes creamier and sweeter while losing some bite. The overall taste remains decidedly medium-bodied, however, especially since the dry wood and coffee flavors maintain their prominence. As the draw opens nicely to reveal more of a smooth, chalky texture, I am surprised at the level of spice—seems to me like there would be more zing from an all-corojo creation.

But I won’t count that against the Origen Lancero; it has a unique flavor that stands all on its own. Complementing the taste are superior physical characteristics, not the least of which are a perfectly straight burn and a well-built white ash.

So this new line from Jesus Fuego earns high marks in my book. While I don’t think it’s going to blow cigar veterans away, it is consistently enjoyable from light to nub. Based on the three samples I smoked for this review, the Origen Lancero is worthy of four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

5 Responses to “Stogie Reviews: J. Fuego Origen Lancero”

  1. mighty Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 5:46 am #

    Origen is a great blend. I really prefer the belicoso or the lancero. They are different enough to call to me separately depending on my mood.

    The belicoso really just shines.

  2. dmjones1009 Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 8:04 am #

    I saw these a few weeks ago at Uptown’s in Nashville and picked one up to give it a try, not realizing that it was a very limited release…still haven’t gotten to it, but now I am looking forward to it that much more!

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. Best Cigar Blog » Blog Archive » The IPCPR Buzz: A Definitive List of New Cigars Being Released at Next Week’s Trade Show - Friday, August 6, 2010

    […] J. Fuego Origen – Chock full of corojo leaf, the Origen will see its full marketwide debut after Fuego leaked limited supplies to select retailers over the last two years. […]

  2. Stogie Commentary: The Best New Cigars of 2010 (Part I) - Wednesday, November 17, 2010

    […] J. Fuego Origen: While several limited edition Origen vitolas were leaked to the market over the last two years, the full Origen lineup wasn’t officially introduced until this summer. It boasts 100% Cuban-seed corojo tobaccos with a Costa Rican binder, a two-country filler blend from Honduras and Nicaragua, and a toothy Brazilian wrapper. The blend yields excellent combustion qualities and flavors of coffee beans, nuts, dry wood, and sweet caramel. The Lancero ($6-7 apiece) is particularly enjoyable. […]

  3. Cigar Spirits: Wathen’s Single Barrel Kentucky Bourbon | The Stogie Guys - Friday, August 5, 2011

    […] stiffest pour on the market. So far the Coronado by La Flor, E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut, J. Fuego Origen, and Tesa Vintage Especial have been the top performers. I look forward to experimenting further to […]