Video review HERE.
In late 2014 Sam Leccia announced that he would be joining General Cigar Company. In June of this year Leccia announced Luchador El Gringo, the follow-up to Luchador.
The lines are differentiated by a different color scheme on the band that bears a representation of the masks that luchadores wear : blue and red instead of the green and red found on the original Luchador line. The new El Gringo line is composed of an oscuro wrapper from Nicaragua, a Nicaraguan habano binder and ligero fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. It is produced at the American Caribbean Tobacco S.A. factory in Nicaragua, the same place Leccia was producing Luchador before the move to General.
The cigar debuted this year at the IPCPR and will be on shelves in September.
Available sizes:
Chin Music (6 x 48) — $7.99 (Boxes of 21, $167.79)
Pile Driver (6 x 60) — $8.49 (Boxes of 21, $178.29)
Squared Circle (6 1/2 x 64) — $8.79 (Boxes of 21, $184.59)
Frog Splash (4 1/2 x 70) — $8.25 (Boxes of 21, $173.25) (REVIEWED TODAY)
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: American Caribbean Tobacco S.A.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Pennsylvania & Nicaragua
The cigar is box pressed and dense. It is very large and wide. The color is a medium to dark brown.
I chose to punch the cap instead of trying to cut the cap. The initial flavors were a semi-sweet citrus, cream, vegetable flavor, and black coffee and black pepper. I rated the black pepper at an 8 and you really get a lot when you retro hale.
About 3/4 inch in the cigar is burning evenly. The citrus flavor is now more of a cedar. There is some brown sugar and dry cocoa notes now. The vegetable type flavor is also still there. The black coffee remains the base. There is a moderate amount of sweetness. The finish is a dry cocoa with the vegetable flavor. The black pepper lingers very nicely on the palate and the back of the tongue. The cigar is medium bodied at this point.
At the band, or just beyond the midpoint, the cedar sweetness has improved. There is a little more brown sugar and cocoa. The vegetable flavor is more subdued now, which is ok with me. The pepper is not as intense but still very good. The pepper on the finish is still very good. The finish is unchanged. The cigar is still medium bodied. 
At the end the sweetness remained subtle. The sweetness you have comes from the cedar and brown sugar. I got hints of nutmeg at the end. The cigar reached medium to full bodied. The finish remained about the same. This cigar never reached the level of sweetness that I have come to love, especially with the flavors it had. You lovers of Leccia cigars will probably like it anyway but it fell short for me.
Score: 89
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