Murcielago Nocturne (5 1/2 x 56)

Video review HERE.

Six years after its initial release, Erik Espinosa of Espinosa Premium Cigars has announced that the "Murcielago" will fly again and has re-debuted at the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.

The Murcielago (which is Bat in Spanish) was first released at the 2009 IPCPR by EO Brands. It had a short production run due to the split with the original makers of the blend. "Once the partnership with the manufacturer dissolved, we kept the name, but they kept the blend" says Espinosa. Shortly thereafter EO Brands (Erik and his partner Eddie Ortega) went their separate ways with Erik keeping the rights to Murcielago in hopes of re-launching the brand.

Says Espinosa, "It was one of my favorite cigars. It took us three years, but myself along with my staff, painfully dissected all the Murcielagos we could find, tasting test blend after test blend until we got it right. We couldn't rush it, there weren't that many surviving Murcielagos out there to begin with but we managed to reverse engineer the cigar. I am very happy with the results and to me they are even better than the originals, because I am making them myself in my own factory at La Zona in Esteli, Nicaragua."

The Murcielago logo and band have been modernized with a sleeker look and a cutting edge box design; the cigar itself remains a medium to full-bodied blend that is semi-box pressed. 

Blend:

Wrapper: Mexican Capa Negra

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitolas:

Noir (5 x 52)

La Lune (6-1/2 x 54)

Nocturne (5 1/2 x 56) REVIEWED TODAY

The cigar is nicely made and box pressed with a slightly oily wrapper.

The test draw after cutting the cap was effortless. The initial flavors were espresso, dark chocolate, orange citrus, and graham cracker. There was black pepper rated at an 8. There were a lot of dark notes.

One inch in the cigar is burning evenly. There were some brown sugar notes that might be tied to the graham cracker notes. The citrus notes are fighting to be noticed through the espresso and dark chocolate. There are some charred wood notes here and there. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is a sweet cream with some lingering black pepper.

About 2 inches in the notes are about the same; espresso, dark chocolate, orange citrus, graham cracker, brown sugar, and black pepper. The lingering pepper on the finish has moved up. The cigar is still medium to full bodied. 

The flavor notes didn't change much to the end but I noticed more dry wood/charred wood notes. At any given point you would get more of one flavor or the other but the main flavor notes did not change. The cigar was medium to full bodied and the pepper was very good on both ends. This was a very dark noted cigar. I enjoyed the cigar and these should be available anywhere that carries Espinosa Cigars.

Score: 91