Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
What started out as a cigar for a destination wedding is now getting a widespread release and two new vitolas. It’s the Serino The Expat, which is being added to the company’s portfolio as a budget-friendly option.
The Expat uses an Ecuadorian habano oscuro wrapper, a Nicaraguan criollo 98 binder from Jalapa, and a filler mix of Nicaraguan criollo 98 from Estelí and corojo 99 from Jalapa, as well as Pennsylvania broadleaf. It’s that Pennsylvania filler that makes it a modified blend from its previous iterations.
As noted above, the cigar was first released prior to the pandemic as a celebratory cigar for the destination wedding of a family friend of the Serino family, which is where it got its name, and where the name for the original vitola, the Passport, came from. It was then released as an exclusive to CigarClub.com and its members in the Spring of 2021, though with a slightly different blend than what is now heading to stores. “My father and I both thought for a blend of this type it needed some more pop,” Carson Serino told halfwheel. “Other than that the blend is pretty much identical to the original.”
The Expat in its new form is now going nationwide with two new vitolas just being added, while the Passport vitola has been on the market for about a month. As pictured above, it also has a pigtail cap and a brushed foot, the latter of which offers the smoker the flavor of the binder and filler before adding the wrapper shortly after being lit.
Serino The Expat Corona Gorda (6 x 46) — $5.35 (Bundle of 10, $53.50)
Serino The Expat Passport (5 7/8 x 50) — $5.50 (Bundle of 10, $55)
Serino The Expat Sublime (6 1/2 x 54) — $5.75 (Bundle of 10, $57.50) REVIEWED TODAY
The line is offered in 10-count, paper-wrapped bundles, and is produced at the La Corona factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.
“We are proud to add The Expat to the Serino Cigar Co. portfolio,” Anthony Serino, president of Serino Cigar Co., said in a press release. “We believe this blend offers tremendous value to our customers while maintaining the ultra-premium quality that is the Serino standard.”
The cigar is large and dark. It has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were apricot, light citrus peel, brown sugar, light leather, and earthy black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7 to 7 1/2. Nice start.
At the first third (34 minutes) I had apricot, brown sugar, earthiness, leather, and black coffee. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is apricot and leather with good lingering black pepper. The cigar lost a little sweetness from the light up but it's still pretty good. I rated the first third 91.
Moving through the second third (1 hour 6 minutes) the apricot notes have almost gone away. But, there is still brown sugar. There is quite a bit of earthy black coffee. And there is still light leather. The cigar has gotten quite dark but it still has brown sugar to help it out. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is leather and black coffee with good lingering black pepper. The loss of the apricot notes was a negative but the cigar has nice brown sugar notes. I rated the second third 90.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 31 minutes. This cigar has a slow desent into earthiness. It continued to slowly increase in earthiness and the black coffee slightly increased. I had slightly decreased brown sugar, quite a bit of earthy black coffee and leather. The finish is leather and very good lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied. With the minor changes I rated the final third 89. This is a great economical cigar that is worthy of trying.
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