Vitola
The lancero: long, thin, wrapper first
A lancero is a long, thin cigar, 7 1/2 inches by a 38 ring in its Cuban form, created at Havana's El Laguito factory alongside Cohiba in the 1960s.
Before Cohiba, there were no lanceros
The lancero was born with Cohiba, at the El Laguito factory on the edge of Havana, in the 1960s. That's the claim of Benjamin Menendez, quoted in a 2008 Cigar Aficionado feature: no lanceros existed before Cohiba.
Wikipedia's Cohiba history fills in the setting. El Laguito was a mansion turned rolling school in 1961. Cohiba began in 1966 as a private brand, supplied only to Fidel Castro and top officials. The same feature quotes James Suckling calling Castro "the father of the size." When Cohiba finally went on public sale, the Lancero was one of its three launch sizes.
The factory name stuck: Laguito No. 1. More on the brand's split between Havana and the US in the Cohiba brand guide.
Thin ring, loud wrapper
A lancero tastes more of its wrapper than a fat cigar does, because a 38 ring holds little filler to balance the outer leaf. Cigar Aficionado's feature makes the point, and quotes Jose Oliva saying a maker should only roll one if the wrapper can carry the cigar on its own.
That's the appeal for fans. Want to know what a particular leaf tastes like? A lancero puts it front and center. A thick toro of the same blend buries it under more filler. Look up what each wrapper shade tends to bring on the wrapper color chart.
Why are lanceros hard to get right?
Packing long filler evenly into a tube under 16 mm wide, over seven and a half inches, takes a skilled roller. In the same feature, Litto Gomez says only three of his rollers can make the size. Small errors show up fast:
- Underfilled. Too little tobacco. Draws like a straw, then burns hot and bitter.
- Overfilled. Too much. You pull and get nothing.
- Twisted bunch. The filler spirals inside. Suckling blamed this for many plugged lanceros of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Jay Henderson, quoted in the same piece, calls draw the biggest problem with the size. If yours is tight, the draw-fixing guide covers the usual fixes.
Lancero, panatela, Laguito No. 2
Every lancero is a panatela, but not every panatela is a lancero. The lancero is the long one. Cuba's Laguito No. 2 keeps the same 38 ring and stops at 6 inches. Non-Cuban lanceros, Cigar Aficionado notes, often run a little shorter and fatter than the 7 1/2 x 38 original.
Compare its silhouette with a corona or a Churchill in the cigar size chart. Next to a Churchill it is half an inch longer and only about four fifths as wide.
Smoke it like it's fragile
A lancero rewards a slow, steady pace: little tobacco means a small ember, and the ember dies if you ignore it. Puff often enough to keep it lit. Don't puff hard. Our estimator gives about 61 minutes at a relaxed pace, which is a model, not a promise; try your own numbers in the smoke time calculator.
Lancero questions smokers ask
What does a lancero cigar taste like?
Mostly like its wrapper. With so little filler inside a 38 ring, Cigar Aficionado notes, there is less to balance the wrapper leaf, so its character comes through more than in a thick cigar.
What is the difference between a lancero and a panatela?
A lancero is a long panatela. The Cuban Laguito No. 1 lancero is 7.5 x 38, while the Laguito No. 2 panatela keeps the ring and stops at 6 inches.
Why does my lancero keep going out?
A thin cigar has little tobacco to hold an ember, so long gaps between puffs let it die. A tight or twisted bunch, a common fault in the size, makes it worse.
What is the pigtail on a lancero?
It is a flag or pigtail cap, a twist of wrapper leaf finishing the head. Cigar Aficionado notes lanceros are usually finished with one.
Where the lancero history comes from
- The Love of Lanceros (Gregory Mottola, July/August 2008), Cigar Aficionado
- Cohiba (cigar): El Laguito, 1966, Laguito No. 1, Wikipedia
- Vitola: Laguito No. 1 and No. 2 factory sizes, Wikipedia