Lou Rodriguez La Mano Negra

Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua
Torpedo: 6 x 52
Price: $14.00 (Havana Phil’s – Greensboro, NC)

An in-depth assessment of the Lou Rodriguez La Mano Negra was done on Cigar Coop.

Earlier this month, Cigar Coop broke news of the Lou Rodriguez La Mano Negra release.

The La Mano Negra is the second limited edition by Lou Rodriguez Cigars. It has only be released to 13 retailers and 100 boxes of ten were produced.

A couple of years ago, the company quietly released its first limited edition cigar, the Lou Rodriguez MF. The MF stands for Mata Fina – the type of wrapper of the Lou Rodriguez MF. That particular cigar built up a cult following and quietly became a very sought after cigar by many boutique cigar enthusiasts. For La Mano Negra, Rodriguez uses a Mata Fina wrapper from the same batch of tobacco. This delivered a cigar like no other.

This cigar is a home run for Lou Rodriguez. While I have been a fan of many of their cigars, this one stands at the top. It delivers some outstanding flavors of espresso, earth, red pepper, and black cherry. The second half adds a little dark chocolate into the mix. For a Mata Fina wrapper, this cigar has a lot of fire-power – medium to full stength/and body – progressing to full by the end of the first third. Construction is excellent.

The harmony of the flavors along with the complexity and balance all come together with this cigar. The only bad thing – it is a extremely limited. Right now I’d go toe to toe with Chuck Norris, and it’s certainly Oasis material down the road.