Opus X Petite Lancero

This week's review is of the Opus X Petite Lancero. I have reviewed an Opus X before so I won't go into too much detail about the line, but this vitola is one of the Opus X's I haven't smoked before so I figured it was worth talking about. Opus X has always been a relatively hard to find cigar,  but with the current trend of limited edition cigars flooding the cigar world it seems like Opus is a little easier to come by lately. I don't know if Fuente is making more, or if they just aren't selling as fast as they used to now that there are so many other harder to find cigars competing with this line. Either way when this box came in to the shop I grabbed one to try since I haven't had an Opus X in quite some time. This cigar measures in at 6.25X39 and has a tapered head. It also has a slight box press to it. I haven't smoked a ton of Opus, let alone one that just came in this past week to the store. I am curious to see what current production fresh Opus taste like!

The Opus X Petite Lancero is a very elegant looking cigar with a reddish brown slightly splotchy wrapper. One thing that I like about Opus is the prelight aroma that comes off them. It is a very distinct smell of sweet earthy spice and some nutty aromas. After clipping off the head the draw is pretty much perfect for this ring gauge, just enough resistance to keep it from smoking too quickly. The prelight flavors are the same as the aroma coming off the foot, plenty of that sweet earthy spice and maybe a little bit of raisin. Once lit the flavors are much lighter than the other Opus I have smoked. There is a little bit of cedar and some cinnamon spice on the finish. When I think of Opus I think of much more pronounced/stronger flavors. Maybe this one just needs some time to get warmed up. After an inch not much has changed, which isn't good. I am waiting for the flavors to show up! On the retrohale is more of the cinnamon spice I expect from Opus, but it is still lacking on the palate. 

Entering the second third of this cigar and some more flavor is slowly starting to show up. With the cinnamon spice and sweet earth is a little bit of leather. There is a ton of spice through the nose. The burn has been very even and the ash is falling off every inch. Even with the little bit of flavor that has shown up, this is really disappointing so far. There should be a lot more flavor coming out of this cigar. I am getting plenty of smoke and the room aroma is fantastic but the flavor is so muted. As I reach the end of this cigar it is still very muted. I would say it has a medium amount of strength, so not as strong as other Opus I've had. 

The Opus X Petite Lancero was a huge disappointment. I have heard from so many people that this is one of the best sizes in the line and it really didn't deliver. I have a feeling that these are just way too fresh to enjoy right now. Maybe with some downtime they will come alive. All of the Opus I've had in the past were really flavorful so I have to believe that this one was a fluke. After smoking this I talked to a few other people who bought some out of the same box and they had great luck with them, so I am chalking this one up to just being a dud. I might consider grabbing another and putting it in my humidor for a year or so though, just to see if it would improve with some time. I picked this one up for around $12, which is a pretty good price for Opus X.