Initial Thoughts
If you’re not familiar with the Alec Bradley Prensado Lost Art then you’ve probably heard of it’s cousin, the Alec Bradley Prensado which received an astounding 96 rating from CA a few years back. This new release pays homage to it’s ancestor / cousin whatever you want to call it. All the while tipping it’s hat to the idea of the ‘Lost Art’ of things being hand made in an artisanal way. We all know that automation, robots, and technology help us out in our daily lives but the cigar industry is something that is still very artisanal and sometimes it’s difficult to wrap our heads around that.
There’s not a ton of background on this Alec Bradley Prensado Lost Art other than the fact that it is a line extension for the Prensado name. It comes in 5 sizes: Robusto, Gran Toro, Churchill, Torpedo, & Double T. I’m smoking the Gran Toro for this review. So let’s dive in and see if it stands up to it’s relative the OG Prensado.
Looks
I’m consistently impressed with how great cigars from Alec Bradley look. This Alec Bradley Prensado Lost Art is no exception. The cigar has fantastic trunk press which is also utilized on my favorite cigar Headley Grange
The band is unique as well with the AB shield in the middle and what looks like a 2nd band at the bottom calling out Lost Art but in fact it’s attached. There’s a lot of great design that works it’s way into the presentation of the cigar.
The Habano wrapper provides a wonderful texture that is smooth with just a little bit of roughness and minimal veins.
Smoking
Now it’s time to get this Alec Bradley Prensado Lost Art lit and burning. I love how the trunk press burns. It created a nice lip curl on the end of the ash. Very few cigars that I’ve smoked provide this and it seems to happen fairly often when I smoke a trunk press. Just an interesting trend that I picked up on.
Initially the draw on this cigar was a little tight but after about an 1/2″ of ash it opened up nicely and began to really pour out the smoke. I wasn’t able to get too many great pictures of the ash but I was able to hold on to one around 1″ before it fell to the floor. Time to jump into the flavor profile and see what all this cigar has to offer.
Flavor
Up front on the nose I’m getting lots of earth, tobacco, and leather. I love the combination of all the aromas going on right now with this cigar. Once it’s lit and I’m able to retrohale there are smooth notes of cream, and a mild spice. During the 2nd third of the cigar the spice really tapered off and it was just notes of cream and leather. A very Cuban-esque type cigar, so you know that I enjoyed it.
Would I Buy It Again?
Absolutely.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
Probably not, although I wish it could be.
Would I Buy a Box?
Without hesitation.
Conclusion
I think this line is very underrated across most cigar smokers. I know the Prensado got a 96 in CA but most smokers overlook the entire brand, and I think this blend is phenomenal. I highly recommend smoking one of theseAlec Bradley Prensado Lost Art. It has a fantastic flavor, great packaging, and a great price point. All three add up to a winner in my book!
