Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2 Belicoso 6 1/8″ * 52

The Trinidad Espiritu series tours one tobacco country at a time under the non-Cuban Trinidad name, an Altadis U.S.A. brand whose Cuban namesake started as a rare diplomatic gift cigar in the late 1960s. Series No. 1 was an all-Nicaraguan puro. Series No. 2, released in 2021, is dedicated to Brazil, which is why the box comes in greens, yellows and blues lifted off the Brazilian flag.

Rafael Nodal and AJ Fernandez built it on a dark, oily Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper, grown in Alagoas and fermented long enough to finish maduro, over a Nicaraguan binder and a filler of Nicaraguan and Brazilian long leaf. It is rolled at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Esteli and Altadis rates it medium to full.

This is the 6 1/8 by 52 belicoso, the only figurado in the line. The tapered head narrows the smoke column, so everything the blend does lands more concentrated than it does in the round sizes: heavier cocoa, darker coffee, and a sweet earth that thickens as the burn opens the cigar up toward its full 52 ring.

A belicoso also gives you a choice most sizes do not. Clip the very tip and you get that focused draw. Cut deeper into the taper and it smokes closer to a parejo, which is the easier way to run it if the pepper starts pushing.

Pairs well with coffee, bourbon, or an amber ale.