Protocol cigars was founded by two police officers, Juan Cancel & Bill Ives in 2015. The Protocol Blue was the first to arrive. Rolled in the famous La Zona cigar factory in Nicaragua under the watchful eye of master blender Erik Espinosa.
Other Protocol cigar lines are the Protocol Themis Gold, Protocol Probable Cause Red and the Protocol Misconduct Silver.
For this review, I used a cigar I received from my monthly Stogiebird subscription.
Specifics
The cigar is a Toro vitola, coming in at 6×52. The blend is comprised of an Ecuadoraian Habano Oscuro, a Nicaraguan Habano binder and a mix of Nicaraguan fillers from the Jalapa and Esteli regions.
The Experience
Appearance
The cigar is eye catching with its bright blue ribbon on the foot, a middle band with a thin blue line centered on black background with protocol in silver between two silver lines, and the main “P” logo that has a wide silver band with La Zona handmade on the sides and C.I.A. on the back.
The wrapper comes in at the Colorado Maduro shade on the color scale, with noticeable seams and veins. The wrapper had a slightly sweet scent.
The triple cap seemed a little unusual for a Nicaraguan rolled cigar. The finished foot had a heavy chocolate and tobacco aroma.
Pre-light
I gave the cap a straight cut and checked out the draw. It was very good and had a slightly earthy flavor. I also picked up savory notes from the wrapper on my lips.
1st Third
The beginning of this cigar starts off with a medium strength sensation on the retrohale with earthy tobacco flavors and a medium finish.
2nd Third
The middle of the cigar brings forth an increase in the strength of the retrohale and consistent flavor notes and finish from the first third.
Final Third
The retrohale is constant while I picked up stronger tobacco flavors and a long finish.
Combustion
Things were going well for this cigar until the final third. Once I got to that point, all hell broke loose. I had tunneling, the cigar going out and many, many relights / corrections.
[su_box title=”Summary” style=”soft” box_color=”#e1dddd”]Prior to the final third, I was enjoying the cigar. It had good flavors and good smoke volume. I would consider the cigar to be a medium strength, medium to full bodied cigar. Unfortunately, that last bit killed it for me.
Overall, I rate the Protocol Blue at an 83.3 [/su_box]