A good looking, medium-full Habano lancero from Blackbird that smokes better than expected, but never quite lives up to a name as bold as “Superb.”
Quick Take
The Blackbird Superb Lancero is a good cigar. Let’s get that out of the way early. It looks great, the band is one of my favorite Blackbird presentations, the smoke texture is dense and oily, and the core flavor profile is enjoyable. Leather, red pepper, cinnamon, coffee, dark chocolate, dark sweetness, and some dried fruit all show up along the way.
The problem is the name.
When you call a cigar “Superb,” especially as a newer Habano wrapped core line from a boutique brand like Blackbird, you are kind of putting a target on its back. That name tells me this is supposed to be one of the brand’s big statements. Not just another good cigar. Not just another solid Habano. Something with a little extra horsepower behind it.
For me, this one did not quite get there. It was enjoyable, and it smoked better than I expected for a wide open 7 x 38 lancero, but it never became especially complex or memorable. Good cigar. Wrong name.
Quick Stats
Cigar: Blackbird Superb Lancero
Brand: Blackbird
Vitola: Lancero
Size: 7 x 38
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Maduro
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed long filler
Country: Dominican Republic
Factory: Blackbird Dominicana Cigar Factory
Blender / Owner: Jonas Santana
Body: Medium-full
Strength: Medium
Smoke Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Pairing: Mineral water
Price Paid: $9.98
Where Purchased: Atlantic Cigar Company
Rest Time: One Month
Would Buy Again: Probably not
Overall Score: 7/10
The Story
Blackbird is one of those newer boutique brands that has a very obvious identity. Everything is bird themed, the bands are loud, the colors pop, and the whole brand feels younger and more modern than a lot of traditional cigar companies. They are not really trying to look like some old Cuban heritage brand. They have their own thing going.
That is part of what I like about them.
The Superb fits right into that Blackbird identity, but the name is a little different. “Superb” is not subtle. It is not mysterious. It is not some old school tobacco farm name or romantic Cuban sounding thing. It is basically Blackbird saying, “yeah, this one is really damn good.”
That sets expectations.
This blend is also important because it is Blackbird’s Habano wrapped core line. The wrapper is Ecuadorian Habano Maduro, while the binder and filler are undisclosed. That mystery can be cool, but it also puts a lot of attention on what the wrapper is doing, especially in a 7 x 38 lancero. In a size like this, I’m expecting the wrapper to be right up front. I’m expecting focus, intensity, and some sharper definition.
Before lighting, I was expecting pepper, leather, dark sweetness, coffee, and probably some burn drama. Lanceros can be amazing, but they can also expose problems quickly. Add in a wide open cold draw, and I was already expecting this one to be a little sketchy.
It ended up smoking better than expected. I just do not think the blend itself ever became as interesting as the name wanted it to be.
Appearance & Construction
Visually, this is a great looking cigar.
The wrapper had a beautiful reddish brown color with just a little bit of sheen. Not dripping with oil, but enough to give it some life. There were a few veins, but nothing major, and the seams were almost invisible. The cap looked clean, and the cigar felt firm overall with a little bit of sponginess down near the foot.
The band is probably my favorite part of the presentation. Black with turquoise just works. It is bold without looking cheap, and it fits Blackbird’s whole modern boutique thing really well. I absolutely love that color combo.
The cold aroma gave me sweet hay with a little barnyard tinge. The cold draw had raisin and earth, which was a nice start, but the draw itself was wide open. Not my favorite at all, especially on a lancero. A loose draw on a narrow cigar immediately makes me think the burn is going to be a problem.
Visual Appeal: 9/10
Overall Presentation: 8/10
First Third
The cigar opened better than I expected.
With the wide open draw and lancero format, I had low expectations right out of the gate. But the first inch actually settled in nicely. Smoke output started decent and then picked up a lot. The burn was a little uneven early, but it self corrected about an inch in, and from there the cigar was smoking really well.
Flavor started with cinnamon, red pepper, leather, and dark chocolate. The smoke texture was oily and dense, really coating the mouth. Body was already medium+, and the retrohale had a nice red pepper and leather thing going on.
As the cigar got going, a dark sweetness started to show up on the tip of the tongue, followed by a coffee note that washed over the palate. The red pepper started to calm down a little, and darker earthy leather began to take over the retrohale. There was also a cinnamon room note that I really enjoyed.
This was probably the most exciting part of the cigar for me. The profile was dark, leathery, spicy, and sweet enough to keep it from feeling flat.
The Habano wrapper game is a hard, hard lane to stand out in right now. There are so many good cigars in this space. At this point, Blackbird was holding its own, even if it was not drastically standing out.
Middle Stretch
The middle stretch was enjoyable, but this is where the cigar started to show its ceiling.
No real complaints. It smoked well, the body stayed in that medium-full range, and the flavors were still good. The pepper continued to pull back, revealing more dark leathery notes, baking spice, and dark sweetness.
On the retrohale, I got leather, dried fruit, and baking spice. That was a nice shift from the sharper red pepper opening. It made the cigar feel a little smoother and more rounded.
But it never really made a big move. It did not fall apart, but it also did not start climbing into another gear. It was enjoyable. It was solid. But it was not knocking my socks off.
Performance through the middle was strong. If I were judging only the smoking experience in this section, I would have very few complaints.
Middle Performance: 9/10
Final Third
The final stretch is where my opinion really settled.
This is not a bad cigar. I do not want that to be the takeaway. But I do think Blackbird missed the mark calling this one “Superb.”
By the end, the cigar became pretty one dimensional. Mostly leather with some darker notes behind it. There was still pepper, especially from the earlier part of the smoke, and there was still some dark character, but the cigar did not really keep developing. It just kind of stayed in that same leather forward lane.
For a cigar with this name, and for what feels like one of Blackbird’s statement blends, I wanted more. More complexity. More interesting notes. More identity. Something that made me sit back and think, okay, I get why they called it Superb.
I never really got that.
I actually think some of Blackbird’s other blends are better, or at least better for my palate. The Crow and Cuco both left more of an impression on me. This one was good, but it felt more like a middle of the road medium-full Habano than some standout boutique statement piece.
Construction also started to slip a little here. I needed a touch up around the three-quarter mark, then noticed a small crack in the wrapper under the band. As the burn line reached that crack, it needed another touch up. I love Blackbird’s band work, and I rarely have issues with them, but with bands this large, some of them are eventually going to cause problems.
No relights. No disaster. Just not perfect.
Burn, Draw & Performance
The draw was wide open from the cold draw all the way through the cigar. It was not my preferred resistance, but it ended up working better than expected. The cigar did not overheat badly, and it still gave me plenty of dense, oily smoke.
Smoke output was excellent once it got going. It was not a chimney right out of the gate like some Blackbirds can be, but after the first inch it really picked up.
The burn was more mixed. It started uneven, self corrected, then needed two touch ups later on. One around the three-quarter mark and one when the burn reached the small wrapper crack under the band.
Overall, construction was fine, but not great. It smoked well enough. It just was not a perfect 10/10 experience.
Draw: 8/10
Burn Line: 6/10
Ash: 7/10
Smoke Output: 9/10
Touchups: 2
Relights: 0
Strength, Body & Smoking Experience
Body sat around medium-full for most of the cigar. Strength was medium.
This was not a nicotine bomb, and it never felt overwhelming. The smoke texture was one of the better parts of the experience. Dense, oily, mouth coating, and darker than I expected from the first few puffs.
This is more of an afternoon or evening cigar for me. It does not need a ton of focus or attention, which is kind of both a positive and a negative. It is easy to enjoy casually, but it also does not demand that you sit there and study it.
For pairings, I think coffee would work really well. Bourbon would also make sense if you wanted some contrast, especially with the leather, spice, coffee, and dark sweetness in the profile.
Best Time: Afternoon or evening
Best Pairing: Coffee, or bourbon for contrast
Best Setting: Casual smoke, does not need full attention
Best For: A middle of the road Habano wrapper profile
Final Cut
The Blackbird Superb Lancero is a good looking, well presented, medium-full Habano that smoked better than I expected. It gave me leather, red pepper, cinnamon, coffee, dark chocolate, baking spice, dried fruit, and dark sweetness. The smoke texture was excellent, and the cigar was enjoyable for most of the experience.
But the name works against it.
“Superb” sets the bar high, and this cigar never quite cleared it for me. It was not bad. It was not boring enough to write off completely. But it also was not complex enough, memorable enough, or distinct enough to feel like one of Blackbird’s big statement blends.
If this were called something else, I might be a little more forgiving. But when the cigar walks in wearing a name like “Superb,” I expect it to back that up.
For me, this was a solid, middle of the road medium-full Habano that did not quite live up to the name.
Final Score: 7/10
Would Buy Again: Probably not
Keep Stocked: No
Box Worthy: No
Did It Match The Branding/Story: Not exactly
One Sentence Verdict: A middle of the road medium-full Habano that looked great and smoked fine, but did not quite live up to the name “Superb.”
Stogie Syndicate 