Queen of the West Bel D’oro

If you’re familiar with the nicknames of cities, or specifically one city, the origin and location of a new brand should be pretty apparent. It’s named for one of the nicknames of Cincinnati, Ohio, one that, according to Wikipedia, it has had since May 1819 when an article in the Inquisitor and Cincinnai Advertiser bestowed the title in light of how fast the city had been growing. More recenty, it has been known as the Queen City.

Queen of the West is also a nickname that helps reveal the people behind the cigar, notably Dave Imber, owner of Creekside Cigar Co., which is located in Maineville, Ohio, just about 30 miles northeast of Cincinnati.

The first release is called Bel D’oro, which means beautiful gold, a 6 x 48 vitola with a blend that uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed desflorado wrapper, a Connecticut broadleaf binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the United States. It is made at TABACALERA LA iSLA in the Dominican Republic.

“This cigar is the evolution of Creekside,” said Imber in a press release. “We built a blend that brings real excitement, both in flavor and in the experience around it. But more than anything, this one is for our people. The ones who have supported our dream from the beginning.”

This is the first of three different Queen of the West core lines that are in the works.

• Cigar Reviewed: Queen of the West Bel D’oro
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: TABACALERA LA iSLA
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut-seed Desflorado)
• Binder: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua & U.S.A.
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $16 (Box of 10, $160)
• Release Date: Aug. 17, 2026
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Queen of the West Bel D’oro wears a well-tanned wrapper with a shade that works well with the black and copper of the bands. Nothing in particular stands out about the wrapper, which is a good thing. There’s a typical number of veins, some visible seam lines, and not a lot of oiliness, though I can feel the suppleness of the leaf. The first and third cigars’ densities are what I consider to be near ideal: generally firm but with a bit of give, both of which are consistent from head to foot. The second is fairly firm with a few soft spots, but not matching the consistency of the other two. The first cigar’s aroma is marked by a soft, slightly airy aroma, but one that packs a good amount of stimulation for my nostrils. I get some sweet honey graham cracker dust at first, with a bit of sweet pepper on the finish. The second cigar is creamier and more rounded, and doesn’t match the first in its level of nasal stimulation. The third cigar has enough pepper to get my nose tingling, with minor notes of sawdust, cereal dust and creaminess. The first cigar’s cold draw is a bit firmer than I would like, while the flavor is sweet and mellow, with more honey leading things before handing the profile off to a sweet roll. The second cigar has a nearly ideal cold draw, maybe a touch open, but having experienced some overly firm draws lately, I’ll gladly take it. The flavor is mild, with a bit of creaminess and the slightest touch of something that reminds me of strawberry milk. The third cigar’s cold draw sits between the two, with a bit of resistance but not overly firm, while the flavor reminds me of honey graham crackers thanks to the most pronounced sweetness of the three cigars.

The Queen of the West Bel D’oro starts with black pepper in the lead, supported by some creaminess, dry wood, and mixed nuts, a very familiar combination for cigars with this blend and appearance. Some creaminess comes in next, another familiar flavor, and one that is welcomed for how it helps round out the flavor and fill out the body of the smoke. There’s a little twinge of something I can’t quite place around the one-inch mark; it’s not purely vegetal, chalky, or sour, but it is somewhere in that range. Retrohales are decently peppery, not overpowering, but not overlookable. It’s more of a white pepper sensation, though there is some weight of black pepper in there as well. As the second cigar begins to close out this section, a flavor hits my taste buds that reminds me of crispy chicken skin; not the thick, coated skin of fried chicken per se, but rather the slightly oily sensation of thin skin. The intensity of the sensation of the smoke in my nose begins to dominate compared to how it hits my palate as this section wraps up. Flavor is medium-plus, body is medium and strength is medium. Thus far, construction is very good, with plentiful amounts of smoke and even burn lines standing out.

It’s a pretty seamless flavor transition from the first third into the second third, as I don’t notice much change from where the cigar has been. That said, the flavors taste like they are intertwining more beneficially than they did earlier. There is still plenty of individuality, but in the case of the second cigar, they have found their collective rhythm and harmony. The midpoint has a flavor that is like well-toasted bread; it’s not burnt by any means, but it couldn’t sit in the toaster much longer. There’s still some black pepper lingering in the background. The second cigar has a particularly enjoyable retrohale marked by a robust black pepper that just hits my nostrils right, and as such, I find myself going back to it more than I might in a typical cigar, even in the other two cigars, where the sensation is on either side of the intensity spectrum and they don’t have quite the refinement. The ambient aroma has a campfire-like smoke, with a bit of cedar sweetness adding some depth and complexity. Flavor and body are medium-plus, while strength is medium-minus. Construction is still very good.

While I wouldn’t call the first two thirds of the Queen of the West Bel D’oro mellow, mild, or delicate, the final third starts off with a decidedly more robust note. The black pepper has added a bit of char, the bread that I didn’t think should stay in the toaster much longer has done just that, and the wood is mellower but now showing the first flavors of char. It’s kind of what one would expect if taking the profile of the first third and adding heat to the mix, though the smoke itself isn’t particularly warm. I’m a little surprised that there isn’t an attempt to bring back some creaminess or sweetness, as it would seem like that would push the cigar into truly special territory. Flavor finishes medium-full, body is medium, and strength is medium. Right around where the band was, the first cigar’s combustion slams on the brakes, a confounding development, as to this point, it had burned quite well, but it takes multiple relights to get through this section, as the cigar only stays lit for a couple of puffs before going out not long after I put it down. I don’t know if it’s all the relights, but this section also sees the flavor turn, getting charred and a bit bitter, certainly a departure from where it has been thus far. The second cigar’s combustion is better, while the third isn’t much better than the first, but it feels like a more gradual slowing than an abrupt stop.

Final Notes:

• Beyond the Queen City and Queen of the West, Cincinnati has also been nicknamed Porkopolis for its pork-producing industry, as well as The Paris of America for some of its architecture. It’s also been called the Blue Chip City and the City of Seven Hills.
• On a more colloquial level, you’ve probably heard the city referred to as both Cincy and “The ’Nati.”
• Going back to the Porkopolis nickname, in its Bicentennial Commons park, Cincinnati has a sculpture of four steamboat smokestacks, each topped by a winged pig. The term Flying Pig has subsequently been used in numerous ways.
• In an interesting move, Creekside Cigar Co. had the cigar available at its retail partners as early as Aug. 17, ahead of the Aug. 21 launch at the store.
• The final third of the Queen of the West Bel D’oro contains a decent amount of nicotine; not enough to have me feeling woozy or looking for sugar, but it’s still there.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• The company lists these as a 6 x 48 corona. The numbers above are the measurements we found for the three cigars used for this review.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 30 minutes on average.
• Site sponsor Small Batch Cigar carries the Queen of the West Bel D’oro.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and the G-League’s Valley Suns. I was previously the PA announcer for the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League, and Goodyear Ballpark, spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I’m a voiceover artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.