OK, as I've mentioned before, I'm a corona kinda guy. I couldn't resist, and for my first review out of the booty I received Saturday, I had to pick one of the smaller sticks.
Crema de cacahuate.
That's Spanish for peanut butter. An odd phrase to find in a cigar review, no? But when I held this cigar in my mouth to moisten it preparatory to clipping the tip, that was my first impression. Peanut butter. Without the sweetness.
This 5 inch, 38 ring cigar came cello-wrapped, and is tightly made with no sign of "box compression" (no flat sides). Visible veins on the wrapper, but remarkably little "tooth". The medium-dark wrapper is silky smooth to the touch, faintly oily, and simply smells wonderful.
The first taste upon lighting told me I was in for a world of flavor.
The smoke was mild, faintly sweet, and redolent with hints of spice, and again, oddly enough, peanuts. A little hard to draw at first, it eased up after the first inch and burned nicely, producing a soft, dark grey ash. It had a slight tendency to run along the side of the wrapper opposite the vein, and wanted to unwrap a bit on the clipped end.
Not a cigar to judge on the first impression. It began to really develop about a third of the way through. Moving quickly from mild to medium-bodied, without becoming overpowering, this little smoke asserts itself nicely on the palate and leaves a spicy, leathery aftertaste on the tongue. And what I liked best, after reaching that point, it STAYED right there, evenly medium-bodied, all the way to the band.
Despite its annoying tendency to burn faster on one side, this was a great smoke. My copy of "The Cigar Handbook" rates this Cuban as "outstanding". I don't think they gave it enough credit. It's not many cigars I find that I have to pull the band off to get at more of the smoke. This was one of them.
I'd make this one an "everyday smoke" if I could purchase it locally. If you're lucky enough to run across some, grab a handful!
This review (with photo) also appears on my blog, listed below.
Crema de cacahuate.
That's Spanish for peanut butter. An odd phrase to find in a cigar review, no? But when I held this cigar in my mouth to moisten it preparatory to clipping the tip, that was my first impression. Peanut butter. Without the sweetness.
This 5 inch, 38 ring cigar came cello-wrapped, and is tightly made with no sign of "box compression" (no flat sides). Visible veins on the wrapper, but remarkably little "tooth". The medium-dark wrapper is silky smooth to the touch, faintly oily, and simply smells wonderful.
The first taste upon lighting told me I was in for a world of flavor.
The smoke was mild, faintly sweet, and redolent with hints of spice, and again, oddly enough, peanuts. A little hard to draw at first, it eased up after the first inch and burned nicely, producing a soft, dark grey ash. It had a slight tendency to run along the side of the wrapper opposite the vein, and wanted to unwrap a bit on the clipped end.
Not a cigar to judge on the first impression. It began to really develop about a third of the way through. Moving quickly from mild to medium-bodied, without becoming overpowering, this little smoke asserts itself nicely on the palate and leaves a spicy, leathery aftertaste on the tongue. And what I liked best, after reaching that point, it STAYED right there, evenly medium-bodied, all the way to the band.
Despite its annoying tendency to burn faster on one side, this was a great smoke. My copy of "The Cigar Handbook" rates this Cuban as "outstanding". I don't think they gave it enough credit. It's not many cigars I find that I have to pull the band off to get at more of the smoke. This was one of them.
I'd make this one an "everyday smoke" if I could purchase it locally. If you're lucky enough to run across some, grab a handful!
This review (with photo) also appears on my blog, listed below.
