Vitola: Canonazo

Wrapper: 2003 Habano

Origin: El Laguito

Age: Tobacco – 7 years, Cigar  – less than a year

Only 5000 boxes were made, harvested from the best tobacco of the 2003 crop, the Gran Reserva signifies the best possible product from Cuba. Here’s more about this special smoke: Habanos Press release. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to smoke a cigar of this magnitude, even at nearly a dollar per millimeter of tobacco.

As I take it out of my trunk humidor, I can’t help buy notice how unassuming it is.  The wrapper looks like any other Habano, light brown and thin with very little visible veins – just a little more red in color.  I expected it to be more hefty than it is, most Cohibas are packed very tightly, but not this one.  Upon clipping it, I notice the pre-light draw is very easy – different from most Sig VIs.

I toast the foot and begin to draw in the best that Cuba has to offer.

The first few puffs are milder than I expected, even given the tobacco’s age.  The flavors are slighlty woody with leather and white pepper that still manages to tickle the sinuses.

To say that this cigar is complex is almost a diservice, every puff yields a different note all the while maintaining a perfect balance and a long finish.

The pepper note picks up a bit an inch in paired with that wonderful earthy mustiness that makes Cuban tobacco so unique.

The burn is dead even and the aroma of the smoke is floral and intense!

Another inch in, the cigar gets richer and stronger, notes of espresso and anise abound.

Notes of tea are paired with the leather and wood with a hint of cocoa powder on the finish.  There is also a surprising amount of mint present.

Halfway through, if you can believe this, gets better.  The retrohale is musty and rich and is better than anything I have ever smoked.  The cocoa notes intensify and accentuate the licoricy finish.

As this cigar draws to a close I can only think of something I often hear from the cigar community, that Cubans aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, and that they’ve dropped off in the last decade or so.  Really?  I’d put the best of Cuba against what anyone in any other country could produce any day.  This is simply the best cigar I have ever smoked.  Really my only complaint is that this cigar smokes too fast, I would compromise the draw to make this cigar last longer!

Now as for the score, I put my self in a bit of  predicament.  This is the best cigar I have ever smoked.  Period.  But I have alredy given the Avo LE05 a perfect score of a hundred.  Now I guess there’s only extra credit!

Rating: 105 (A++)

Vitola: Canonazo (Toro)

Wrapper: Havana

Origin: The Land of the Lost

Age: 4 years 2 months

Aaaah, one of my favorite cigars.  If only all toro were made this dense and full of flavor!  Has 4 years slowed this freight train of flavor down?  We shall see!

not my pic

This came from a box of 10, and i have been waiting to try another for quite a while. 

This cigar is beautiful looking.  Light brown tawny wrapper with hardly any visible veins.  Our friends in the deeep South sure know how to save the best leaves for their flagship brand.

The draw is perfect, just slightly firm but yielding.The first flavord I get are quintessential Cohiba.  The mustiness takes a background to tea and leather with some cinnamon and coffee on the finish.

The burn is a bit uneven at first but it straightens up quickly.

One thing I forget about this cigar is how heady the aroma is, it’s so rich and decadent, as so unique to the Cohiba line.

Midway through, the up fromt spice gives way to a subtler, smoother smoke,  There is a few rough puffs, but the cigar in general has smoothed out.  There is some tea and paper notes with a hint of licorice on the finish.  I just want this cigar to keep on going!

The end is rich and luxurios, brimming with coffee, leather, cocoa and anise on the finish.  Way a joy!

Cohibas generally age very well, and even though this has a long way to go, it’s off to a wonderful start.  There were some rough moments, so I would guess this cigar is on a “dip” instead of a peak, but in a few more years, watch out!

Rating: 90 (A-)

Vitola: Prominentes (Double Corona)

Wrapper: Habana

Origin: Cuba

Age: almost 2 years

A dress box of Partagas Lusitanias magically appeared in my humidor a while back, and I thought it would be a good idea to check on the box to see how these Lusis were aging, as I plan on going at least five years on these.

This is only the second stick from the box, I decided to wait a while after the first one was a little flat.

The color of the wrapper seemed to have darkened some since I last opened the box, hopefully this is a good portent of things to come.

Upon cutting the tip of the beatuiful triple cap, I take a pre-light draw and get a nice firm Cuban draw.  Most habanos draw waaay firmer than non-Cubans; a testament, to me, of putting as much flavor and complexity as possible in one cigar.

I takes a light easily and as I take the first few puffs I pick up that unmistakable earthy, leathery and musty Partagas flavor profile right away!  This is already an improvement from my first Lusi from this box.

There were still a few sour spots as I smoked, and the cigar required a few touch ups here and there, but I genuinely good care less on the construction on this one as I love the flavors this Partagas gave me.

As I smoked the prominent leather and earth gave way to coffee and wood with a bit of dryness on the finish.  There was definitely some strength to this cigar (which is unusual in the DCs from Cuba – most are milder than their smaller cousins).  The last 2 inches of the cigar was exquisite, a real finger burner!

One of my favorite smokes of all time was a five year-old Lusi that was complex and robust the whole way through.  This is not quite there, but we are certainly moving in the right direction!

Rating: 89 (B+)

Vitola: Petite Corona (Minutos)

Wrapper: Havana

Origin: Cuba

Age: ~3 years

I love Partagas Shorts.  These tiny little flavor bombs always seem to deliver.  This came from I box I have been putting away for a few years.

This stick is almost three years old, and it has been a while since I have checked on it.  The wrapper has a lovely reddish hue, that hints at a richness below the surface.  It took a light easily, but the pre-light draw was a little tight.

Right off the bat I can tell that it has lost some of the spiciness with just a few years of age, but in this case the change was OK. Party Shorts can be hit or miss but this is drawing nicely after the first quarter of an inch.

This cigar has a leathery and woody tobacco core with just a little less spice than a “fresh one”.

The burn was dead even on this tiny box-pressed cigar and it gave out an ample amount of smoke for its girth.  Halfway down, I experienced an intensification in flavor, including a rich licorice finish that is super long.

At the end I wished this little fellah was longer because I didn’t want it to end!

Rating: 91 (A-)

Vitola: Petite Corona (Minutos)

Wrapper: Habano

Origin: Cuba

Age: ~2 years

San Cristobal is normally one of my least favorite Habanos lines.  I find them to be very salty and lacking in depth and Cuban musky flavor compared to some of my favorite Habanos.  This stick came from a box with over two years of age, so I have an open mind going in.

OK, so I start the review ragging on the cigar before I smoke it and I am getting my just desserts.  The draw is a little tight, but the burn is dead even yielding tons of creamy leather flavors.  There is a core of earth and tobacco that develops as I smoke.

As I smoke further I am rewarded with rich dark coffee and a touch of licorice on the finish.  I have to nub this cigar because the coffee and licorice flavors just keep intensifying and get better and better…

OK, so while I don’t completely take back what I said on the SCdlH line in general, this box of El Principes is turning out to be a gem that I want to keep on aging and occasionally savoring.

Rating: 93 (A)

Vitola:  Petite Corona

Wrapper:  Havana      

Origin: Cuba

This is another size that I have been meaning to try for a while.  The Cubans make good little cigars that are often much more tasty than their fatter big brothers.

The wrapper is a bit interesting; it is a little darker than your standard Havana wrapper.  This might indicate a rich little flavor bomb!

The draw is very nice, much easier than the Sancho Panza Molinas I had earlier.

It took light nicely and unloaded a rich black coffee and a musky earthiness on me from the first puff.

The burn was dead even and it delivered consistent voluminous plumes of smoke.

Don’t forget folks that the Diplomaticos line is basically an inexpensive Montecristo as the blends are almost identical.

My only complaint is that because it is so short, my fingers started burning a lot quicker!

Rating: 89 (B+)

Vitola:  Corona

Wrapper:  Havana      

Origin: Cuba

This is Cuba’s version of the bundle cigar.  NOT known for their consistency, JLPs are super cheap and have mixed filler. 

Please don’t use this to form an opinion of Cuban cigars.  I could barely draw from it, it was so tight.

As far as flavor is concerned this has a bit of the cuban muskiness and there also is a touch of tobacco.  I barely got any smoke out of this, and I had to give up or my cheeks were going to implode. 

JLP are very hit and miss; some are okay this one is not. 

Rating: 50 (F)

Vitola:  Lonsdale

Wrapper:  Havana      

Origin: Cuba

This is a size that I have been meaning to try for a while.  I have already tried the Belicosos and the Coronas, but the Molinas is a new size for me.

I like Sancho Panzas, I just don’t love them.  This one for me starts out nice enough: salty and nutty with some coffee notes.

The draw is very tight in this heavily box-pressed cigar.  They put a LOT of tobacco in this skinny fellah.  It is a light brown tawny colored cigar with few visible veins and very firm to the touch.

There is a subtle vegetal quality that is why I don’t go ga-ga over SPs.

I am enjoying this cigar with a hot mug of Larry’s Beans Mountain Sumatra and it is pairing perfectly with this cigar.

This cigar did require a lot of attention.  I could not put it down for a minute without having to relight it.  It also canoed  a third of the way down.

It had a very short finish, but the draw did open up for the last third and I got that wonderful Cuban sweet spot of cocoa powder, a musky earthiness and espresso.

Rating: 87 (B)

Size:  6 5/8″ x 43

Vitola: Lonsdale

Wrapper:  Habana

Origin: Cuba

It’s been a while since I wrote a review for one of these cigars…

This is one of my favorite Cuban brands and this is one size I have been meaning to smoke for quite some time.  I have had tons of petite coronas, royal coronas and coronas and even a handful or two of BBFs (Boli Belicosos Finos) and Tubos, but I have not yet tried this one size.

This cigar has only a few months on it, but to me, Bolivars and Partagas seem to be the two brands that you can really enjoy fresh and aged (that said, there are exceptions as my box of Lusitanias needs years!).

I clipped the Immensas and inspected the head.  There is so much tobacco in this cigar!  Plus I see my friend, the Cuban divot, which is a little pocket underneath the cap dead center in almost all habanos.  Why or how they do it is beyond me.

So anyway, I light the cigar and the draw is even, and before I can really settle down with it, a huge spot opens up a half inch down the cigar!  In fact in the first two inches, it tunneled once and canoed twice.

After that, it burned dead even and was quite enjoyable.

I like Bolivars so much because of their rich aroma and flavor.  The aroma of the smoke is slight earthy and meaty, a smell similar to that at a barbecue, the flavors are quite luxurious with a fudgy chocolate and café au lait.  Some of that unmistakable Cuban “muskiness” was also present In the aroma and palate. 

Strength-wise, if a BBF is your mildest and a Petite Corona is one of the strongest, the Immensas would fall somewhere in the middle. It does have richness in flavor and body, but is still not too strong.

I enjoyed the smoke after I got past the burning problems, but I cannot overlook it, so…

Rating: 88 (B+)

Vitola: Petite Corona 

This cigar was initially punched, but I may have to clip it as the draw is a bit tight.  There is a saltiness to the wrapper which is very common in a Cuban cigar.  The flavors are subdued, salt and leather with a tobacco core.

The burn is even and the salt and pepper ash is a bit flaky.

This was not an overly complex cigar, but a quarter of the way through I did start to get some anise in the finish and a little bit of coffee.  There was also a woodiness that showed up now and again.

I did have to clip the cigar because the draw was too tight, but other than that no complaints on construction.

Rating: 88 (B+)