Vital Stats:
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Ecuador
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: Cubanacan Cigars Factory S.A.
Blender: Omar González-Alemán
Number of reviewers: 5 —– Craig (WyldKnyght) Dave (mdwest) Jiunn (jliu) Robert (NavyPiper) Derek (StogieNinja)
Price: $5.55
Age: 7 Months
Release Date: July 2012
Contributed by: Cubanacan
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 91
“A beautiful-looking Connecticut wrapper cloaks this well-shaped robusto. Almost looks Cuban in appearance, though the wrapper is a bit too light for that. A good looking cigar.” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Aroma: 88
“The aroma is very light and delicate on this stick with hay and faint notes of pepper coming off the foot.” –Dave (mdwest)
First Third
Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Pepper and nuttiness to start. The pepper was on the tip of the tongue and the nuttiness on the back of my throat. Some light wispy smoke.” –Craig (WyldKnyght)
“First third flavors are simply awesome. Upfront, flavors of cedar, sweet cream, dried almonds, white pepper. The finish gives way to grass and hay. Through the retro-hale, the white pepper is more noticeable and just right. Body and richness of the smoke is on the medium plus side while the nicotine is at a solid medium. A cigar that is full of flavors as compared to full of nicotine is where it’s at SON. NICE!” –Jiunn (jliu)
Second Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“As we get to the second third pepper starts to become more prominent and the floral notes start to take a little bit of a back seat. More grass or hay starts to show up intermittently as well. The smoke has lost most of its edginess and is starting to mellow out a good bit, almost to the point of creaminess. ” –Dave (mdwest)
“Second third stays fairly consistent to the first third (upfront flavors of cedar, sweet cream, dried almonds, white pepper. Grass/hay finish). At certain points, I am tasting a little bitterness (not a bolded point though). The finish now has a lingering clove like spice to it. Body still stays a medium plus and the nicotine level is still at a solid medium.” –Jiunn (jliu)
Final Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“In the last third, the spice and pepper ramped up, and eventually dominated the flavors, blanking out the tobacco. Near the end it was all spice and pepper and quite powerful at that. Draw was still perfect. Burn got a tad bit wavy, and the ash still was solid and continued to hang on, with me tapping it off at about 1″ each time.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
“As it warms up a bit, the flavors grow just a bit more. It’s still light in terms of flavor, but what’s there is pleasant enough. A hint of nuttiness, some grassy hay, and natural tobacco. It reminds me a lot of this really mild pipe tobacco my brother-in-law used to roll into cigarettes. That’s all there is to this cigar, a mild natural tobacco flavor.” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 96
“The draw on this guy was absolutely perfect!” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Burn: 92
“A very good burn overall with no touch ups required and no combustion problems detected. Completely maintenance free.” –Dave (mdwest)
Construction: 93
“Well constructed. Smoked well, burned well, draw was great. No complaints here. ” –Derek (StogieNinja)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Overall Experience: 88
“I really enjoyed this cigar. It had the flavors I like in a cigar. The only thing I missed in this cigar was a nice thick creamy smoke.” –Craig (WyldKnyght)
“Overall, a nice smoking experience. While there wasnt a whole lot of flavor, the blend was nice. This would probably be a nice early morning smoke that would pair well with the first cup of coffee for the day.” –Dave (mdwest)
“Overall, a very good cigar. I enjoyed the first third immensely. The rich flavors of upfront cream, cedar, nuts and just the right amount of white pepper finishing off with a hay/grass note was just awesome. The second and last third was a little bit of a let down. By no means was it bad, but I was expecting the second and last third to build on the first third. The inherent mild bitterness makes me believe this cigar will benefit from aging. I’d like to grab a fiver or tener to age and sample every 6 months. I think this will be a really great cigar come 2 years.” –Jiunn (jliu)
“It was a good smoke. No challenges or issues. It looked good and was well made. Made for a nice hour and a half of relaxation after work.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
“What a boring cigar. It’s possible that a new smoker might enjoy one of these, because there’s nothing to dislike. It’s just bland, plain, mildly sweet tobacco. Not one I would pursue again personally, and I think there are better cigars to recommend to new smokers.” –Derek (StogieNinja)
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Smoking Time (in minutes): 81
| Reviewer | Appearance | Aroma | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Constr. | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig | 92 | 90 | 95 | 95 | 90 | 95 | 88 | 93 | 92 |
| Dave | 90 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 85 | 90 | 90 | 88 |
| Jiunn | 92 | 88 | 95 | 90 | 88 | 95 | 97 | 97 | 90 |
| Robert | 90 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 100 | 90 | 90 | 88 |
| Derek | 90 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 88 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
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