A Cuban Experience is a new cigar line that launched inside the A.C.E. Prime Cigar Company booth at the 2019 IPCPR trade show. While the cigars were introduced in the same booth and are made at the same factory, A Cuban Experience is a separate business entity from A.C.E. Prime. A Cuban Experience is a cigar shop in Waukegan, IL, near Chicago, and now has their own line of cigars.
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.
A Cuban Experience comes in three sizes each with their own blend: El Corazon, La Sombra, and El Elegante. El Corazon is a toro vitola that uses an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Ecuadorian Sumatra binder, and filler from Nicaraguan Estelí, Jalapa, and Ometepe. All are rolled at Tabacalera Pichardo in Estelí, Nicaragua.
“There is a nice oily sheen to the golden brown wrapper. It is very smooth in the hand and the foot is well packed with gold and various shades of brown tobacco. The cap is small with one layer that sits slightly crooked at the head of the cigar. No veins protruding and an overall nicely presented stick.” –Diana (ArmyRN)
Aroma: 92
“Love the aroma I’m getting from the foot and the cold draw. Lots of leather and salted cashew. Anxious to put some fire to it!” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
Flavor: 94 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
“This things starts off with some great flavors! Leather and light coffee beans that really meld together to create a nice start. Near the end of the first third I pick up those salted nut flavors i got on the cold draw. Retro is very smooth. Wow. Great intro!!” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“There’s a lot of very rich tobacco notes that are coming through. The sweetness from the tobacco is playing very well with a mild level of pepper, cedar, raisin, and leather. The draw is just a little too tight and I believe it’s affecting the smoke output. ” –Alan (Eulogy)
Second Third
Flavor: 92 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
“The profile is somewhat similar to the first third but it’s mainly alternating between a very sweet tobacco profile and a almost mushroom earth one. The draw has loosened a touch from the beginning but it’s still a tad too tight. That little adjustment has made the smoke output go from good to excellent and I’m getting thick rich clouds of smokey goodness now. Rich tobacco, leather, red pepper, cedar, mushrooms, baking spice, and a touch of hay are all present this third although not all at the same time.” –Alan (Eulogy)
“Primarily a continuation of the sweet chocolate in the earlier portion. Mostly this is all about really good sweet tobacco flavors. Very, very good.” –John I. (John I.)
Final Third
Flavor: 91 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
“Really didn’t want this to end. The salted cashew picks up in the final third as do the nutmeg and a slight cocoa flavor on the back end. Definitely had to nub this cigar. Very enjoyable. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“Deeper richer, but still pretty true to earlier flavor profile. nice and sweet. The flavor here is a bit brighter, but still consistent with earlier characteristics. Wrapper begins burning a big unevenly toward the band. Surprising as it’s burned really nicely up to this point. ” –John I. (John I.)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 93
“The draw was nice on this cigar. I didn’t struggle with it at any point and it remained consistent throughout the entire smoking experience.” –Diana (ArmyRN)
Burn: 93
“Even with the tight draw it performed flawlessly. A clean burn line from beginning to end with no touch ups or relights.” –Alan (Eulogy)
Construction: 95
“Hard to find much fault here. There was a burn issue toward the end, but otherwise a really well put together cigar.” –John I. (John I.)
Overall Strength: Medium Overall Body/Complexity: Medium Experience Overall: 94
“This was a good cigar that could’ve been better. I like the notes that I experienced but it felt as if they died out too soon. I would certainly revisit this cigar but might enjoy it in a corona size which might stabilize the flavors through the entire cigar. Would pair nicely with some sweet and sour Chinese food though!” –Diana (ArmyRN)
“A truly enjoyable cigar from first light to the end. Flavors were on point and melded together to create a great experience. I’d easily give this a “great” and would definitely buy at least a fiver if not a box. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“Pretty one-dimensional cigar, but it was a really nice dimension. Sweetness and chocolate all the time here with a bit of a deepening of this profile at the end. Construction was rock solid aside from a minor burn issue. I’d definitely burn a lot more of these.” –John I. (John I.)
“Fell a little flat at the end compared to the first two thirds but it was a hard act to follow. I really enjoyed it, overall. It does so many things right in terms of construction, flavor, and smoke output that I could see myself turning many of these into ash. It’s well worth your time and money but I would save it for the first or maybe second cigar of the day as it’s a little milder on the spectrum.” –Alan (Eulogy)
Blind Cigar Review: A Cuban Experience | El Corazon
Summary
"A truly enjoyable cigar from first light to the end. Flavors were on point and melded together to create a great experience. I'd easily give this a "great" and would definitely buy at least a fiver if not a box." -Kevin J. (maninblack77)
