The Cohiba Spectre was first shown off and announced at the 2018 IPCPR trade show. It comes in only one size, a 7″ x 54 Churchill and sells for $90 per cigar.
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.
The filler of this cigar uses Dominican piloto cubano leaf aged in terrcios since it was harvested in 1995. Terrcios are a way of aging tobacco by using the leaves of a royal palm free. The rest of the blend encompasses tobacco grown in Estelí, Nicaragua from 2011-2014 aged in sherry barrels from Spain, and three Honduran leaves Olancho San Agustin (2002), the Jamastran Valley and La Entrada (2011).
The wrapper is Ecuadorian Sumatra using upper primings. General Cigar says the leaves “developed a unique reddish hue” and were then aged more. Only 180 boxes of 10 cigars were produced.
When being rolled there is only a single buncher Ruben Dario Perez Peña, and a single roller, Xirolma Céspedes. The company says the pair has a combined nearly 50 years of experience. Each of the circular boxes retails for $900.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Churchill
Length: 7′ 1/4″
Ring Gauge: 54
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano (1995), Honduran Jamastran (2011 ), Honduran La Entrada (2011 ), Honduran OSA (2002 ), Nicaraguan Estelí (2011 ), Nicaraguan Estelí (2014 )
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Blender: Jhonys Diaz
Number of reviewers: 4 – David F. (dfafjf) John A. (Bostoneo) Mickey T. (irratebass) Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Price: $90.00
Age: 2 Months
Release Date: November 2018
Contributed by: Blind Man’s Puff
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 92
“Looks like this cigar is a Churchill in length. It has a very dark wrapper which has a slight oily sheen to it. It has plenty of visible seams, but no veins. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Aroma: 86
Blind Cigar Review: Cohiba | Spectre
“From the foot very very faint notes of tobacco and leather are detected. On the cold draw, a distinct fruitiness, leather, and cinnamon are present. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
First Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“A nice clean profile directly after the light. Cigar is light medium to medium in strength. There is brown sugar molasses in the front and cracked peppercorn warmth on the finish. Quite a nice cigar. Burn is stellar, draw could be improved upon.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“The first few initial puffs provide flavors of tobacco, leather, and peppery cream. Perfumed fragrant notes join in minutes later alongside some musty sweetness for the remainder. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Second Third
Blind Cigar Review: Cohiba | Spectre
Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Moving into the second 1/3, the cigar hasn’t changed up at all. Still very smooth, medium bodied cigar. Little to no spice but a chocolate cream bomb! Really hard to pick up anything else besides sweet cream and chocolate but no complaints as this is really good. ” –David F. (dfafjf)
“The cigar transforms to a wave of different notes. This second third is the sweet spot for sure. Death takes over most of the profile, still very enjoyable. Wonder if it comes in robusto. Sweetness is coming and going in different strengths and notes. It was brown sugar then changes to molasses and sweet tea. There is also a little cinnamon.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Final Third
Flavor: 92
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Burn is still stellar I can’t remember when I have had a cigar burn this well. Earthy sweetness still ever changing on the sweet note keeping my attention really well. Boxes of this cigar are in my future” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“A heavy amount of black pepper begins this third. The pepper finally takes a backseat and milk chocolate takes over until an inch later the pepper kicks back in with a sweet note. At the very end the pepper takes on a sour note and I have to put this down. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Overall Impressions
Blind Cigar Review: Cohiba | Spectre
Draw: 79
“I was not pleased with the draw on this cigar and can be the one thing that I stress. Would have scored much higher with an acceptable draw. In robusto this would probably be a very different review” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Burn: 93
“The burn was actually pretty good, there were no issues with that, and I did manage to get a couple of 1/4 inch ashes off of it.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Construction: 93
“The constructions seemed ok to me there weren’t any issues to report. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 90
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from such a large cigar but I really enjoyed the entire experience. I would have appreciated some additional spice or complexity but the flavors were good enough to enjoy the entire time. ” –David F. (dfafjf)
“This was a fairly straight forward smoke without many flavor frills. I found it a bit boring at times as most the flavors were basic and not very complex. It was definitely a reliable smoke with great construction, burn, and a slightly tighter draw than normal. Nothing inherently wrong, just a bit one note for me. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
“Sorry this cigar was very boring, and really didn’t have any flavors that wowed me. I got honey, some type of molasses sweetness mixed with some walnuts, and that was it. I couldn’t go through with it. I pitched it in the beginning of the last third. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“I really liked this cigar and would smoke again without question in another viola. Boxes will be bought” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 84
Reviewer
Apr
Aro
1/3
2/3
3/3
Draw
Burn
Const
Ovr
All
David F.
97
100
97
97
95
100
100
100
95
John A.
95
90
90
90
88
85
85
95
85
Mickey T.
88
85
85
85
70
70
88
88
70
Ryan H.
88
83
90
92
92
82
100
88
90
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
"This was a fairly straight forward smoke without many flavor frills. I found it a bit boring at times as most the flavors were basic and not very complex. It was definitely a reliable smoke with great construction, burn, and a slightly tighter draw than normal. Nothing inherently wrong, just a bit one note for me. " -John A. (Bostoneo)
