| ring: | 50 (fat) |
| length: | 124mm |
| beginners: | only for the brave and rich: too powerful, too complex, too expensive |
| price: | $44.50AUD |
| summary: | exquisite quality, complex, full-bodied |
This cigar is the big bad grand daddy of all robustos. Originally the Cohiba brand was made only for Cuban state leaders, and for gifts to foreign diplomats, but the brand was opened to the public in the early eighties. Accordingly, all Cuban Cohibas are very expensive and very high quality. And this one is certainly no exception.
The wrapper is a smooth, oily medium-dark brown colour. The cigar is thick, firm and gives off the aroma of unmistakeably top-quality Cuban tobacco.
On lighting, it becomes immediately apparently that this is a full-bodied, powerful smoke. It only takes a few puffs to realise that you’re smoking something really special and quite complex.
The initial flavours I detected were capsicum notes on a lusty tobacco base. I could be wrong, but I think in the States they describe that flavour as “pepper” as this is the name they give to capsicum and chilli. In any case, the flavour I got through the first quarter was definitely that of capsicum and sweet, strong but smooth tobacco.
As the smoke progressed I found it to be an exceptionally complex experience. At times it seems as though each puff delivered a different taste and experience. These flavours ranged from capsicum to coffee, burnt toffee, cedar and musty leather.
The ash held strongly and was light-grey and white coloured.
This is an exquisitely potent, heavy and complex cigar. However, with a price tag approaching $50AUD per stick, I find it hard to recommend people go out and purchase this smoke. The plain fact is that for half the price you can find smokes that are almost as good. It’s twice the price of most other premium cigars, and I can’t honestly say that it is twice as enjoyable an experience.
In fact, the second one of these that I’ve had in the past weeks (last night for my birthday) even presented some minor burn-problems in the first quarter. It actually went out and I had a bit of trouble re-lighting it. Not what you want after dishing out fifty bucks for a single. The first one, however, was spot-on all the way through.
Overall, there can be absolutely no doubts that this is a top quality cigar. However I could only recommend it to experienced cigar-smokers who can fully appreciate such a formidable and sophisticated smoke and get every cents’ worth of value from the experience of smoking this expensive robusto.
If, like me, you’re not rich enough to buy cigars of this expense on a regular basis, my recommendation is to savour the moment. I made the mistake of smoking my second one at about 1am after a dinner party while drinking with a few other guests, and I don’t feel I gave the cigar the attention it deserves. Don’t waste the experience by smoking it at some party after five or six drinks; take an hour to yourself somewhere quite and relaxing. Unwind and give yourself the opportunity to fully absorb everything the cigar has to offer.
Of course, if you’re a little less financially challenged, you maybe lucky enough to smoke cigars like this regularly. In which this case, if you enjoy a brawny smoke, this particular one comes with very high recommendations.