Memoirs of a Cigar

About a year ago CAO released their La Traviata line of cigars, which are excellent cigars. They are rich in flavors of chocolate and nuts. At the center point the smoker is flooded with rich cream and caramel which blends amazingly with the flavors of chocolate and nuts. La Traviata is truely an outstanding cigar, rated 93 points by Cigar Aficionado, and are very affordable at around $6.00 a stick. You can read my full review of the La Traviata here: http://www.memoirsofacigar.com/2009/12/23/cao-la-traviata-divino/

Now CAO is back with a new Maduro version of their La Traviata cigars, which are still priced at around $6.00 per stick.

The CAO La Traviata Maduro starts off with rich chocolate, nuts and wood flavors. The cigar then adds strength and power in the form of black pepper, leather and earth. The center adds creamy notes, but not as abundantly as the original La Traviata. The final third becomes overwhelming and the Maduro flavors seem to over power the rest of the wonderful core flavors.

I personally prefer the original La Traviata over the Maduro version, as I feel the Maduro has too much going on, is more singular in flavor, and a bit too strong for my tastes. However, Maduro lovers and full bodied cigar smokers will no doubt enjoy the CAO La Traviata Maduro, and at this low price, this cigar is a winner.

The newest release from Gran Habano is the Gran Habano Azteca, which I like to call a “Mexican Maduro”. It comes in 3 sizes; Eagle, Jaguar and Puma (smallest to largest). For this review, I smoked the Jaguar, which is a 6 inch long cigar with a ring gauge of 50.

The Gran Habano Azteca Jaguar has a Maduro Wrapper & Maduro Binder which are both shade grown in San Andreas, Mexico. San Andreas leaf is known for being mild in strength yet extremely flavorful. This allows the Azteca to be a very flavorful Double Maduro, which is perfectly balanced and not at all overpowering. It’s filler is from Nicaragua and Panama.

Upon lighting, the Gran Habano Azteca immediately hits your palate with sweet chocolate notes, which slowly die down to reveal a core of sweet wood and leather. Toward the center of the cigar the sweet chocolate notes are back in full form, blended with coffee, wood and spice. The spice is a white pepper spice, which keeps the cigar on the light and flavorful side of things. The Azteca finishes up with flavors of dark chocolate, sweet wood and leather. Overall the new Gran Habano Azteca Jaguar was a great Mexican Maduro, which I would rate at 92 points.

As a company, Gran Habano has been steadily moving into the lime light the past few years. They have good looking cigars at very good price points. The Azteca even comes in cigar boxes resembling an Aztec Pyramid. They recently had the worlds largest cigar, a 19 foot monster which retails for 200K, on display at IPCPR. Wow! Their cigars are priced very affordably, and in my opinion, Grand Habano may be the best low priced brand in America!

You can check out my previous review of the Gran Habano Corojo #5 Lancero here: http://www.memoirsofacigar.com/2009/07/14/gran-habano-corojo-5-lancero/

I picked up these 2 cigars from CAO today, and was provided with two seperate times throughout the day to enjoy them. I decided a direct comparison would be useful, as I’m sure many people look at these two cigars and have a tough time deciding which to try, since they both look and sound similar. I have had the LX2 Lancero many times in the past, and it’s an excellent smoke, but I have never tried a full sized LX2, and never tried any MX2 before.

The CAO MX2 (Maduro times two) has a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro Wrapper & Brazilian Maduro Leaf Binder. This doubles up on the outer Maduro flavor, putting the MX2 in the Strong Maduro category. The filler is an eclectic blend of tobacco from Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Peru.

Flavorwise the CAO MX2 is predominately earth and bitter chocolate, mixed with some coffee and wood, and a touch of sweetness from the wrapper. I found the bitter aspect of the chocolate to be slightly overwhelming, and felt that it threw off the balance off the cigar in the first and last third’s of the cigar. The center of the cigar was well balanced however, with a creamy finish, which I did enjoy.

The CAO LX2 (Ligero times two) has Dominican Ligero Leaf & Nicaraguan Ligero Leaf, surrounded by a Honduran Binder and Nicaraguan Wrapper. The use of two types of Ligero Leaf put the LX2 in the Very Full Bodied category, with a high dose of nicotine. Ligero Leaf comes from the top section of the Tobacco plant, which are exposed to more sunlight, and develop fuller flavors and increased nicotine content. Ligero is used to add strength to a cigar, however it is very slow burning, so it’s difficult to maintain a good burn with too much Ligero.

Flavorwise the CAO LX2 immediately hits you with a strong dose of hot pepper and spice, so much so in fact, that you can almost imagine jalapeño peppers in your cigar. It blends in chocolate, cedar wood and cinnamon, and has a leathery texture with a pleasing dry finish. It also has a touch of Graham Cracker breadiness toward the center of the cigar, which is very satisfying. Flavors of coffee, nuts and cream also show up at various points throughout the cigar, which all blend together very well.

Conclusion – while the CAO MX2 has an abundance of Maduro flavor, I found it slightly out of balance, and would give it a 88-89 point rating. The CAO LX2 on the otherhand, while very strong, and high in nicotine content, was perfectly blended for a long, strong and satisfying smoke. 91-92 points. My choice would be the CAO LX2, preferably a Lancero.

The previously reviewed Cohiba Gran Reserva is essentialy the Cohiba Siglo VI, Turbo Edition, so I decided I would smoke a Siglo VI as a follow up, to try and note any similarities or differences.

The Cohiba Siglo VI is probably the best Cohiba in current production, aside from the Gran Reserva edition of course. It’s a full flavored Cuban masterpiece that consistently scores in the upper 90′s. It’s also very full bodied with plenty of strength, making it extremely suitable for aging.

The Cohiba Siglo VI starts out with a spicy wood taste, toasted tobacco, and some dried apricot flavors. It’s flavor profile generally stays the same, while slowly building in strength, throughout the first third of the cigar. At the half way point, the Cohiba Siglo VI is wonderful, with white pepper spice, blended with dried fruits in an elegant and balanced profile. The final third adds in strength and returns to it’s wood and toasted tobacco core, with coffee notes and a leathery texture. This is a 94 point smoke, and reminds me of the Gran Reserva in many ways.

Similar to comparing a Basketball Team against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, comparing any cigar to the Gran Reserva is extremely unfair. It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it. Compared to the Gran Reserva, the Siglo VI is slightly harsh, less balanced, less complex, and less refined. Don’t get me wrong, the Siglo VI is one of the finest cigars in my collection, and while it can outperform almost all other cigars, it falls short compared to the Gran Reserva I endulged in yesterday.

So while the Cohiba Siglo VI is the ‘best cigar’ Cohiba makes, the Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva is the ‘best of the best cigar’ Cohiba makes. However, with the Gran Reserva being so limited in production, and with a price five times as high, the Siglo VI is much easier to find, and a much better value.

At it’s center, the Cohiba Gran Reserva gives off flavors of coffee, toasted nuts and cedar wood, mixed with orange zest, chocolate and cloves. It is abundantly full of flavor, in so many different respects, yet not the least bit overpowering. It’s spice is incredibly rich and exotic, but still gentle and accesible. I imagine this comes from some extremely spicy tobacco leaves that have been aged for many years, softening the strength of the spice. Some online research has confirmed that a very rare and special aged Ligero leaf was hand picked and used in the Cohiba Gran Reserva, and that this Ligero leaf is the secret ingredient giving the cigar it’s incredible flavor, which can only be found in this cigar.

The aroma has become very floral now, and the cigar has added a touch of honey sweetness to it’s overall flavor profile. It has an encredible depth of dried fruit flavors, including orange, pear and apricots, amongst others. The cigar is medium to full in strength, and seems to give a slightly different flavor with each puff.

In the last third of the cigar, the coffee notes seem to have transformed into more of a creamy Earl Gray Tea. The buttery texture has become slightly more leathery, and flavors of cedar wood are back in full form. Notes of powdered cocoa and green mint are also making a surprise guest appearance toward the end of the performance.

The Cohiba Gran Reserva is easily one of the best cigars I have ever smoked, if not the best.

I have had a 99 point aged Montecristo #2 which slowed the earths rotation. I have also had a 98 point Cohiba Siglo II Lancero in the Bahamas in the pool at Cain Atlantis while the DJ played Lionel Richie’s “Hello, is it me your looking for, because I wonder where you are, and I wonder what you do…”.

This cigar easily ranks with those time honered moments in Cigar History, as one of the best cigars I have ever smoked. Worth every penny, the Cohiba Gran Reserva has perfect construction, presentation, flavor, aroma, balance, and that ethereal quality you can only find in an finely aged Cuban Cigar.

James Suckling was right! I am officially rating the Cohiba Gran Reserva at 100 points.

The Michael Jordan of Basketball.
The Jerry Rice of Football.
The Barry Bonds of Baseball.
The Gran Reserva of Cohiba.

The first puff of my Cohiba Gran Reserva gave off the flavor of light toasted tobacco and wood. The next few puffs added a blast of white pepper spice. Curls of bright white smoke billowed into the air with each puff.

The taste is a symphony that has taken the stage and are now making their final adjustments to their instruments and warming up. You know all the pieces are there, they just aren’t making beautiful music in perfect harmony yet. Like the sound of violins playing, the cigar’s aroma is sensual.

I’m just under 20 puffs in and already the symphony has begun. A roaring trumpet section of fine spice is complementing the sensual violin aroma now, and already I would give this cigar 93 points.

The smoke’s texture is velvet, and has a rich butter feeling on the tongue. This combination makes the cigar elusive on the palate, as it’s confusing to identify where the taste ends and the aftertaste begins. Each puff blends into one harmonious experience for the senses.

My Cohiba Gran Reserva is in full swing now, as I approach the center. The draw is perfect. The burn is perfect. The aroma, which I am frequently inhaling through the nose, is perfect. The flavors are deep and rich and soft and buttery and creamy and sensual and exotic and, in a word, perfect. This has passed the Classic Cigar Rating of 95 points, to a 96-97 now, as a sensual tingling sensation encompasses my mouth and throat.

And now, for a brief intermission…

I must start this review by stating that the hype surrounding the Cohiba Gran Reserva has made me nervous to smoke this cigar for months. This is a 100 point cigar. 100 POINTS! What is left for a cigar aficionado to smoke once the Gran Reserva has returned to the earth from which it came? Will any cigar ever quench his thirst? Perhaps the satisfied smoker of the Cohiba Gran Reserva should give up fine cigars all together once he has put down the nub of this ‘best of the best’? It was, afterall, the final cigar review by former Cigar Aficionado Cuban Expert James Suckling, before leaving the publication. And he gave the Cohiba Gran Reserva it’s 100 point informal rating at the 11th Annual Habanos Festival in Cuba.

Further adding to my anxiety, a perfect cigar like this requires a perfect setting, a perfect day with perfect weather, and a perfect accompanying beverage. Essentially the planets must align on a clear sunny day, at at high noon, as the Blue Angels fly over, just then, and only then, can you even consider endulging yourself into the Cohiba Gran Reserva. Today is that day! Even the Blue Angels are in town.

People think I’m crazy when they learn that I have smoked $50 cigars. I doubt they could even comprehend the notion of a $125 cigar, and that at $125 the Cohiba Gran Reserva was actually a good deal? “That’s Ridiculous!” they would probably say. And they would be right. Ridiculously Good!

The center of the cigar smells of fine aged tobacco and rich chocolate. I clipped the perfect Cuban Triple Cap right in the center of the 3 lines. Perfect cut. The pre-light has your typical Cohiba taste, paired with deep dark exotic fruits. A flute of Perrier Citron sits a few inches to the right, bubling softly, waiting to be called into action. I even broke out the crystal flutes for this cigar.

And at precisely 2:25 PM on Saturday October 9th, 2010 I carefully lit my cigar…

The Partagas Lusitania is an immense 7 & 5/8th inches long Cuban Cigar, with a light colored but oily wrapper, and is heralded by many cigar aficionados as one of their all-time top smokes. A magnificent cigar which delivers flavors of earth, exotic spice, dark coffee and rich milky vanilla. It’s aroma resembles incense, and it tastes good enough to cause one to inhale it’s luscious and creamy smoke. The Partagas Lusitania is an amazingly well balanced cigar, which is full of flavor but never overpowers. This is a 94 point masterpiece.

The Partagas Lusitania is named after the 787 foot long Scottish Ocean Liner, the “RMS Lusitania”, which was sunk by a German U-Boat in 1915. It had set sail from New York and was headed to Ireland with nearly 2000 people on board. 750 miles of the coast or Ireland, it was being tracked by a German U-boat (Underwater Boat), or Submarine, which surfaced, spotted the RMS Lusitania, and fired a single torpedo. The direct hit caused the massive ocean liner to sink in only 18 minutes. Only 800 of the 2000 passengers survived. The honerable Captain Turner of the RMS Lusitania quickly ordered the engine room to turn and head full speed full towards the coast, but engine pressure had been lost and the ship’s engines were useless. SOS broadcasts went out, and the captain remained on the bridge until water gushed over and washed him out to sea.

Of little consolidation, when the German Captain gave the order to fire, the chief in charge of the Torpedo Room refused to fire on women and children. He was quickly replaced, and court martialed when the submarine returned to port. The entire incident sparked public outcry and turned public opinion against the Germans, and was one of the contributing factors to America entering the war.