I like these. I brought back a box of 25 from a recent trip abroad. I’ve smoked at least 12-13 so far (only 3 from the box of 25 I bought back), and they have that distinct Cuban background taste typical of all the Cubans that I’ve smoked so far, as well as slightly sweet hints of woodiness. They go well with coffee I find.
At 6” with a 43 ring gauge, these bad boys can take a while to get through and rushing them will only ruin the flavour. I like these for those evenings when I know I’m going to have at least an hour and a half to myself to sit back and relax with a smoke.
They’re nowhere near as nicely constructed as other Cubans though. They’re rough, and flaky, with enormous veins and sometimes, green spots. They don’t seem to have varied much in terms of taste or the way they smoke. The ash can be dark or light grey, sometimes white and sometimes white speckled with black. It’ll fall off quite easily and isn’t very firm, so I don’t recommend letting it get much longer than 1/4”-1” without rolling the ash off. They don’t burn amazingly evenly either, but they don’t seem to go out and usually sort themselves out so that there’s rarely a need to light a match or use a lighter to correct an uneven burn.
They’ve gone up in price since I last bought any from Cgars, but they’re still amazing value for what you’re getting. A Cuban cigar. In my book, any Cuban cigar under £10, in the UK, is a bargain. I highly recommend these to any new smokers, as an inexpensive introduction to Cuban cigars, as an inexpensive evening smoke and as a good humidor filler.
I give these cigars 4/5 for flavour, but only 2/5 for construction and burn. I’m splitting the difference and giving them 3 stars. Still a great smoke though.