This cigar was an impulse buy quite a few months ago now. I had read a couple of peoples reviews that suggested that this was a reasonable little stick, and when I saw it in the shop, I decided to give it a go.
Appearance 6.5/10
The first thing you notice is the white tissue paper (Japanese apparently), I do not believe that wrapping the cigar in this paper makes any difference, but it certainly looks different. One thing to note is because of the paper you cant check for wrapper damage, bloom etc, so something to think about when buying.
The wrapper on this cigar did not have a nice oily sheen, it looked quite dry and plain, to me it lacked “luster”. As I purchased it directly from the shops humidor I can only assume that this is how its supposed to be as it was properly stored.
Construction & Draw 5.5/10
Once I got the paper off the general construction of the cigar was good, there were no large veins, and construction at the cap end was workman like. Once lit the draw was tighter than I expected, even through this is a small ring gauge cigar it did feel slightly “plugged”, and it did take a bit of effort to smoke
Flavor 4.5/10
This is a light flavor cigar, and it really was light in taste, a bit one dimensional, not offensive, but it just did not develop at all. Because of the tight draw you needed to draw a couple of times to get a decent amount of smoke, this made the cigar heat up quite quickly, and made the flavours harsh and slightly acidic.
Towards the end of the stick the draw got a bit easier, but by then the stick was hot, the flavour was bitter, and the experience was not great. All in all very very average, if I am being generous!
Value 6.0/10
At around 6 GBP, this is a very cheap Cuban, however the one I had suffered from a very poor draw, because of this what flavour there was (and I understand its a light-medium cigar) was tarnished by the temperature of the burn.
Summary 5.0/10
Okay these are probably a step up from a pack of cigars, and perhaps I just had a bad one, and they are not usually plugged, however I must rate based on my smoking experience.
They are cheap for a Cuban cigar, but I would suggest that as cigar smoking is about the experience, I would pay more, get a better cigar, and get more enjoyment. Its also worth remembering that there are a lot of non-cuban cigars out there that cost the same, but will give a far better experience.
This cigar will not make it into my humidor again.
UK Cigarnewbie 