Cohiba Esplendido

[ajgagnon]

Soiled Esplendido

This poor sucker is one of three that got too close to a humidifier inside my humidor. I knew I was going too far when I filled the thing, and imagined what pain I would feel through my heart if anything were to happen to these wonderful cigars. Then I forgot about it.

A couple of weeks later, the sting in my chest pierced as I remembered my ill-considered choice that day, and sure enough, three Esplendidos were soaked through on one side and spongy through and through.

I put them in a ziplock bag in a dry box with some cedar sheets, and waited for some change. Nada. So I added a chunk of dry florist’s foam and left the sad collection in the dry box, ziplock sealed, for several weeks. Tonight I wanted a nice cigar before my wife got back from a business trip (I am in the yard), but didn’t want to smoke one of the dwindling stash of known good cigars (I seem to have many fakes… more on that later). So, out came the rode-hard-and-put-away-wet majestic, emblematic Cohiba. Sigh.

Now, with respect to the fakes, I’ve seen quite a few lately. I’ve probably smoked as many farm cigars and fakes as… well, not quite that many. I think I’ll do a review on a fake Esplendido for fun in a later post.

Anyway, this poor Esplendido is now about the right consistency, and humidity, so I clipped it with the guillotine and fired it up, or perhaps I should say smouldered it to life with my $6 jet lighter from Princess Auto (am I giving too much away about myself here?).

The first 1/8” just sucked as it struggled to life, but it fired right up after that and suddenly became a more respectable cigar, and fuller bodied, than the fakes I own bearing the same name, even after those have been smoked down to the band (I’m not proud). [Aside: Having met some tobacco farmers in Cuba and seeing their cowboy home-rolled stogies, I have a fond spot in my heart for a really rustic, strong tobacco stick that comes with a story… and I don’t get taken for much $ when I buy questionable cigars in such a street adventure. And for the record, James Suckling and Rob, and quite likely the rest of you are fully correct when you say that first-rate Cuban cigars sell themselves and do not need typically show up on the street. However, I’ll do a review with my dad one day of some Monte A’s that were truly revelational, and procured in just such a disdainful fashion.]

I digress. This thing went straight into stride. Cedar, earth, hint of honey and a good dose of spice. Well, it’s crooked, so it went crookedly into … you get the picture. You’re not going to believe this, except perhaps for the extra marinating this cigar has had, but I swear I taste Christmas gravy. I’d have to say turkey gravy. Oh, now it’s gone. That’s a first for me.

I treat tobacco like the medicine that it is, borrowing from the native peoples of North America. Tobacco is a gift to the elders, and something to share when good friends are around. It’s not to be abused, stepped on, treated with chemicals or given in vain. It’s one of the finer gifts we’ve been given, and I cherish every damn cigar. Well, except for those RP Corojo torpedoes I got in the ‘states. Sorry, Rocky, they just don’t have the magic of Cuba.

So now I’m getting hints of chocolate with wood and cinnamon (maybe spiced mead), right through the water stain and white bloom. I’m so sorry. I am not worthy.

To repent, I will gift a ‘long red leaf havana’ plant to my boss for his window at the office.

That drink is a pineapple guava passion pulp/juice with Nicaraguan Flor de Cana rum. Life’s tough.

This damn thing… ahem, wonderful, recuperating work of art, is burning difficultly, suggesting it’s still too humid, as it’s a bit tight and sluggish to draw. Smells divine, although I can’t help but think it’s a bit more barnyard-esque than usual. I plug the cracked wrapper with saliva (yech…) and hope to smoke it fast enough to avoid a binder explosion. What a man must do.

Getting hints of that anise character that pops up so often. Must be one of those chemicals that Ken et al so studiously identified in their classic posts/treatises on uniquely discernable flavours. You don’t know what a service you do, regardless of your sense of style. By the way, does anyone find it incongruous that Ken drives a BMW and yet wears such rags? The man’s got his priorities, all right.

Well, the wife is just minutes from returning, and surely will be impressed that I’ve taken such well-deserved time to treat myself to yet another cigar, and on the eve of her folks’ visit to our small, and unprepared abode for not less than a week’s visit. I love you, my dear. I’m just like this.

I’m getting cocoa now, thinly layered over a core of cedar, with that strength that says Cohiba, and has only been approached (in my experience) by the Lusitania. Maybe it’s also the feeling growing in my stomach.

Anyway, I’ll cut it off here, basically at the end of the second third, for fear of being kicked off the forum for being unduly verbose without first earning the street cred.

I bid you all an inebriational good evening.

[bolivr]

Oh the horror!

[Colt45]

Thanks for the review and accompanying tale, and sorry for the spoiled cigars. Purely for conversation purposes, I'm a little curious as to the type

of humidifier you use, and how wet it is kept - those cigars look very wet.

I think that in trying to bring them back, simply leaving them in an empty cedar box may have been a better bet, though the end result may not have

been much better. I think that a sealed container (ziploc) with a chunk of foam (even dry) might have created a very humid environment. Thinking

about it, a very damp cigar in a sealed bag - humid. Even if the foam absorbed some of the moisture, it is still in a sealed environment. Same with

the cedar. Just an unscientific observation.

[MontrealRon]

While I sincerely regret the unfortunate incident,

the telling of the tale was quite magical, a real pleasure to read.

Too bad we never got the last chapter...

[dicko]

shame to see a cohiba in that state but thanks for the very entertaining review!

[bassman]

That was a very interesting review. I also would have left it in the open on cedar, or in a dry humidor. Putting it in a zip lock is just keeping the moisture in.

And I've bought good cigars on the street in Cuba. Not the $20 boxes of Montecristos, but stuff rolled by tobacco farmers. My Cuba visits, primarily to photograph sugar cane railways, took me to many places touist rarely visit & actually left very little time for Havana & the jitineros.

[ajgagnon]

I was just afraid of the wrapper cracking if it dried too quickly... I took my time with the cedar and green foam. They dried out ok in the end. But that's the great thing with cigars... there are so many superstitions, tips and tricks.

Thanks for looking. At least I was able to smoke this ugly beast.

[Jaksen]

Thanks for the tale! ;o)

[Habanos2000]

Funny tale. I'd have to say I'd probably go to the same lengths you did to try and save that cigar instead of just throwing it away.