Cuaba exclusivos review.

[mazolaman]

Hi All,

I thought I'd do a Cuaba review,as they tend to get slated,so is this fair?

My first foray into the wonderful world of cigars was with Cuaba Divinos which were as the name described.

They were cheap enough,and always tasty,but quite strong.

After several boxes that contained plugged duds,that were'nt too tasty anyway,my love waned.

I think this was in the period of Cubans when the general standard dropped,possibly due to unheralded demand.

So,now the standard is up again,I thought I'd try another Cuaba,to see how they are fairing.

Cuaba Excluivos.

Figurado.

Ring 46 at widest point.

Length 145mm

From a carton of 5 therefore no date,but look recent.

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Really nice dark leathery wrapper,and quite oily.

fairly tight.

slight earthy aroma and flavour unlit.

As usual with the figurado,they need to be nurtured when lit,to get them going

Once lit,happy to keep burning.

First third gave flavours of moist earth,which is flavour I only find in these and Partgas.The oilyness came through,giving a slight coconut taste,with no burn issues to speak of.

My acompanying drink of Timothy Taylor Landlord Pale Ale,was good partner for this period of the cigar.

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As the cigar progressed,it lost some of the flavours of the first third,and became a more straight toasty tobacco flavour,and little drier.

It also lost a little strength,becoming more mild to medium.

The Pale ale a little overpowering in this section.

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Another improvement from the bad ol' days was the ability to smoke to the end,rather than handling a molten bitter bullet.

The flavour near the end was a fruity tobacco,never becoming hot.Regaining some of the moistness.

The ash hung on for about an inch,and was the usual stripey white/black

On the whole I would say the construction was great,the quality of the leaf was good,maybe lacking in the middle.

A good cigar,representing good value for money,from an idividual brand,who like most habanos recently,have improved their standard.

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Apologies for the poor quality images.....

Thanks,Kevin.

[MontrealRon]

Thanks for taking this one on, mate!

This is by far my favorite of the marca,

a cigar that has never disappointed me, unlike so many others.

It's not easy going against the current of majority opinion,

but, as cigar smokers, we all do that, don't we!

[mazolaman]

cheers Ron,

I knew someone else out there would have enjoyed this cigar!

[lemmycaution]

I used to love the Divinos too, then they seemed to change and I never went back. I still haven't sampled enough Cuaba to form an opinion. I have a box of Distinguidos that I'll try eventually before passing further judgement. Thanks for the review.

[khomeinist]

Nice review Kevin.

For me, the Cuaba marca is a mixed bag. I like figurado vitolas and I like the marketing efforts to tie the line in with the Taino culture a bit.

The construction issues are legendary. I have gone through several boxes and have had a woeful 40-50% success rate. A plugged figurado is very aggravating. My other issue is deeper. I don't really rate the blend that highly. Are Cuabas dressed-up (down?) Romeos? I don't know but I would have preferred a more complex blend to match the figurado artistry.

Anyway. Glad you enjoyed your cigar. I hope HSA figures out how to produce figurados more successfully in the near future.

Patrick

[mazolaman]

yep,in this particular cigar it was mainly the mid section that was a bit flavourless.

In the past I have smoked divinos,traditionales,and salomones.The forst two went off a cliff,re quality.

It seemed to me that this cigar was a great improvement from those days.

But,I don't yet know how many of the five will be plugged yet!I'll let you know.

[Mr. Japan]

I smoked a Salomones from 2004 that was one of my best smokes this year.

[mazolaman]

I smoked a Salomones from 2004 that was one of my best smokes this year.

The last Cuaba Salamones I had was In the Tramuntana Mountains on Majorca.

A truly beautiful place,and the cigar was a good 2 hours of medium but flavourful delight....

[micha]

Nice review! I have to admit that I haven't tried any Cuabas up to now, probably due to their reputation. Your review got me interested in giving them at least a try. Sounds as if they aren't too bad after all... Thanks.

[MontrealRon]

Are Cuabas dressed-up (down?) Romeos? I don't know but I would have preferred a more complex blend to match the figurado artistry.

Exactly.

To me, Cuaba is the figurado extention to the R&J line.

Apparently, in the old days, R&J were particularly known for their perfecto cigars,

and perhaps HSA has attempted to recreate that with Cuaba.

Unfortunately, much knowledge and technique has been lost, or is in short supply.

Just as R&J has not seemed to be assigned the finest tobacco in recent years,

so is it with Cuaba, which has a very similar taste profile.

That being said, I have been smoking, slowly, from two boxes of '01 Exclusivos,

bought young in Cuba.

Construction has been universally excellent, and they are very tasty as well.

Still improving, as are my last few R&J Churchills from that period.

These are cigars best smoked either very fresh, or well aged,

as they seem to pass through an extended dumb phase.

I cannot say whether more recent productions will age as beautifully,

but this would not surprise me.