FOH Blind tasting Competition

[ChanceSchmerr]

Congratulations to the 6 winners, well done !!!

I would never had thought it could be a Cohiba, big green spot on the wrapper,

very poor one sided burn throughout the smoke, didn't even taste like a Corona Gorda, etc etc .

Agreed, Congrats to those that picked it out!

Never would have though in a million years that it was a Cohiba - maybe because it was so unsatisfactory for me. Ah well - on to Number 2!

And Cheers to you, Guy - The only other guy here to be on the same page as me with your pick! I don't feel so bad now, having picked the same choice as a much more experienced smoker like yourself!!!

[Fuzz]

Youth of the Cohiba involved?

I've had some pretty young Cohibas (robustos, Siglo IVs & VIs) and this one had none of the typical Cohiba grassiness.

[Kangaroo495]

I must admit, it had suspiciously good construction/burn/ash. But the flavour was waaaaaaay off. No subtlety what so ever. Poor excuse for a Cohiba.

[CBL]

Really excited I got it right! Guess Prez should open the Satisfaction Rate topic about the Siglo II again and see the Satisfaction Rate plummet down some more

My hat goes off to CanuckSARTech who had to bum rush this review and still come out on top!

[dB69]

Thank you Mr. President for not publishing my wrong answer!

I would have never believed it could be a Cohiba, but at the same time I'm quite relieved it wasn't a Bolivar.

[sharks]

Congrats to those that nailed it!

I've had some pretty young Cohibas (robustos, Siglo IVs & VIs) and this one had none of the typical Cohiba grassiness.

I totally agree with you Fuzz!

Nothing like the Cohibas I've known to love .

Thanks Rob and the Czars crew for this comp

What do you get if you get them all wrong

Sharks

[laficion]

And Cheers to you, Guy - The only other guy here to be on the same page as me with your pick! I don't feel so bad now, having picked the same choice as a much more experienced smoker like yourself!!!

Thanks ChanceSchmerr,

Experienced smokers like US knew that it wasn't a Corona Gorda from the start,

can't fool us, Right ?

[kjellfrick]

Well done by the winners! Mine wasn't even 42 in girth so I ruled out the usual suspects, hehe. More fool me, but the cigar wasn't much like my Siglo II's anyway. Onwards to the next one!!!

[semery74]

Inconceivable! According to the reviews, I was beginning to think that we did not all receive the same cigar. Still an excellent exercise. Good job all.

[habanohal]

CAnt believe it...I Smoke the 2s all the time and it was nothing like it. THeir was no body too it at all. Shows that hand made peroducts are differant

[tmac77]

Congrats to those that selected this one correctly.

Quite a surprise that it was a siglo II based upon some of the reviews that I read but as CanuckSARTech pointed out so eloquently, this is what happens to some Cohiba's.

[Vetteman]

Blind tastings never fail to provide both entertainment and education. Great reviews by all, and congrats to the guys that nailed it.

[ckearns]

Congratulations to the winners! Well done.

[Colt45]

Nice work everyone

[BolivarSmoker]

I'm shocked. The cigar I smoked was 100% without a doubt Cohiba. I figured most all participants would nail it. Sad that such a "prestigious" and expensive brand suffers from such inconsistency.

[Azksig]

Well done Winners! That was my first cuban cigar blind tasting and I found it to be quite humbling. I was pretty shocked as well to the big reveal. I can't wait for Cigar #2.

Thanks Rob for setting this up.

[bigfunkyg]

I must admit, it had suspiciously good construction/burn/ash. But the flavour was waaaaaaay off. No subtlety what so ever. Poor excuse for a Cohiba.

I agree. Construction and burn were flawless, but the flavour on mine was off too. I will chalk mine up to not enough time in the humidor before smoking. I wish I would have smoked OTT, because it might have been better. Never even crossed my mind that it was a Cohiba. Then again I havn't smoked many Siglo II's either.

Do most find the flavour profile of the Siglo line fairly consistent across all sizes?

However I have learned a few things I can apply to the Robusto and Pirámide.

[PigFish]

... I want my money back!!!

Chris, Guy... you are not alone. Frankly I really thought that this might be an RyJ too, it was choice two, but did not think that Rob would actually put one in the mix. My stick was a real piece of ****. Usually grassy crap cigars are RyJ's in my book. Considering construction I really thought that it might have been a machine bunched and hand finished.

If that was a Siglo 2 I'll eat Rob's pink hat... But I guess with Suckling praising '10 vintage cigars I should have known! That is the first '10 vintage cigar I smoked; I can only pray that was an exceptionally bad sample. If more cigars were like that one I would give them up!

This is not exactly a novice crowd and of cigar profiles the Cohiba almost always stands out. This is not a poor reflection of those who missed the cigar, but a really poor refection of the lack of quality in Cuba's flagship line. I can't believe that only 6 choose Cohiba. When I look again at the pictures of my cigar and consider what I just smoked, it is no wonder H SA has warehouses full of tobacco!

Overproduction of a cigar ruins it. This is a perfect example.

Congrats to the winners, Nut, Van and others! Good job mates! -Piggy

[thechenman]

Congrats to the winners...looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Good luck all.

[joeypots]

As I've never had a Siglo II I am not surprised that I could not identify one.

[olotti]

First, Nice job to all the winners. I still to this day can not believe that was a Siglo II. Now I must admit that was the first Siglo II I've smoked, before I've had robustos, Sig IV and VI's but no II's. Cohiba never ever crossed my mind, I never got any of that lemon grass, tea or honey that I've tasted in some of the other Cohiba's I've smoked. Mine as I stated in my review was mostly bits of cream layered onto dark coffee and med-full to full in body and when that last third went mongrel on me I truly believed it was a Boli., that profile is what I typically think of as Bolivar and it could also be the case of not having any familiarity with the Siglo II. Either way sad that others didn't get to have the experience I did, I loved my sample and am saving up for more.

[Van55]

Youth of the Cohiba involved?

I think that likely.

[greenpimp]

Congratulations to those that guessed it right!

I am frankly quite surprised it was a Siglo II. I've smoked my way through more than a few boxes of those and there was little to that profile I experienced. Perhaps due to the wind-tunnel draw and youth of it, and the fact that it was a 2010, a vintage I haven't tried in SigIIs.

And if these are how Siglo II's are now, I sadly won't be buying any more.

[habanohal]

I remember the first time I gave a Siglo 2 too my brother , he almost threw up cause it was so strong. Mine rested for 3 weeks but had the body of a light cigetette, so Cohiba was out of the question. Smoked #3 today and I have a clue on what it is

[jmasterj]

Excellent job you Siglo guessers you!

As for me, I will never buy a siglo II EVER. With such a wide range of guesses and perceived flavor profiles, the siglo II seems to be just a hit or miss cigar.

On to mystery cigar #2.