The Hidden Gem in Cienfuegos

[Blackham]

During my travels to Cuba in February I was fortunate to pass by this coastal French colonial town. Much like Quebec City in Canada or Bath in the UK, this town has a different urban design/atmosphere/architecture apart from the rest of Cuba. A very touristy town as well, it's a place favored by mostly retired Europeans and deep-sea fishing enthusiasts.

Cigar scene in Cienfuegos virtually does not exist, although the town is closely associated with the Quintero cigar factory and it does have one LCDH, but in my memory I don't recall seeing anyone smoking a cigar there, even the manager in the LCDH smokes cigarillo only. The LCDH is indeed well-stocked and has some interesting boxes there, aged SLRPC and LGCM#2 to name a few, at the same time it has a very serious beetle problem there, so I didn't go crazy mode when shopping in this shop. In general, it feels like nobody care about cigars in this town, during the total of 4 hours I stayed in that LCDH, all the people who walked in bought rums and lucky strike, but never even a peek inside the humidor.

On the day of my departure, I had a few spare hours before the Viazul bus arrives so I decided to smoke another cigar in the LCDH lounge. Before I headed there I decided to grab a can of Pinita (awesome pineapple soda, it pairs well with food, dessert, even cigars) to pair with my 01' Partagas de Partagas #1. So I headed into this tienda/gift shop, only a block away from the LCDH, to get a can of soda, as I was about to turn around and pay at the cashier I sensed the presence of a great cigar force - it's a small room connected to the main store with wooden interior finish, glass doors, air conditioned to a comfortable temperature of 20'C - it's gotta be a humidor! My cigar 6th sense was right and in front of me was a full size humidor that no locals or tourists in the whole town cares about.

I checked box to box and was amazed by their box dates - a lot of stuff from 02-06, some older box code formats that I could not decipher. Perfect condition on these cigars too, oily sheen and no discovery of molds/beetle, the humi/temp controls does a really good job.

At the end, I walked out with the following:

'02 HdM Short Hoyo Corona

'06 Epi 2

'01 Monte Especial

'02 RyJ Belicosos

'01 Siglo IV

'04 RyJ Exhibicion #3

I was skeptical about the cigars being fake, but a taste test of the Short Hoyo and the Siglo IV convinced me that they're genuine. Therefore I'd like to recommend this hidden gem to all of you if you happen to visit this wonderful place in Cuba.

P.S. I really couldn't recall the name of this gift shop. One thing for certain it's located on the pedestrian street of Av54 (in the intersection of Av.33) facing the Jose Marti Park and one block away from the LCDH. Cheers!

[Blackham]

'02 Hoyo de Monterrey Short Hoyo Corona

First of all, the cigar feels heavy on hand, you can tell it's packed with tobacco inside. Was worried about cigar being plugged when doing a draw test, turns out the draw is perfect with plenty amount of smoke each puff.

The band is very lose, you could slide it right out without any efforts. It's funny as cigars ages the band becomes looser but for men anything we put on becomes tighter as we age. Reminds me I have to sew back the button on my pants which makes me sad.

Upon lighting, this cigar is sweet, and smoke is dense, which produces a feeling that is similar to walking into a McDonald, purchase a chocolate fudge sundae, asks for a straw, and drink the sundae out of it. That pretty much sums up for the first third of the cigar: rich, smooth and sweet.

After that the flavor evolves into a "drier" taste, much similar to the traditional HdM flavor profile. I could taste campfire marshmallow, cedar, a little bit of roast coffee bean, and slight hint of syrup.

Last third is pretty much the same except the sweetness evolves into cane juice flavor - my favorite flavor profile in 2012. If you know of any cigar that has this profile please let me know.

Used to be a huge Hoyo fan, but I drifted away temporarily to appreciate cigars from other marcas. I have to say this is the cigar that brings me back to the HdM domain and I will be trying/revisiting all the HdM cigars in the near future

[Ginseng]

Excellent find! And wonderful pickups.

Wilkey

[mazolaman]

Interesting reading of your lucky finds..cheers.

[Nino]

Nice report on a city that enchanted me and that I will certainly re-visit again.

Good find too ! You're right about the cigar scene ....

[isa]

Great to hear abt ur cigar adventure in Cuba

[cottierm]

Thanks for the info and the pics Joe!

The box is supposed to come my way pretty soon as Phil (IcedCanuck) is going to pass it to Diamondog on Wednesday evening. I'll include the promised cigar in it!

Best,

Michel

[Blackham]

Thanks Michel! Can't wait!

[EL1990]

Thank you for sharing. Very generous of you to not keep "hidden gems" to yourself.

[Tarks]

Oh Cuba! I never get tired of hearing stories of everyone's trips. Thanks for sharing.

[cgarner]

Entertaining read. Thanks for sharing. I hope that one day I will be allowed to visit.