Comador Review, But Only Because Rob Dared Me . . .

[PapaDisco]

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=117304&hl=comador

O.K., so here goes. I’m only doing this because El Presidente Magnifico de Grande Y Todo El Mundo dared me to! LOL!

Tasting Notes: Cohiba Comador, El Toro 6” x 52 Ring. $45 at Club Macanudo in NYC.

Well, first off, it’s spelled “Commodore” dammit, as in a significant naval rank. Enough of my ranting however, here’s the review:

Dark, Colorado Maduro wrapper. Visually beautiful construction, but cigar is hard as new concrete. Made me think of a plugged Punch Punch (which is actually softer than this). I conferred with the Hostess on the cigar’s consistency before I punched it, and she said that all of the Comadors had a similar, hard-as-rock consistency, and that the only difficulty was getting them lit, but otherwise that they drew just fine. I was skeptical, but soldiered on.

Punched the cigar as deeply as possible with a 7mm punch, and indeed the cold draw was tight, but serviceable. Cold scent was of beautiful, dry hay which (at least to my mind) promised a light, flavorful, summertime sort of profile.

Toasted the foot over my Rollagas lightly, and on the first draw the cigar sprang to life. Despite the gentle draw and despite keeping the flame away from the foot; the first several draws offered a bitter, burnt rubber, acidic taste in complete contradiction to what the cold draw had promised. The secondary smoke however had a lightly cloying perfume to it that was not unpleasant. Early on the cigar was easy to keep lit and burned as rigidly as its construction.

First third: The bitter, burned rubber flavor dissipates; in its place there is still a slight bitterness on the palate, but it is now following a small taste of sweet cream and blanched peanuts. Large volumes of smoke, and the stick is still hard as a rock; I feel as if I’m smoking a very larger cheroot. The cream taste is very minor, but still there, and sadly canceled by the sharp, bitter follow. The blanched peanut taste is strong and consistent. No tobacco, no leather, no herbal tastes, but the faint, cloying perfume in the secondary smoke persists. The cream is a definitely positive experience. It’s not the same as a Hoyo cream bowl, it is its own version of sweet cream and while faint, is still distinctive enough to make one salivate at the flavor. They’ve clearly worked on their blending here; now if the blender could just eliminate the bitter kicker they’d really have something. By the back end of the first third the element of cream is gone, the bitter after taste lightens up but still lingers, and the perfume scent continues unabated.

The stick burns well, but needs a definite puff a minute to keep it going. Any less and it threatens to extinguish, any more and it gets very sharp and bitter. The ash is solid and hangs on well; about an inch and a quarter before dropping.

Second Third: Draw is still proper, at slightly tight of decent, but all flavors have left the stick. Just bitter rubber. I’m tempted to toss this dog rocket into a planter but there are none. The pleasant, secondary perfume continues however, and tempts me to just leave the cigar in the ashtray as a sort of glorified incense. Amazingly, the cigar does not soften up one bit; even with the heat. While the flavors have gone in the smoke, the aftertaste is a very mild edition of blanched peanuts.

Halfway through the second third the bitterness leaves altogether and the draw moves to the loose side of medium. I guess this is what Ken calls a “lopsided” draw? ;-P The flavors don’t pick up at all, but there is an additional, light floral scent to the secondary smoke now. The burn goes slightly crooked.

The crooked burn does not correct, but neither does it get worse. All flavors have left the smoke in the back end of the second third, but there is the feeling of tasting perfume (not pleasant, but not strong) where as the cloying perfume scent is now gone, replaced by a more pleasant secondary smoke scent of sage and new bandaids. Weird, but at least somewhat more macho than my Mom’s old Chanel.

Final Third: Denied! I hit a vicious, diabolical plug at the beginning of the final third. Combined with the desertion of all flavors, I just wasn’t willing to struggle with the cigar any further. I did, briefly, consider crumbling the thing up and burning it in the ash tray for incense and atmosphere (the secondary perfume of the thing remained delicious), but decided instead to pull out one of Rob’s Punch DC’s and enjoy myself.

Final Thoughts: with the brutally hard roll, I suspect that these things are remarkably consistent in what they produce, it’s just not a cigar for me; too light, too hard, too lacking in flavor, too harsh. It is easy for a newbie to keep burning though, unless it plugs (which no cigar is immune too). Definitely overpriced (other cigars on the menu at Club Macanudo can be had for under $20). While I wouldn't reject one of these if someone handed it to me, I wouldn't pay $45 for one again. Thankfully I was packing a couple of backup stogies, which quickly set the world right again.

[Maplepie]

Tasting Notes: Cohiba Comador, El Toro 6” x 52 Ring. $45 at Club Macanudo in NYC.

Rob better give that back to you in *****INT credit!!!!

I'll stick with the Commador 64, thank you very much!

[PapaDisco]

Rob better give that back to you in *****INT credit!!!!

I'll stick with the Commador 64, thank you very much!

lol. Exactly! Who the hell needs more than 8-bit processor anyway!

[laficion]

A non-Cuban at THAT price ? Crap Is pretty expensive nowadays, Isn't It ?

Guy

[garbandz]

This cigar is a gimmick to get your money.

Damn shame it's not even a cigar worth smoking,a $2.00 bundle cigar would have been a better smoke...........

[Mckucci]

Interesting... A pure marketing ploy

[Puros Y Vino]

Thank you for verifying that this is not something we should concern ourselves with.

[jerryg05495]

Probably just needs a little more age...

[joeypots]

Eeewww,

Who paid you $45 to smoke that thing? Rob?

[...]

Probably just needs a little more age...

I agree, let's wait till I am out of anything else to smoke

[Habana Mike]

A non-Cuban at THAT price ? Crap Is pretty expensive nowadays, Isn't It ?

Guy

They can be had for $20, that $45 is with the Club Mac markup

Which is why I bring my own and pay the relatively inexpensive cutting fee. - -save myself almost $20!

[ramon_cojones]

I have absolutely no desire to try that, in fact I can't remember the last time I smoked an NC.

[El Presidente]

$45!!! Hat's off to Club Mac

[PapaDisco]

All in good fun, fellows. The cigar was very light on the flavors, as many higher end non-CC's are in my experience. The hardness was the most remarkable thing about it, and like all nice NC's it was pretty. The problem (IMHO) with the super light, easy-to-smoke blending that goes into NC's and DC's is that it let's minor flaws (like the burnt rubber flavor) really standout. The light blend probably makes these smokes more accessible for newbies, and like some here said, maybe the sticks just need more age (although I'd be surprised to find them deliberately making a 'cameo' cigar that had to be aged, usually the makers want this thing to market while the celebrity is hot).

Like Mike does, I always bring my own to Club Mac and pay the $15 fee, but saw this on the menu and remembered Rob's old post about it so thought it worth the experiment!

[Habsfan67]

A non-Cuban at THAT price ? Crap Is pretty expensive nowadays, Isn't It ?

Guy

<Rodney Dangerfield>At that price they should throw in a free ashtray!</Rodney Dangerfield>

[Pedro2486]

At that price they should throw in a free ashtray!Dangerfield>

At that price it should come with a happy ending

[Lotusguy]

<Rodney Dangerfield>At that price they should throw in a free ashtray!</Rodney Dangerfield>

But doesn't it already TASTE like an ashtray?

[LeafLover]

That is some serious per pressure to do something like this. $45 for an NC Cohiba?!

[PapaDisco]

That is some serious per pressure to do something like this. $45 for an NC Cohiba?!

Yeah well, Rob was offering a CoRo to the first guy into the breech . . . and you know how I love's me a CoRo!