Review: Cohiba Siglo I

[CoCigarSmoker]

Cohiba Siglo I- Tres Petit Corona 4”x40

This pairing was done after a somewhat hearty breakfast and the only accompaniment was a glass of water. This is my first cigar smoked of the Siglo series. And like all of my current reviews, my background is dominated by NC’s so take that into consideration with my references to strength and spice.

Construction:

Beautiful Colorado shade wrapper that is very firm to the touch. You can tell how tightly rolled this cigar is by the touch and no soft spots could be located. There is of course a triple cap and the foot of the cigar is well intact and no blemishes where observed. There are a couple larger veins that run throughout but nothing to be concerned with.

Pre-light:

Draw is slightly tight, but I actually much prefer this to a very loose draw. And to be clear, when I talk about the draw being tight I’m splitting hairs….this draw is near perfect, but just a tad on the firm side. Initial cold draw consists of loads of sweet fruit. Notes of Currant, Raisin, and Plum are very forward on the palate finished with a smooth creamy Cuban barnyard hay flavor that coats the tongue. Each cold draw was extremely consistent. A punch was used on the cap instead of a Guillotine cutter.

First third:

When you take a cold draw of this cigar and get that much fruit flavor you naturally expect it to come out upon initial light. However, this cigar opens up with a bang and a surprise. The fruit previously discussed is nowhere to be found, but instead it has been replaced with BIG notes of toasted tobacco, heavy strong barnyard, and creamy roasted nuts. That draw has stayed the same, and the burn quality is EXCELLENT. The construction and quality of this cigar are pure Cohiba, and what we truly swoon over when we fork out wads of cash for the Marca. This little guy just doesn’t disappoint, and man is it memorable. About 2/3 through the first third of the cigar a couple draws bring forward some new bold statements of pepper, leather, and earth. The smoke isn’t extremely thick and luscious like some cigars. In many ways I would describe the smoke as I would a good Pinot Noir. By this I mean, it fails to coat the glass like a great Cabernet, but still coats your mouth like a warm layer of complex and intricate butter. The more I think about the similarities between a great Pinot and this Siglo I the more I think they are exactly the same in every way. As the first third comes to a close and we start to enter the second third I would characterize this cigar as a mild-medium smoke. There hasn’t been any noticeable nicotine affect nor has the level of spice or pepper, leather, or earth been overpowering. This is thus far a very mellow easy smoke.

Second Third:

As we enter the second third of the cigar one thing of note is that the original ash is still holding on and has surpassed an inch in length. The ash feels firm to the touch and doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere just yet. That aside, the flavors are starting to smooth out and creaminess is the word of the hour. The first third took about 23 minutes to get through. I can’t lie, the second third isn’t blowing my socks off. As of right now the flavors are rather muted. Don’t get me wrong, the cigar is still displaying flawless construction and you can taste good amounts of hay, creaminess, and very mild toasted tobacco/espresso. But overall I feel like I have to try really hard to figure them out and it’s taking much more effort than normal. At this stage of the game I can only describe this cigar as mild overall with the occasional medium bodied draw. The smoke has stayed consistent in its volume but is not very viscous or thick. The ash finally fell off….all over me no less. I must say, for a petit corona, the ash made it to the half way mark of the whole cigar. Very impressive and indicative of the quality and construction oft this little guy!!

Final third:

I must say this cigar isn’t taking NEAR as long to smoke as I would have guessed based on how long I’ve taken on previous cigars of this vitola. As we are just about to enter the final third are total time smoking is about 38 minutes. I may be smoking just a hair faster than I normally do, but not by much. I figured this cigar would keep me busy for an hour minimum and I was really thinking it would be more in that 1 ½ hr range. Either way it is a very enjoyable cigar and I’m still blown away by the wrapper and filler construction. This cigar hasn’t even tried to burn unevenly and the draw has remained the same from pre-light to final third. I just detected the slightest bitter taste during a couple draws. Nothing I would say is worthy of snuffing out this little guy, but they are present nonetheless. That being said, flavors of barnyard and cream are still present, though all in all this is still a mild cigar to my palate. On a side note, I find it so hard to take off these Cohiba bands….They are just so beautiful that I don’t want to touch it. Still we are just about at the point where a man must do what a man has to do. Now, here’s one thing I will say about NC’s versus CC’s. I’ve smoked my share of 15-25 dollar NC’s and I’ll tell you what, on average there is no way I can smoke them as far down as I can a 7-12 dollar CC. I’m not sure why this is, but the amount of heat and nicotine that ends up by the last third on most NC’s is just too much and tastes like nothing but bitterness and YUCK. Yet, on every CC I have ever smoked, getting it down to where you burn your fingers is effortless, and the flavor however mild, holds on perfectly. As we close out the final third and approach the nub of this fine stick there is a slight amount of tingling in the lips and some residual nicotine is coming forward. Still not a big deal, but the last little bit of this cigar hasn’t been as enjoyable flavor wise as some of the previous coronas I have posted reviews on or smoked in the past.

Total time on this cigar was 1 hr. 8min.

Overall Impressions:

1. Construction was amazing

2. Mild-Medium bodied AT MOST

3. Flavors where slightly muted at times

4. main characteristics of this stick were hay, barnyard, toasted tobacco and nuts, and some leather and earth

5. Slight bitterness towards the nub, but nothing crazy.

I would say overall this cigar is a buy, but I would not be willing to pay Cohiba prices for this vitola of cigar. I'd love to have a few cabinets of these, but there are perhaps others that I would allocate my money for before these.

Cheers,

Seth

[JPS72]

Great review - thanks.

[Bulldog4]

good review what is the box code/year of these i have just picked up a box and seeing how long to wait

[CoCigarSmoker]

good review what is the box code/year of these i have just picked up a box and seeing how long to wait

This cigar was purchased as a single and I don't have the box code. However I would "guess" it's a young one. No way to verify this though sorry.

Maybe smoke one ROTT then another in 6-12 months to see progression for yourself.

Cheers,

Seth

[JohnS]

Thanks for another thorough and informative review Seth. I never thought about how far I smoke down my cigars until this review. I also have found that my past NC's burn hot and have tar build-up, whereas CC's often stay mild down to the nub.

[ToothlessCog]

Great review! Very well written and informative.

[LordAnubis]

Nice review and a magnificent looking cigar!!!

[Quint]

Great review, fine looking cigar. I find with the bullet cut instead of the guillotine you always end up with a harsh finish. I think you get a build up of nicotine at the end and around the hole whereas with a full cut you don't get that.

[cigarbreak]

Great review. Your prose makes it an interesting read.

[rmill3r]

This is great to read. I have about 10 singles of the Siglo I coming in and they will be my second taste of Cohiba as so far I've only had the Robusto but wasn't too interested in it. Seems to be like a great weekend/morning smoke with coffee. Nice review!