El Credito – AUG-17 (DRRW)

[StogieSteve23]

Opening Remarks:  A little backstory as to why I chose this.  On the first night in Havana on our first trip which was 2017, my buddy, fiancé and I were walking around Habana Vieja looking for a spot to listen to live music/drink (no shortage of finding those).  I was smoking a VR Famosos which I had picked up from Conde Villanueva earlier that day as a single wanting to try something new.  A gentleman approaches me who we later found out was named Julio.  He starts doing the whole American touristy cigar thing and gives me one of these.  We tell him we’re looking for a spot to listen to music.  He takes us right around the corner to El Patio Amarillo.  To make a long story short, we shared several drinks, I lit up the cigar he gave me and everyone had a good time.  Afterwards I ended up buying a mixed bundle of these and the other ones with the brown band (I cant remember the name).  I was pretty drunk at the time and remember liking the guy enough for the price to buy some (I know I got swindled, but that’s all part of the experience, right?).  Here is a picture of us with Julio (left) and an interior of the bar. 

 

Onto the stick now.  I haven’t wanted to smoke one since just because they’re not very good and they’re short filler.  This cigar is hideous to look at.  The wrapper goes from dark brown to darker near the foot.  It looks like it got wet at some point?  There is a rip in the wrapper near the foot.  Lots of ugly rough veins.

Cold draw yields minimal resistance feeling almost underfilled.  Wet carboard and some hay are all I get. It feels very soft and semi-squishy.

First Third: My first thought after lighting up is chalk.  Bland smoke with a chalk like texture.  Woody wet cedar.  White pepper on the back of the throat. A little burnt chocolate on the retrohale. Combustion is very good but the stick is getting softer to the touch. It has a “Backwoods” (haven’t smoked one of these since high school) feeling in my hands and mouth.  Not sure I like that. Slight vanilla extract notes now.

 

Second Third: Draw, combustion, burn great. Burnt chocolate and black coffee are dominant now.  The chalkiness is no more but the pepper on the back of the throat seems to ramp up. I get a big nicotine hit in the middle of the stick.  It only lasted for a minute or two which was good after I thought it might get worse.  By now I start getting the first few shreds of the short filler in my mouth and I have to touch up the burn as well.  Some burnt toast notes as I move into the final third.

Final Third:  More short filler is coming out now. I’m reminded of why I don’t like short filler in cigars.  Burnt coffee and a little cedar are all I get.  Some nuttiness is on the retrohale but doesn’t last long.  Everything turns bitter. Very burned coffee and wet grass leave a lot to be desired.  I put it down with about an inch and a half left. 

 

Closing Remarks: Construction was better than anticipated by the look of the cigar.  The wrapper was hideous. The short filler is annoying and the flavors were not very complex. The smoke throughout smelled like burnt tobacco and leather.  Great cigar for some yard work or for friends who want that CC experience but don’t smoke cigars enough to know the difference. Its always fun reliving old memories but only god knows when I will smoke anymore of these.

 

Burn: 4/5 (Good burn – slight tough up at end of 2/3)

Construction: 4/5 (Good draw/combustion)

Flavor: 2/5 (Bland – wet cardboard, burnt chocolate, burnt coffee)

Smell: 3/5 (Smelled like burnt tobacco and leather)

Wrapper: 1/5 (Dark brown with no large veins – nice sheen and a semi box pressed feel are nice to the touch)

Overall Score: 14/25

[La_Tigre]

We also ended up with two of these at one point on a trip. I think they cost us some candy and some random necessities that we brought to giveaway. We ended up leaving El Credito behind ?. It is funny how many on the island are celebrating their birthday and in need of leche for their granddaughter.

[rcarlson]

Was given one of these by a colleague.  Rancid.  

[StogieSteve23]

24 minutes ago, rcarlson said:

Was given one of these by a colleague.  Rancid.  

LOL.  I've certainly had worse, but they're pretty damn bad. 

[nKostyan]

Excellent review!

The taste of cardboard is international, I interpreted it as "sweet cardboard"

Now I am preparing a large review of aged “pesos”, later I will publish it in the cheap&cheerful section...

 

[StogieSteve23]

2 hours ago, nKostyan said:

Excellent review!

The taste of cardboard is international, I interpreted it as "sweet cardboard"

Now I am preparing a large review of aged “pesos”, later I will publish it in the cheap&cheerful section...

 

AHH, Selectos.  That's the other on I have singles of.  Ended up buying a mixed bundle of Selectos/Creditos.  The creditos are better IMO.  Thanks for sharing that picture as I haven't seen all those other pesos sticks before.