Cohiba Esplendido (ARO June \'07)

[Matthew]

Box Code – ARO June ’07 (3x5 cardboard)

Vitola – Julieta No. 2 (7’ x 47 rg)

Appearance – Natural wrapper; medium wrapper leaf thickness; minor veins; low oil sheen.

Construction – Slightly firm feel, otherwise flawless.

Draw/Burn – Good draw, perhaps a little loose. Light-average volume of smoke. After the first inch, the burn was very good and fairly sharp. Construction was what you would expect of an Esplendido. Solid ash, not flakey. Lasted a full two and a half hours. Taste/Flavor/Strength – Mild pre-light aroma. Initial impression is low-powered Cohiba flavor. Prominent initial flavor is hay; soft leather finish; some mild cocoa and coffee beans. Mild flavor strength. Smooth for so young a cigar; better developed than I expected. As the cigar developed, it became a bit more raw and tannic. Then, out of nowhere, the second third became much better – more smooth flavor and a cleaner finish. Lots of promise in terms of flavor and potential development. The final third became tannic again.

Pairing – I poured a small amount of Glenfiddich 15 Solera Reserve with a few small ice cubes. It paired well.

Conclusion/Comments – Not as good as the sticks I sampled a month ago from an April box, but still fairly good. Blind tasted, you would know you were smoking a young Cohiba, but you would also be disappointed to think that this is the flagship cigar of the Linea Clasica. So, I won’t be sampling any more of these in the near future, but I do believe that these will end up being “good” Esplendidos (not great) after they settle down for a few years.

[Mel]

» Box Code – ARO June ’07 (3x5 cardboard)

» Vitola – Julieta No. 2 (7’ x 47 rg)

» Appearance – Natural wrapper; medium wrapper leaf thickness; minor

» veins; low oil sheen.

» Construction – Slightly firm feel, otherwise flawless.

» Draw/Burn – Good draw, perhaps a little loose. Light-average

» volume of smoke. After the first inch, the burn was very good and fairly

» sharp. Construction was what you would expect of an Esplendido. Solid

» ash, not flakey. Lasted a full two and a half hours.

» Taste/Flavor/Strength – Mild pre-light aroma. Initial impression

» is low-powered Cohiba flavor. Prominent initial flavor is hay; soft

» leather finish; some mild cocoa and coffee beans. Mild flavor strength.

» Smooth for so young a cigar; better developed than I expected. As the

» cigar developed, it became a bit more raw and tannic. Then, out of

» nowhere, the second third became much better – more smooth flavor and a

» cleaner finish. Lots of promise in terms of flavor and potential

» development. The final third became tannic again.

» Pairing – I poured a small amount of Glenfiddich 15 Solera Reserve

» with a few small ice cubes. It paired well.

» Conclusion/Comments – Not as good as the sticks I sampled a month

» ago from an April box, but still fairly good. Blind tasted, you would

» know you were smoking a young Cohiba, but you would also be disappointed

» to think that this is the flagship cigar of the Linea Clasica. So, I

» won’t be sampling any more of these in the near future, but I do believe

» that these will end up being “good” Esplendidos (not great) after they

» settle down for a few years.

I can not believe how many bad comments I have heard about the Eslpedidos over the last few years, what's up with that? Does Habanos have thier head up thier arse? This should be the best cigar out of the country period. They should refuse to make them if the materials and rollers are not there.

[brian1]

When i started collecting the Esplendido was the King of the special cigars. Now I feel that there are better or similar priced buys and better quality Cohibas that have stolen the limelight from the 'Dido. I am thinking of the Siglo VI, 06 Piramides, Sublimes, DC and to a certain extent the Genios. Also some of the regionals out there seem to be made with very high quality tobacco.

I wonder if all the special release stuff has taken away from cigars like the Esplendido which I pressume used to get the best of the best leaf in the old days. Kind of like the old A list actor who no longer is getting the leading parts as the new generation rise up. Maybe not a great analogy but you get my drift...

[Sandman]

»

» I can not believe how many bad comments I have heard about the Eslpedidos

» over the last few years, what's up with that? Does Habanos have thier head

» up thier arse? This should be the best cigar out of the country period.

» They should refuse to make them if the materials and rollers are not

» there.

This is the exact reason I have never bought a box of these. Sad really.:-(

[El Presidente]

Thanks for the review Matthew.

I had a May 07 yesterday and I will post a review later today/tomorrow.

Much better than previous few years but I kept thinking that it was a "Cohiba Light" ...had the Cohiba Characters but in a muted down manner.

Not a bad cigar in an way but not a patch on the IV or VI I have also sampled from 07.

As to why....I just don't know. I agree they should be the top of the Habanos tree but the blend is off ...the quaity of tobacco is great...just the bending needs tweaking.