16 years ago, Habanos SA introduced to the world the very first Reserva in 2003. It was the cohiba selection reserva. The reserva (and the grand reserva) series allow aficionados to enjoy cigars made entirely from a single year crop.
In the case of the Cohiba Robusto Reserva (reviewed here below), all leafs come from 2014. The cigar comes in 5000 numbered boxes of 20 cigars.
Cuba’s Cohiba Exquisitos is one of the great panetela cigars of the world, well-deserving its name & its price, offering solid cigar strength, superb construction and quality, and an impressive flavour-rich experience via its slender package.
I was very fortunate to crack one box of the awaited Habanos 2017 Limited edition: the Cohiba Talisman.
We have seen many of these cigars on the different social medias even though the launch event is on the 8th of November in London. Hunters and Frankau, the UK distributor of Habanos, got the opportunity to organise the official launch. That said we should all get worried about any Talisman around on the grey markets.
If I decided to write a review about this unofficial release, it is because I am 100% sure about the provenance of the box and we were few from the industry around the table to have the chance to taste it.
Origin : Cuba Format : Piramide Extra Size : 6.3 x 54 (160 x 21.43 mm) Released : 2012 Hand-Made Price : $30+
The Cohiba Piramide Extra is a relatively new vitola (released in 2012) which measures 6.3″ inches in length by 54 ring gauge. Although it is considered to be part of the “Linea Clasica”, it bears a different band. The cigar is presented in 3-packs of aluminium tubes and semi boite nature boxes of 10.
The Cohiba Piramide Extra is a handful! The wrapper is light brown with a reddish hue, similar in shade to the Classic line, and has a moderate amount of veins but no imperfections. Its brand new shiny band has inherited the holographic security markings of the Behike, but unlike it, it only has one side (face). The bunch is firm and a close look to the foot of the cigar reveals that there are plenty of leaves packed in it. However, none of these leaves is Medio Tiempo, as the Piramide Extra uses the recipe of the Classic Line blend. The aromas are mild, with notes of flowers and a little bit of pepper. The prelight draw is perfect… Time to light up!
Origin : Cuba Format : Laguito No. 2 Size : 6 x 38 (152 x 15.08 mm) Box code : EL – March ’98 Hand-Made Price : roughly $12/cigar for current production
Cohiba Coronas Especiales are regular production cigars, but difficult to find in aged or vintage condition. I purchased this box about 8 years ago for a little under $400. I have no idea what these would be worth today, but I’d guess significantly more.
Origin : Cuba Format : Petit Robusto Size : 119 (4.7”) x 20.64 mm Ring : 52 Smoking time : 1h 15min Pairing : Cuba Libre Bought in June 2013 Boxcode : BTO OCT 12 Price : 27 EUR each
Today we’ve got a guest review from our reader Juha Murto. Enjoy!
Well, this is my first review ever on the internet. So I decided to smoke something special. I managed to get my hands on these beautiful Behikes and I’d been planning to smoke one per year so that I can see how they age over time. Let’s see if this little robusto is worth the hype.
Origin : Cuba Format : Sublime Size : 6 1/2 x 54 (164 x 21.43 mm) Released : 2004 Hand-Made Price : N/A
I’m going to do something a little different in this review and instead of reviewing a cigar in current production I am going to go deep into my aging humidor and have a cigar that I haven’t sampled for a long time.
Originally released in 2004, the Cohiba EL Sublimes attracted some very favorable reviews. In early 2005 I bought five of these cigars. I smoked two over the next couple of years and quite enjoyed them. I decided to age the remaining three but I did smoke one about 3 years ago before I started reviewing for this site.
Suffice to say that my collection grew exponentially since that time so these did get a little lost in the humidor but while doing my cigar rotation and autumn cleaning of the humidors this past week I decided to smoke one with the intent of making it a review. As we head into the 10th year anniversary of this cigar’s release I decided to see how this cigar has aged. Of course, the Sublimes are no longer readily available nor are they in production so this review will not factor cost or pricing at all. With that in mind, let’s see how this 2004 Sublime has aged.
Origin : Cuba Format : Petit Robusto Size : 119 (4.7”) x 20.64 mm Ring : 52 Hand-Made Price : In Cuba $18.50 (Other Parts of the World, $30.00 -$45.00)
In 2010, Cohiba officially unveiled perhaps one of its more exclusive cigars ever. The cigar received extensive reviews at the time of release ranging from over-priced to the best cigar the reviewer had ever tasted. I understand that whenever a cigar is priced in the highest end of the price range for a particular product, there will often be resentment associated with that. However, the fact they are priced in the “exclusive” end is perhaps why they are consistently sold out even two years after their release. Although we can still call this cigar new to the scene, it really isn’t all that new to the aficionado anymore because anyone with a passion for Cuban cigars knows very well about the story behind these cigars and their desire among smokers and collectors alike. One of the best cigars to come out of Cuba in a long time is also one of the most, if not THE most expensive to come off the Island and as a result, people will have varying opinions, often wrongly, because of that price tag.
What makes the Behike so special is that unlike many other Cubans, this cigar, for all intent and purpose really needs no aging in large part due to the fact that the cigar is essentially constructed with aged tobacco. For example, the filler is made up of tobacco known as medio tiempo which is a sun-grown leaf that grows at the top of tobacco plants. Not all tobacco plants produce this leaf though but it is known to be full-bodied and loaded with coffee-like flavors with a very creamy texture to the smoke. Essentially, this leaf has elements of tobacco leaf that has already been aged and, even with young medio tiempo, one can detect the same creamy, earthy and coffee-like flavors of a well-aged cigar. The BHK comes in 52, 54 and 56 which corresponds to their respective ring gauges and, once stabilized for humidity, can be smoked “out of the box”.
I’ve been lucky enough to obtain 2 boxes both from Cuba and at Cuban pricing. The first one, bearing a box date of October 2011, was brought back for me in early December of 2011 from a vacationing friend. At 180 Cuban Pesos per cigar, the 10-count box worked out to 18.00 Cuban Pesos per stick. With an exchange rate to the Canadian dollar being almost equal, we can fairly say that these cigars were roughly $18.00 each. The second box was purchased for me in June of 2012 and they carried a box date of May 2012. Again, I placed the order through a vacationing friend and that second box cost me 183.00 Cuban Convertible Pesos or roughly $185.00 Canadian dollars for a 10 count box ($18.50 each cigar).
These cigars sell out fast wherever they are, indicating that the price is not keeping people from indulging in the pleasure. I’ll comment some more about this later. First, however, let’s talk about these cigars of which I have 1 box left, having smoked the last one out of my first box just a few weeks ago.
