Cohiba Sublimes 2004 Limited Edition

Overall Score

1 review for Cohiba Sublimes 2004 Limited Edition

  1. DrFever

    Cohiba Sublimes 2004 Limited Edition

    Origin : Cuba
    Format : SublimeCohiba
    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.

    Appearance : [rating:4.5/5]
    Visually the Cohiba Sublimes still has a nice sheen to it. It is a tad rustic and toothy on appearance as were many of the Cuban cigars of that time period when construction issues were still a big issue with Cuban cigars. It has visible veining but tight seams.

    Cohiba Sublimes Edicion Limitada 2004

    Construction : [rating:4.75/5] (4.75)
    The cigar had plenty of tobacco. It felt firm to the touch and had no lumpy spots. The draw was spot on but the burn did require a couple of minor corrections. The ash was firm with no flaking and the smoke output was moderate at times but mostly full.

    Cohiba Sublimes Construction

    Flavor : [rating:5/5]
    The pre-light aromas offered up some classic Cohiba earthiness and sweet cedar along with hints of cocoa and roasted coffee bean.

    Lighting the cigar greets you with a multitude of finely blended flavors to give you a very inviting mocha mixture of rich coffee, cocoa with roasted coffee bean. The classic Cohiba earthiness was there but mainly in the background. The cigar had aged beautifully with no harshness at all. It had just a touch of pleasant complimenting pepper on the palate. Usually I can taste it when a cigar has been harmed by age but there was no mustiness or off flavors coming out of this cigar. The finish was medium with minimal spice. The cigar is somewhat sweeter than I remember it and offered less earthy and grassy notes that are often a primary characteristic of the Cohiba brand. The smoke itself had a nice texture. It was velvety and left a pleasant residue on my palate that I likened to molasses with roasted coffee bean flavor. Exhaling through the nose was fine.

    The second third started to reveal more of that earthiness, grassy and woodsy flavor that speaks unmistakably of the Cohiba brand. It was perfectly balanced with the coffee and rich cocoa flavors. Each flavor took its turn to shine on the front of the palate. There was some mild raisin and leather with the sweeter cedar flavors slowly transitioning to more of an oak woodsy taste. As I neared the end of the second third it was still more on the sweeter side. A little more leather entered the profile near the band but didn’t really hang around much nor did it dominate the profile of the cigar at any point.

    As I started the final third of the cigar I continued to get complex flavors with a lot of depth. Whether it was the chocolate hitting the palate first or the coffee or the sweet earthiness or oak, the flavors were always pleasant with no bitterness. The back of the palate continued to have that nice but ever so slight smoke residue and just enough mild black pepper on the back of the tongue for it to be noticeable but never get in the way.

    Overall Rating : [rating:4.75/5] (4.75)
    My flavor rating says it all. A 5 out of 5. Sure there were a couple of minor burn and appearance issues that contributed to the cigar’s less than perfect overall rating but where it matters most is where this cigar shined; on the palate.

    Overall the flavor transitions were perfectly complex. Cocoa and espresso notes dominated most of the cigar with perfectly balanced moments of earthiness, wood, slight leather and mocha. It was a tad sweeter than I had expected and it did offer up some nice salt on the lips to balance that along with some very mild pepper on the back end. The smoke always stayed cool.

    The cigar was not as strong as I had remembered it but this is in large part due to the fact that I’ve been smoking stronger cigars over the last few years so I am used to the nicotine. Also, with age, the cigar’s flavors mellowed and blended amazingly. Age has definitely done it wonders.

    Cohiba Sublimes are smoking incredibly well at the moment and believe it or not, it has been my experience that aging for too long doesn’t necessarily help cigars out that much. After a certain amount of time, additional aging really doesn’t do much and, in some cases, hurts the cigar. Don’t let this beauty go to waste if you happen to have any in your collection and give it a shot now because, in my opinion, it was “just right”.

    Helpful?
    0 0
    • Orlando Aguilar

      I bought 2 boxes and smoked them all 4 years ago. Excellent cigars.

    • Robert

      “””John Zingale says:
      February 5, 2017 at 19:55
      I SCORED a Box of these Beauties in Canton Oh Last week for $300! Amazing Smoke!”””

      Seems you scored an unbelievable deal… my guess that box should retail for at least $1500.00
      ENJOY!!

    • Rujuta

      Someone gifted us a Cohiba Sublimes 2014 Limited Edition. I cant see a Sublimes 2014 Edition anywhere online. Only a 2004 Edition.
      So 2014 Edition is a fake then?

      • Manu

        The cohiba limited edition 2014 is called the robusto Supremos. The Sublimes was released in 2004

    • Mario Jose

      Just found a box in my collection and smoked one. The best of the best.i was amazed how well they kept.A treasure.

    • John Zingale

      I SCORED a Box of these Beauties in Canton Oh Last week for $300! Amazing Smoke!

    • JR

      I believe I have purchased a fake cohiba sublime 2004 someone please contact me so I can email a picture of the cigar for help I believe the script on the label

      • Yusuf

        What makes you think it’s fake and where did you purchase it
        Regards
        Yusuf

    • Kyle

      I agree I have 3 boxes of these and just cracked the first open, on the short list of the best cigars I have ever had.

    • Mario

      One of the best Cohiba Limited Edition ever made.

    • Bill Williams

      Great review and thanks. Came into possession of a couple of these recently and knew they were special but had not tried any. Time to break out the 30year single malt and enjoy.

    • Trey

      I enjoyed your review of the 04 Sublime. I have a few laying around and I would like to know how much longer do you think they will last?

      I was thinking of auction have them auctioned off this year since its the 10 year anniversary? If they will last longer I have no problem waiting another 5 years.

    • Aldo Mombello

      Great review, many compliments. You have described very well for this Sublime 2004 E.L. of Cohiba brands, the same impressions that I have, in my opinion, about aging effects on most of cigars that Cohiba product.

    • b6283

      Yup, one of my favorite of “recent” production cigars. Only have a handful left 🙁

      Can’t imagine pairing it with port (wouldn’t the long finish from the port muddle the Cohiba’s flavors?)

    • partargasman

      Great review. I got a box when they were released and I was going to wait till 2015 to jump in but I think I’ll start this weekend

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Cigar Region Cuba
Filler Cuban
Wrapper Cuba
Binder Cuba
Length 6 1/2
Ring Gauge 54
Vitola Sublimes
Construction Hand Made