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Cu-Avana Natural

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Description

Cuban flair, Dominican smoothness.

If you enjoy pleasant and smooth cigars, Cu-Avana should be at the top of your list. This gorgeous cigar offers a genuine Connecticut shade wrapper and superior long-fillers. Despite the smooth and unobtrusive taste, there are some subtle yet distinct flavors of creamy spiciness, along with some coffee and almost lemon-like flavors, making this cigar a treat you can enjoy any time of day.

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overall rating 4.27 out of 5 Based on 11 Ratings
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Keith

Cu-Avana

Keith

A bunch of us at CI, naturally, smoke several cigars daily, sampling tons of blends new and old alike, some great and some just decent, sprinkled in with the occasional atrocious, unsmokeable samples. Despite this I only get around to writing an "official" review once every few weeks. That's probably because I also write all the useless catalog drivel. You know, product copy for the junk mail we send out, the catalog you keep on the back of your toilet below the box of tissues but on top of the doily (any excuse to say the word "doily" I shamelessly seize). Well the last cigar I "officially" reviewed for the site was RP Connecticut. Smoking a bunch of these put me on a Connecticut leaf bender for the past 3 weeks. See, for a spell there this winter I was religiously smoking nothing but heavier-bodied, err at least medium-bodied, blends for the most part. But now I'm back, so very back, on the Connecticut shade wagon - at least for now. And Cu-Avana has been a steady part of that diet.

Cu-Avana is made by Manuel Quesada in the Dominican Republic. First of all, Manuel is a prince of a guy, a class act. He's made some extraordinary cigars including Fonseca (all the various incarnations including Vegas de Fonseca, Fonseca Series F, Fonseca Vintage, etc.) and was in fact the maker of the original Dominican version of Romeo y Julieta, plus a slew of other brands. Packed in a simple, painted box, Cu-Avana doesn't look like much on the shelf, I will concede. But there is a reason this cigar is such a horse in the sales department: consistency. Cu-Avana is as consistent as the day is long. Draped in gorgeous, golden Connecticut wrappers with nary a blemish to be found, coddling a super-tame, well-aged blend of long leaf tobaccos from the lush Cibao River Valley. One after the other, these things are meticulously constructed, and rolling it between your fingers you'd be hard-pressed to find a soft spot. The draw is just right - firm and not too easy, yet effortless, while booming out big smoke rings from its foot and beautiful blue-gray clouds from its head. Smooth and mellow, these pleasant cigars you could smoke all day long. And shit, for $2 to $2.50 apiece it's a helluva value too. As one customer once told me one day when I was hanging around our retail shop, "this is a Macanudo-killer!" Yet as consistent and as mellow as it is, it's no airball. In fact it reminds me somewhat of Ashton - ample flavor despite being so easy going, including a very faint but compelling lemon-like sweetness.

Oh and check this out: here's an old golf trick of mine when you're playing against a couple sandbaggers who have artificially inflated their handicaps. Chain-smoke Cu-Avanas while offering them something industrial-strength like The Edge by Rocky Patel. You'll coast through the round, improving with each hole, while the wheels start to come off their wagon as they get lightheaded and start shanking their drives into the woods. There's some free advice....as they say about free advice, you get what you pay for.

Gonz

Cu-Avana

Gonz

Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing, and I mean nothing, could get you in a good mood? No special cigar, no special lovin' from the wife, no special wine, no 12 shots of tequila, no nuthin'. I never thought I'd make it to Saturday. But here I am, finally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a solid 6 hours sleep (woohoo!), with tremendous hope that this week will be the week I hit the PowerBall jackpot (as of right this second, according to the powerball.com website, it's at $44,000,000.) And if that happens, I'll be writing a helluva lot more reviews, but from my yacht docked somewhere off the coast of Aruba. I'd be livin' la vida loca relaxin' with my sombrero, guayabera shirt, and Hawaiian shorts --> strawberry margarita in one hand, lit cigar with long ash in the other, and Jimmy Buffet playing all-day-long.

Ahhhhhhhhh. Thanks for letting me wander a bit, my head's a bit fried. I've done extensive research for you, my friends, for this review. I've smoked the good, bad, and the ugly to bring you the very best that Cigar Tasting has to offer. Every few weeks, I venture into the humidor and pick one of these, one of that, one of that, one of these, etc. and smoke one each night. I like to separate the adventure into different nights to get a fairly objective decision. Usually on an empty stomach, and usually on my way home. That way, if I'm comparing 2 from the El-Dog-Rocket-O category, it doesn't become relative (like "that one was really bad, and this one is not as bad as that one, so it must be good.") Get it? This is my service to you. It's a tough job, I know.

Where was I? Oh, my extensive research brings (drumroll, please ...........) Cu-Avana. It's a bit of a tongue-twister, but I think your tastebuds won't mind after you've smoked a few. Made by the stellar cigar maker Manuel Quesada - producer of the 90+ rated brands Licenciados and Fonseca. If you're looking for that "damn, my heads spinning cigar", you can skip the rest of this review and quickly turn to the page on Diesel or Perdomo Fresh-Rolled. Cu-Avana represents the heart and soul of superb cigar-making. Very cliche, right? Well, it's true. Take some of the biggest brands out there - Montecristo, Avo, Ashton, etc. - and I'll stack this cigar against each and every one of them. A mellow anytime smoke, perfect construction, impeccable wrapper.....wait a second, I'm jumping the gun. Let me give you the 4-1-1 first (that's ebonics for "information" for those of you not on the club scene like me.) Man, I'm all over the place today.

Back to Cu-Avana - let's start with the wrapper. A delicate Connecticut-shade that's almost transparent. Light, smooth, perfect. Fillers and binder are taken from the Cibao Valley in the Dominican Republic. Simple, that's it, not complicated. It's amazing how many manufacturers can complicate things so much and ultimately screw it up. There-in lies the beauty of this cigar, you'll find it to be a consistent one-after-another-after-another cigar. I'm smoking the 6x50 Toro right now. Light one up and you'll find that the construction is solid with no soft spots, inconsistencies, or blemishes anywhere. I find the draw to be firm and the smoke to be abounding. This cigar never seems to go out either. I've left it on my desk for what seemed like a 1/2 hour without dragging and it was still lit. The initial mellow-flavor is not overly sensational, but soft and subtle. It builds every so slightly with a hint of a sweet undertone and never overwhelms whatsoever. I was doing some mindless work around my garage a few weekends ago and I smoked three in a row. They relaxed me, didn't spoil my supper, and put me in a great mood. The burn is nearly perfect while building an ash that'll form to nearly an inch with out fear of falling off. It's solid and doesn't flake a bit. You'll find all these characteristics from start to finish. The flavor won't move much and it won't burn hot toward the end.

After the week I've had, this put me into the ultimate state of relaxation I needed. I'm ready to go home, sleep for 12 hours, and just rest my brain. Oh, I almost forgot the best part - these babies start at about $2 per stick. Grab a box - if you like a mellow-to-medium cigar, it's a can't miss.

Oh, I'll keep ya posted on my pursuit of the PowerBall jackpot.