Staff Reviews

It isn’t much of a secret to anyone that I’m a fan of expensive cigars. If you tell me that someone made a limited-edition cigar that I won’t be able to find ever again if I don’t get some right there and then, I’m all over it. I love the serene wrappers, the beautifully embossed bands, and the overly detailed and pricy boxes. Now, you may be asking yourself: Is the Mark Twain Memoir one of these incredible, rare, and beautiful premiums this guy is droning on about? The answer is a resounding no. 

 The Mark Twain Memoir regularly sells for $4 apiece, making it a budget-friendly banger. Obviously, not my typical suspect, but it can’t hurt to try and find some new cigars that won’t empty my bank account on a weekly basis. The wrapper leaf is far from perfect, with not-so-tight seems and a few blemishes. With a quick straight cut and a slow toast from my Xikar Meridian, the Memoir is on its way. 

 Strength starts off at a true medium. Notes of earth, soft pepper, a light cocoa, and unidentified woodiness. I have to hand it to this cigar; it isn’t at all what I expected. With a plethora of Nicaraguan leaves within combined with a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, I expected an overpowering mishmash of unharmonious flavors. What I got, however, is a much better experience. The first third is surprisingly enjoyable, and while it doesn’t have the punch I was initially expecting, the notes that are there work wonderfully together. An impressive start. 

 The burn isn’t exactly what I’d call razor sharp, but it more or less corrects itself over time. As the second third begins, strength amps up just a bit. The pepper amps up and the woodiness takes a backseat to the cocoa and earthiness. The burn keeps ebbing and flowing, without need of a single touchup. After purging it to try and burn off any excess tar, even more intensity begins to build as I move into the final third. 

 The strength just keeps moving up and up with every puff. Like I said before, this is far from the most complex cigar I’ve ever had, but the notes that are there pack quite the punch. For just $4 a piece, and regularly discounted, this might just be one of my next regular humidor stuffers. It may not use the rarest tobaccos, have the highest quality, or look the prettiest, but it’s hard to beat the burn, draw, and flavor that accompanies the Mark Twain Memoir. If you haven’t tried it, be sure to pick a few up soon. I promise they won’t empty your wallet. 

Today I decided that I wanted to blindly review a cigar. I asked my buddy Scott to pick out a cigar that I would likely enjoy, but something that I don’t already smoke regularly. My typical rotation is made up mostly of full-bodied smokes, so I’m a bit taken aback when a few minutes later, he came back with what I can only assume is a shade-grown toro that was de-banded and ready to smoke. 

 At first glance, this is a beautiful cigar. It may not be the toothy maduro wrapper that I typically reach for, but there’s nothing wrong with shaking things up every now and again. The cap is perfectly even, and the seams are damn near invisible. The wrapper also has a nice oily sheen to it, something often not found in shade-grown leaves. The cigar comes down to a closed foot, something I have mixed feelings about. A closed foot gives an immediate punch of flavor from the wrapper, but it also tends to get ash all over my clothes and, in this case, my laptop. 

 After a clean straight cut with my Xikar Xi1, the cold draw brings a smooth mixture of hay, almond, and cedar. Those notes carry into the light-up alongside savory spices and surprising amounts of white pepper. The draw is perfect, just the right amount of resistance. Surprisingly, no new holes arise in my shirt from the closed foot. I won’t give it any actual points for that, but it wins an emotional point from me. 

 The first third continues to surprise. More nuttiness and white pepper, with the savoriness taking a backseat to a subtly sweet creaminess. The ash wants to do its best to hold on for dear life, but in the interest of keeping my keyboard clean and my lap free of hot ash, I knock it off into the ashtray. The burn has kept even, and the flavors are very well balanced. Strength level is just a hair above medium-bodied.

 The second third brings more flavor changes. The spice and savoriness has all but disappeared, allowing the creaminess, mixed nuts, cereal grain, and sweet cedar to shine. The strength has dipped ever so slightly, down to true medium. I don’t think that this cigar is a puro, but Nicaraguan flavor is what comes to mind first in this blend. As the second third progresses, the spice returns in a big way, balancing out the sweetness emanating from the graininess, cream, and cedar. 

 Entering the final third, the balance keeps on shifting. The savory spice is gone entirely, with white pepper, sweet grains, and nuttiness dominating the profile until the end. It isn’t often that I smoke cigars down to the nub because they tend to become bitter with less than an inch left. However, with this smoke I almost went so far as to grab a pipe to squeeze every last bit of flavor out of this cigar that I could. I definitely owe Scott a thank you, he really can pick ‘em. 

 Well, you’ve known what I’ve been reviewing this whole time, but I was just told. I’m a huge fan of Foundation, and the Charter Oak Connecticut and Maduro are two of my favorite daily smokes, but this was my first time trying the Habano. Needless to say, I think it just earned a spot in my rotation. If you had told me I was smoking a $6 cigar, I would not have believed you. Excellent flavor, excellent construction, just all around excellent. If you’re looking for a medium-bodied daily smoke to stuff your humidor with, I can’t recommend this enough. Looks like I’m going to have to find room in my humidors to stuff yet another Foundation blend. 

The CI Smart Sensor is a new product here at CI that we’re super excited about. I’ve been testing the device for a few months now, and here’s what I’ve learned. 

The good:

1.  Pairing the device to the mobile app is about as easy as it gets. Once you have the app downloaded, you simply place the device on top of your phone, and it connects in no time. 
2.  My device's humidity readings were both spot on out of the box. I salt-tested both and they were right on the money. I’d still recommend checking yours, but for me, no recalibration was needed. 
3.  The smart sensor is great for monitoring multiple humidors. Personally, I have two. A smaller desktop that I frequent, and a big cooler to store boxes for longer term. From the App, I can see both in one place without lifting a lid. In the past, I’d often let the humidor I don’t use as much hover on the dry side out of laziness. Now my phone won’t let me forget when to rip open a new Boveda.
4.  The app is super simple. It reads humidity and temperature and tracks it over time on a chart for you. You can also set your preferred humidity levels, and only get notifications when the humidor ventures outside. I personally keep a range between 65% and 71%.
5.  You can pick your preferred Boveda Packets and reorder them with the click of a button. 
6.  There’s also a shop section within the app to browse the full CI website, if you’re into that sorta thing 😊.

The not-so-good:

1.  When I first got pitched on this device, I assumed I would be able to monitor my humidor from work or when traveling. That’s not the case. Since it works via Bluetooth, you only get updated data when you are within range (in your house). Theoretically, you could buy an iPad to keep next to the humidor to get the readings and check them from your phone, but that turns a $40 hygrometer into a much bigger investment.  
2.  That’s it. 

All in all, it's an awesome device and I think well worth the $40 price. Before I got them, I didn’t know I needed a mobile app to monitor my cigars. Now that I do, I’ve become a humidification nerd and my cigars have never been in better shape. 

Cohiba is one of those cigar companies that even non-cigar smokers seem to know of. The original Cohiba Red Dot has been mentioned in many of my conversations with customers as having been their first “real cigar”. Cohiba has branched out with multiple blends since the Red Dot, and since I typically smoke cigars on the fuller end of the spectrum, I decided to see where the Cohiba Black shakes out in the Cohiba lineup today.

The first thing I notice as I take the cigar out of the cellophane is the jet-black, oily nature of the Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper leaf. This is certainly one of the darkest Maduro wrappers I have come across in a while. The recent change in the ring design really pops on the cigar, a sophisticated black and silver design with a carbon fiber-like background. Back in black, done upscale. The presentation is on par with the price point of the cigar. It IS a Cohiba, after all. It looks really good, but it is time to light it up and see if tastes as good as it looks. 

I do a shallow straight cut with my trusty twin-blade guillotine cutter and fire it up. I am immediately greeted with a thick cloud of white smoke from the foot. Notes of semi-sweet chocolate and soft cedar appear on the palate, along with more soft cedar and black pepper on the retrohale. I am surprised at how much smoke is pouring off of the foot when I set it on the finger of my ashtray, as my initial puffs have me pegging this as medium-bodied. As I smoke through the first third, I am intrigued by how the ash is growing. On a lot of cigars with good construction, I often see what we like to call a “stack of dimes” growing as the ash grows longer. This Cohiba; however, has almost no ring-like appearance. Rather, the ash appears to be one solid cylinder of bright white ash – no lines at all – but is holding on impressively. Rock on, my column of ash! The body of the cigar increases from medium to medium-full by the end of the first third, while the pepper is receding from the retrohale and the cigar is finding more balance on the palate. The ash drops off just shy of the end of the first third, so it is not as fragile as I had thought despite its appearance.

As the second third begins, the cigar takes on more of a dark cocoa note balanced by an increasing sweetness, making it taste richer than before. As for the finish, it now ends with a soft, sweet cedar note that hangs on long after the smoke is out of my mouth. It’s been a while since I’ve smoked a cigar with a finish like this. Normally, I would find myself wanting a little more complexity in a cigar with this profile, but that finish makes me glad that they didn’t dial in more flavor notes in the blend. This is a rich, smooth, uncomplicated cigar. Time to set my Spotify station to AC/DC… I’m ready to rock! Speaking of AC/DC, did you know that AC/DC’s Back in Black album was their first album featuring Brian Johnson on vocals? Random thought and fact aside, the cigar’s body is now solidly in the medium-full domain.

The final third starts as a continuation of the second third. No real shift in any of the flavors or their balance, although the black pepper has completely left the retrohale at this point. I’m almost wanting to let the cigar get just to the point of needing to get a relight to allow that sweet cedar finish to linger for as long as possible. If I have one small nitpick this far into the cigar, it is that the ash has gotten a little flaky and I am getting it all over myself. Smoke enough cigars, and it will eventually happen to you too. I’m wishing I had Balvenie 12 scotch or a café mocha with me, as I imagine that both would pair well with this cigar in different, yet wonderful ways. Another thought suddenly occurs to me: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro has a noticeably heavy flavor to it, and yet, the cedary woodiness of the Dominican fillers is never drowned out to the point that I don’t know that it is there. It is a testament to the blending skill of Daniel Nunez that it is the cedar that lingers on the finish rather than the heavy cocoa note of the wrapper. I finish the cigar in just under 2 hours, enjoying that finish one last time.

We all know that Cohibas are far from the least expensive purchase one can make when going into any cigar store. My experience smoking the Cohiba Black has led me to the following conclusion: Anyone who wants to enjoy a well-balanced, smooth, rich, medium to full-bodied Maduro shouldn’t avoid the Cohiba Black because of its price point. We should all treat ourselves occasionally, so crank up the AC/DC to 11, and fire up a Cohiba Black the next chance you get! 

The La Perla Habana brand has been around for a long time, I believe first getting into the game during the cigar boom of the 90s. Initially, they got a lot of love, with some high ratings from the critics, but it’s been a while since they’ve been in any cigar industry headlines. To be honest with you, my experiences with this brand have been few and far in between. But on a rainy day sifting through my humidor a La Perla Habana Classic Robusto caught my eye.

I couldn’t tell you where it came from, or how long it’s been sitting in my humidor, but the cellophane is not yet yellowed. Looks can always be deceiving when it comes to cigars. Ugly-looking cigars sometimes perform great, and beautiful-looking cigars can easily go south. Considering the price point these come at, it’s a gorgous stick. The wrapper is leathery to the touch and even in color, with a tightly applied cap.

In the first third, the profile is easygoing and inviting. It draws smooth with mellower notes of earth and cedar. An inch in, and the burn line is razor sharp. The ash falls off after about an inch and a half.

Moving into the second third, the flavors are a little more present. It still has an earthy, cedary base, but turns leathery, and a subtle peppery note is introduced on the retro-hale.

Transitioning from the second to the last third of the cigar, some new flavors enter the fray. I can’t quite put my finger on what to call it, but I want to say it reminds me of black licorice as I draw it in, and as I wash the smoke over my palate and exhale, there’s a really pleasant creaminess to it.

As I wrap it up, I’m pleasantly surprised by what this cigar has to offer. It looked good to the eye and burned great the entire time. The flavors are mellow and approachable to any level cigar smoker, but kept me entertained with some subtle transitions throughout.

It’s always fun to stumble on an random cigar that really delivers an experience you weren’t quite expecting. Especially when it’s a brand that’s priced as well as La Perla Habana Classic. I’ll be grabbing a box and adding this blend into my normal rotation without a doubt.