Cigar Weekly

Cohiba is one of the most famous brand names in cigars. It was reputedly created as the personal cigar for Fidel Castro in the 1960's. In 1997, after six years in development, General Cigar Corp launched the Dominican version. The Dominican Cohiba features three varieties of Dominican-grown Cuban seed tobacco in the filler, dark and supple Jember binder tobacco from Indonesia, and a natural wrapper from Cameroon, West Africa.

The General Cigar Dominicana factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic manufactures the Cohiba.

Cigar Weekly reviews are blind taste tests conducted by our readers. Reviewers are sent three samples with all identifying marks removed. Reviewers are chosen randomly from the list of everyone that has signed the Cigar Weekly Guest Book. Their comments are below.

Pre-Smoke Comments

Dick Ulmer (croozertoo): A nicely made petite corona with a smooth, round cap, but a veiny, delicate (one example split along a vein) wrapper. A firm roll with no soft spots and only a few bumps. Overall appearance was just okay - nothing special. Nice pre-light aroma and smooth draw.

Dustin Brown (DustinB): #150 is a Natural-EMS wrapped corona. Approximately 6x44. A few veins protruding. The 'seam' of the wrapper is almost unnoticeable except in one small area. There's a slight discoloration/damage from where the band was removed. A few green watermarks. Seems consistently firm all the way down. Overall appearance is good.

Greg House (Poohdvm): These are nice looking little smokes. They felt firm to the touch with a smooth cap. Nice natural wrapper that had small veins and smooth to the touch. The bunch was firm and consistent. Prelight draw was good. I'm looking forward to smoking these.

J. E. Thompson (J.E.T.): This was a well made stick. Good color and construction with a few rough spots but nothing to really notice.

Jackie Kylander (Smokin_VI): Nice boxpressed petite corona (5.25 x 42), dark EMS or light maduro. Medium texture with a slightly rough cap. There were some soft spots in one of the samples. Prelight gives a slightly sweet flavor and there is a bit of that 'barnyard' smell that bodes well. The wrapper has some of the appearance that you get from Indonesian or Cameroon--not really oily and some toothiness.

Joe Zaccone (JoCigar): This is a corona size cigar with a bit of a rough looking dark brown wrapper with some spots and blemishes. The roll appears to be even with no soft spots but is a little on the spongy side. Wrapper aroma is that of cigars from a certain island.

Lou Rodrigues (Þgdlou): This Petit corona had a nice slightly veiny wrapper. The pre-light aroma was spicey and slightly sweet. The draw was very easy, with no noticeable plugs or tight spots.

Smoke Comments

Dick Ulmer (croozertoo): An evening smoke with a white wine overwhelmed this very mild little corona. The burn was even, producing a lot of smoke from a nearly perfect draw, but no really noticeable flavors. To be fair, I reserved the second example for an after breakfast smoke with some coffee. Here it was able to register on my fresher palate, with a little leather and grassiness, but still not a very pleasing combination. Very smooth, no spice - definitely a morning smoke for veterans, or a beginner's cigar.

Dustin Brown (DustinB): Lit very well. The white to light gray ash held together pretty well. It usually fell at 1 to 1.5 inches. Draw was perfect. Burn was slightly jagged, but never to the point of needing correction. I'm not a good judge of aroma with a cigar that I'm smoking. But from about the half way point, when I exhaled through my nose, I couldn't help but think of bug spray. That's why the aroma scored so low with me. There was a hint of bitterness, that seemed to slowly get stronger with both samples. Hints of cedar and coffee through the bitterness. A little young?

Greg House (Poohdvm): This cigar had great burn qualities. Burned even forming a strong white ash. The smoke was mild in body and strength, though it did get stronger deeper into the smoke. It formed lots of smoke. Noted a slight astringent aftertaste. It kind of dried my mouth out.

J. E. Thompson (J.E.T.): Started out mild with an excellent draw. Got some flavor about half-way through and finished nice, not too bitter.

Jackie Kylander (Smokin_VI): Darn, I just knew that I would get a smoke with quite a bit of Dominican in the filler-it's difficult for me to review those as I detect a bitterness in most DR leaf that the vast majority of people cannot taste. With that preface, I found this cigar to be medium in richness but the balance was a bit uneven. There were some floral notes and the finish was short. One sample had a bit of an uneven burn that straightened itself up without help. I detected a sharpness on the tongue and a slight saltiness. All in all, an ok smoke for someone who likes milder smokes or Dominican leaf or who wants a cigar that will be light in aroma and short in finish.

Joe Zaccone (JoCigar): First few puffs reveal a good draw with a generous amount of smoke. Once into the cigar the flavor increases with hints of light chocolate, coffee and some nuttiness. The smoke in rich and complex with a subtle creamy character. It delivers a good amount of strength to satisfy the veteran smoker and leaves a sweet fragrant aroma in the air. The burn and draw are perfect producing a firm ash that held on for inches at a time. Finish was nothing short of outstanding with little if no aftertaste.

Lou Rodrigues (Þgdlou): This smoke produced good amounts of smoke that had a sweet aroma. The construction of this cigar was very good and it held a nice firm grey ash. The flavor however was one dimensional and somewhat bitter.

Summary Comments

Dick Ulmer (croozertoo): A well made cigar, despite the wrapper split. Mild to a fault, with flavors similar to a well aged Old Fashioned or a Dominican Cohiba. Mild cigar fans may like it, but I'll take a pass.

Dustin Brown (DustinB): Both samples had the bitterness that slowly got stronger. With about 1 inch left, it was almost intolerable. Plenty of smoke. A decent flavor was trying to fight off the bitterness, but unfortunately the flavor lost the battle. I wouldn't recommend this one. Unless some age would solve the bitterness issue.

Greg House (Poohdvm): This was a nice enjoyable smoke. No problems or distractions noted while smoking. Best suited as a morning smoke. I would like to note that there were some differences in the 2 samples. One was much more consistent in flavor during the smoke. The other seemed to become bland at times.

J. E. Thompson (J.E.T.): I usually only smoke churchills or double coronas so the smaller sticks don't usually get into my cabinet. I have to admit that this was a very nice 20 minute smoke and would recommend them to someone looking for that size.

Jackie Kylander (Smokin_VI): What can I say, I don't like most DR sticks. This one appears to be of good quality and construction, so I wouldn't have a problem recommending it to my friends who smoke lighter cigars.

Joe Zaccone (JoCigar): I would highly recommend this one. It was an excellent well-aged cigar that I enjoyed from the first puff right down to the cap. It stayed intriguing and consistent to the end, never becoming bitter or not. A finger burner extraordinaire

Lou Rodrigues (Þgdlou): The construction of this cigar was very good, and the pre-light aroma of the wrapper fooled me into thinking that this would be good tasting smoke as well. However, the flavor just wasn't there. What little flavor that was produced was overwhelmed by bitterness. Maybe this smoke was young, but it just goes to show that you can't tell how good a cigar will be until you smoke it.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 32.6 out of 50

3 1/2 Stars -- Above Average

 

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