Espinosa y Ortega Cubao #5

[SteveH]

Gents,
Couple of weeks back I met Eddy at a local B&M and he gave me one of his #5 Cubao's to try. He seems like a real down to earth guy - so I figured I'd give it a shot and see how it turns out !


Specifics
Vitola: ??
Length: 7 1/8
Ring Gauge: 49
Wrapper: Ecuador Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $6.49

Looks and prelight - Darker sumatra wrapper - near impossible to find any seams..Pigtail cap...tiny veins. Very tightly packed and firm. Aroma of leather and some aged tobacco...Prelight draw yields some sweetness and more aged tobacco.


First Third - Razor sharp burn, nice white ash. Draw is surprisingly light, considering how firm and tightly packed the cigar feels. Some cherry-like sweetness and aroma, along with mild leather...Some spice and pepper. but no where near as much as I was expecting. Smoke is creamy white - I think this is going to develop nicely!


Second Third - WOW this thing puts off some SERIOUS smoke. I've never seen anything like this before. Upon exhale the smoke falls to the ground like a delicious fog of tobacco goodness. It is quite shocking (so much so I had to take a photo !). The cherry flavor is still hanging around, along with some mild wood and leather flavors. The pepper is coming on a little stronger; but more in the tingle than flavor. Burn is still straight and needs no touch-ups.



Unfortunately that's it for the pictures. My neighbor came over and we were chatting...So I totally forgot to take the rest of the photos...Mea Culpa !


To the nub - The stick kept producing tons of smoke, and the pepper came to the forefront. Still well rounded and smooth, my neighbor however said that the aroma wasn't as pleasant as some other cigars I've burned.

Wrap-up - Will I buy this again ? Absolutely. If you ever want to impress someone with massive, cumulus cloud-like smoke; this is probably the stick to try (along with the Tat petite cazadores). The sweetness was interesting, dare I say nearly pipe-tobaccoish ? I don't think that's necessary a bad thing, perhaps testimonial to the quality of fermentation ?