Taboo Sumatra Churchill

[Don Fernando]

Years ago, and I mean years ago, a minimum of seven years at least, the private label of the Taboo Cigar Bar & Lounge in Texas, was quite popular for a brief time at my favorite cigar forum Cigar Asylum and I did a group buy for some friends and myself when I still did illegal imports, something I now oppose too as I learned how bad it is for the local cigar importers and retailers, and in the end they make it possible for us to enjoy cigars, gain more knowledge, make it possible to try cigars before you buy boxes and in some cases provide a nice lounge to smoke and events to meet fellow aficionados and people from the industry. So in retrospective I regret buying so many cigars online from overseas. But having said that, today I saw a Taboo cigar in my humidor and decided to light it.

The cigar that everybody went mad about was the Taboo Twist, a barber pole cigar. It is a private label, yet the factory where they were made was undisclosed, rumors say it was Oliva but they hardly do private labels so I don’t think that’s true. Actually, when I just checked their website it says the cigars are being made in Honduras, so that makes it certain that it’s not Oliva. Well, at a certain moment Rob, the owner of Taboo, not only sold the Taboo Twist but also a few other blends and even a few limited editions. I grabbed this 7×52 Sumatra from my humidor to smoke. This specific blend isn’t available anymore on their website, but the Twist is just like the Taboo HSG.

The cellophane this cigar came from is staring to discolor as a sign of aging. The Sumatra wrapper is medium dark in color but still has an oily shine and looks pretty and tasty. The construction feels good and the cap is placed nicely. The ring is a bit tacky, the round logo looks like fire with silver letters Taboo cigars and the side and back are like diamond plating. The ring is clear, it’s different but it doesn’t score high on my personal scale on how I like a cigar ring to look. The aroma is mild and reminds me of hay and straw.

When I wet the cap I notice a sweet flavor, but the wrapper doesn’t taste sweetened though. I punched the cigar and the cold draw is fine with a little sweetness on the lips and some dry hay and raisin in my mouth. I taste sweetness and I start to wonder if the wrapper is sweetened after all as it’s a little chemical sweetness. The other flavor is a little musty wood. After an inch I taste some nuts and wood, the sweetness is gone. After a third I taste some pepper with a little metallic flavor and a little nuts. Halfway it’s musty wood again, with a little bit of that metallic flavor and some pepper. After two thirds the pepper gains in strength a bit, with the musty and slightly sweet wood as a base.

The draw is good, but not fantastic. The smoke is medium is volume and thickness. The ash is white, dense and firm. The burn is good, again not fantastic but good. The strength is medium, just like the flavor. The smoke time is two hours and five minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? They are not for sale anymore and even if they were I wouldn’t.

Score: 79

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