Xiphos CR Short Panatela

[Don Fernando]

Xiphos, I read the name here and there in the cigar groups on Facebook but I didn’t really know much about the brand, the cigars, where they were made, blends, the idea behind the cigars. Until earlier this month, when I recieved a box from a very generous sender who wanted my opinion on the cigars. I got a nice jar with five different types of cigars, all in a pair and even three of these small Xiphos CR short panatella.

The CR Short Panatella is made in Costa Rica as you might have guessed from the CR in the name, in a place called Puriscal. Now my geography of Costa Rica is a bit rusty so I’ll google where that is after reviewing the cigar. The cigar is rolled Cuban sandwich style, 60% of the leaves used are longfiller, the remaining 40% is short filler. The filler consists for Peruvian, Nicaraguan and Dominican tobacco with a Peruvian binder and Connecticut wrapper from Ecuador.

Just from looking at the wrapper you wouldn’t think its a Connecticut wrapper as it has a nice medium brown color and it’s quite oily and smooth. The ring is shiny, blue with silver decorations in Greek style and the Xiphos name in Greek letters. A nice detail, the X in Xiphos is made out of swords, and Xiphos is the greek word for sword. The construction feels good, no soft spots and the cigar bounces nice back when I gently squeeze it. The cigar has a nice fresh hay smell with a little acidity to it.

I cut the cigar and the cold draw is perfect and I taste a like tea. After lighting with my Ronson varaflame I taste coffee, cinnamon and some cream. After a centimeter I taste a creamy cedar with a little lime. Halfway I also taste a little pepper. The pepper disappears while the cigar picks up a little strength, I still taste a creamy cedar flavor but now with a hint of vanilla in the aftertaste.

The draw is great, no flaws here. The amount of smoke is amazing from a small, short, Cuban sandwich cigar. The white ash isn’t that fork but that’s not expected from a thin Cuban sandwich. The burn is great. I would call this cigar mild to medium bodied and medium flavored, it’s smooth. The smoke time surprised me, much longer than I expected with an hour and five minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? This is a great morning smoke.

Score: 90

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