What better way is there to spend a Saturday afternoon but with a cigar? Especially when Alex was so gracious to give me one for this review! The Cabaiguan Corona Extra is another creation by Don Pepin Garcia belonging to the Tatuaje line of cigars. The Cabaiguan is of Cuban seed with Nicaraguan binder and filler, rolled in a Connecticut shade grown wrapper and measures 5 5/8” x 46 ring gauge. The construction was excellent and even throughout. The wrapper itself was of high quality with no tears, but not as visually beautiful as others in the same price range. Some people describe the wrapper as being oily but I did not find this was the case with mine. Pre-light draw was excellent, neither firm nor loose. I’m not sure if I’ve come across a Don Pepin with a poor draw yet so consistency seems to be quite high. Maybe the Cuban’s can learn a thing or two about consistent draws from Don Pepin. The cigar lit up fairly easily with my Prometheus Ultima lighter, and that was the first and last time I had call upon the God of fire. On the initial draw I was quite surprised this was a medium body cigar, and unlike my experience with other Don Pepin’s such as; the Black Label Cuban Classic and Padilla Miami. Immediately, I detected woody flavors with a mix of leather and tobacco, this cigar definitely has the old world character it intended to re-create. The finish was smooth and of a long tobacco taste, in contrast to the crisp finish of the Black Label. After approximately one inch into my journey, the cigar suddenly became somewhat flat and one dimensional. Fortunately, I had paired this with my favorite brown spirit, Old No.7 – better known as Jack Daniels. I was not going to give up on this smoke just yet. After a little time had passed, I reached about the 2/3 mark, the cigar began to pick-up and again I was re-joined by flavors of wood, leather and tobacco, this time with a finish reminiscent of black-bean and sweet wood. However, I have a feel that the Old No.7 brought to the pallet the sweetness which I more than welcomed. Unfortunately, the Cabaiguan could not keep my attention long enough to finish the last third. Although it provided a good smoke, I was really looking for something more; something I could savor and enjoy with the additional time and attention I had to spend on a really great cigar. I was looking for greater character and complexity, but that may not have been a part of the old world experience that Cabaiguan stands to deliver. A good cigar, but not sure if it can compete in the range of $7-$8 there are many great choices which can be had. But the Cabaiguan does have its place in one’s collection who can truly appreciate what it delivers on – medium body and old world taste.

Rating 7.5/10

  

Filed under: Cigar Reviews