Length: 6 3/4"
Ring Gauge: 43
Strength: Medium to Full
Packaging: Cabinet of 25
Vitola: Dallas
Smoking Time: 55 Minutes
COHIBA
Cohiba is the flagship brand of Habanos.
It was created in 1966 for President Fidel Castro himself and was made at the then top secret, but now world famous, El LLaguito factory. At first, it was only seen outside Cuba as gifts for heads of state and visiting diplomats.
Since 1982 Cohiba has been available in limited quantities to the open market.
The name is an ancient Taino Indian word for the bunches of tobacco leaves that Columbus first saw being smoked by the original inhabitants of Cuba - the earliest known form of a Habano.
The leaves for Cohiba are the "selection of selection" from the 5 finest Vegas de Primera in San Juan y Martinez and San Luis districts of the Vuelta Abajo zone.
Uniquely amongst Habanos up to three of Cohiba's filler leaves , the seco, ligero and the rare medio tiempo, undergo an additional fermentation in barrels. This unique process produces a special aroma and flavour you will only find in Cohiba.
The Cohiba Línea 1492 range was first announced at a reception at the Captain General's Palace in Havana on 4th November 1992, which took place during a Festival held to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus.
The Linea 1492, originally consisting of five sizes - Siglo I, II, III, IV and V before the VI was introduced in 2002, were expressly introduced to mark Columbus's 500th Anniversary and each Siglo (which means 'Century' in Spanish) commemorates one the five subsequent centuries.
The Linea 1492 is classified as medium flavoured and remains the lightest flavoured line of Cohibas.
Please note: Matches not included.
One of the best Havanas of the size range. A truly fine smoke, abundant and complex. The cocoa taste is sublime.
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94 / 100
"Rich and chewy, this slender cigar immediately shows the sweet-and-spicy traits of gingerbread before ushering in big notes of malted chocolate and caramel. The fruitcake finish is dense and sticky...."
Reviewed by Austin Dyer
Last Christmas I visited some relatives in Northumberland as usual. My uncle had come over from America where he now lives and, to my delight, his gift to me was a fine box of Cohiba Siglo V which a friend of his bought while in Cuba. They were in good condition, the box had been kept in a humi pouch bag, a great invention!
That same evening after one of the finest, most delicious Christmas dinners I had ever eaten, I sat in the front room of the lovely country house, watching the snowflakes hovering about in the darkness outside and the warm, crackling, open fireplace beside me. I sipped some cognac and took a Siglo V. The construction was precise, no deformations, a completely smooth and very oily wrapper with a perfectly constructed triple cap. It felt a little harder than most Habanos I had smoked, this was due to a tight roll. The smell from it was sweet and earthy, and made my senses flare up.
I could not wait to put flame to leaf. I carefully snipped the end, no problems. As the flame from the long match licked at the foot of this beauty the cool smoke began to ease out. The draw was tough, to my disappointment, as I prefer an easier draw. The smoke was very cool and mild bodied at first but slowly as the first inch drew along it became stronger and a lot of flavours began to emerge. A lot of cedar and nutty flavours in the first third, slowly becoming more earthy into the second third, but not quite so much as with some other Cohibas such as the Robusto. The cedar, nuts, scent remained and well into the second third hints of liquorice and coffee tasted me. The roast coffee bean was more prominent. The last third became a lot more spicy and hot, too hot for my liking, and to my disappointment I had to let this cigar die an honourable death.
This cigar was full of flavours, but unfortunately the tight roll made drawing them out difficult and did spoil the enjoyment a little (do not smoke these if you are not up for a little sucking...ahem). To be fair, however, I did feel satisfied smoking this cigar. It lasted a good 2 hours and the flavours were wonderful. The room was filled with a rich, but not too oppressive, Cuban aroma of earthy, spicy tobacco. My uncle walked into the room (before I offered him one of these wonders) and just said "...that smells divine". It was a delicious cuban cigar (even if I did have to wrestle with the draw a little).
Aesthetics: 25/25
Construction: 15/25
Flavour: 22/25
Overall Opinion: 23/25
Total: 85/100