Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1
Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1

Blind Cigar Review: Bolivar (Cuba) | Coronas

CFCigar Info

Dustin (Catfish) and Seth (Big Tuna) from the What Embargo? show on Cigar Federation and Habanos Critic asked us if we would be interested in doing a blind cigar review of two Cuban cigars using our format. The review would consist of Dustin and Seth from What Embargo? and Emmett and Aaron from Blind Man’s Puff as the reviewers. The cigars were provided by Blind Man’s Puff reviewer Jiunn (Thanks Jiunn) so that none of the review participants had any prior knowledge of the cigars which is our normal operating procedure here at Blind Man’s Puff. The review as it is initially posted shows the results of the review, but the cigar is not yet revealed. The actual cigar will be revealed on the What Embargo? show that is airing this Saturday, November 8th at 6PM Pacific/9PM Eastern. After the cigars are revealed on the show here, we will come back and update these reviews with the cigar name and details so that it reflects our normal blind review format.

This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.

To view the review of the other cigar being revealed on the show, click here.

Vital Stats:

Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1
Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1

Vitola: Corona
Length: 5.6″
Ring Gauge: 42
Country of Origin: Cuba
Wrapper: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Filler: Cuba
Factory: Habanos S.A.
Blender: Unknown
Number of reviewers: 4 —- Seth (Seth’s Humidor) Dustin (CatfishBluezz/Cigar Federation) Aaron (aaron72) Emmett (rhetorik)
Price: Unknown
Age: 16 Years
Box Code: NNSU-VC-1 (November 1998)
Contributed by: Jiunn

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 90

“It is not a pretty wrapper. It has a coloring that is right below Colorado, not quite Natural, and it is showing some veins and stretchmarks throughout. It has a texture that is slightly coarse, almost like a fine sand paper, and once again, nothing impressive.” –Seth (Seth’s Humidor)

Aroma: 88

“The wrapper and foot do not give much aroma off, but I do detect a little barnyard. The pre-light draw is a little musty.” -Emmett (rhetorik)

Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1
Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1

First Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“The cigar is delivering a flavor profile that is very consistent and somewhat enjoyable. It is not a flavor profile for me, but others would like it, that I know. It is producing an herbal flavor profile that has some lemongrass qualities to it, and it has a nutty quality present as well. Not overly complex, but a core flavor profile. There are some bread notes on the finish, but nothing major. Construction is solid with an even burn line, cool draw and a dark charcoal ash on the end.” –Seth (Seth’s Humidor)

“The first puff is a little citrusy and not too spicy. That quickly fades and I’m left with a fresh bread taste now. Soon joined by hay and maybe a light wood, the flavors are subtle but enjoyable. Towards the end of this third, the complexity takes it up a notch with the addition of some baking spices. A very enjoyable third.” -Emmett (rhetorik)

Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1
Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1

Second Third

Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“I was in love, as the stone fruit flavors were amazing. I was texting Jiunn at this time begging for more, even though I had no clue what it was. Clove arrived as well on the retro, and it seemed like my whole tongue was covered with flavor.” –Dustin (CatfishBluezz/Cigar Federation)

“The musty tobacco is really persistent and a nice flavor. I am know getting a mushroom flavor right away on the retrohale. The mushroom on the retrohale went away pretty quickly and moved to more of a dry cedar. Halfway through the third I am getting a dark chocolate type of bitterness. The musty tobacco and cedar are really coming back to the forefront. It’s a flavor I’ve never tasted in a cigar before and is really nice.” –Aaron (aaron72)

Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1
Blind Cigar Review: What Emgarbo? | Mystery Cuban Cigar #1

Final Third

Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“The mushroom on the retrohale has returned at the beginning of this third. The musty tobacco core flavor continues as the dry cedar returns back to the retrohale with the mushroom flavor coming in and out. Halfway through the third, a damp earthiness comes in to join the musty tobacco. Nearing the end of the third, some mineral flavor comes in as the damp earthiness retreats.” –Aaron (aaron72)

“This third has taken more of a cedar tone, but still with that pumpkin spice twang. Soon a nice buttery smoothness comes along. The end of this third hasn’t been as pleasant as the rest of the cigar, it’s gotten dryer and far less complex.” -Emmett (rhetorik)

Overall Impressions

Draw: 89

“Tough draw for the first five minutes, it may have needed a dry box, as it opened up quickly.” –Dustin (CatfishBluezz/Cigar Federation)

Burn: 98

“The burn line was razor sharp from beginning to end and it had a nice dark charcoal ash that held on firmly as well. This was another example of a well made cigar.” –Seth (Seth’s Humidor)

Construction: 90

“The cigar was very firm the entire length. This was the where the cigar fell down. With a very tight draw and the cigar going out multiple times, it caused a decrease in the overall experience.” –Aaron (aaron72)

Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Overall Experience: 88

“The cigar performed great, no faults there, but I did not care for the flavor profile. I thought the cigar produced a core flavor profile, which some may like, but it showed no transitioning. There was very little depth with the cigar and it was monotone. I could see smoking these in the morning if I had them, but I would reach for something else if almost anything was available. It was not my type of cigar, and it lacked complexity, but it was not bad because of the flavors delivered.” –Seth (Seth’s Humidor)

“I want a box, that is my opinion. My guess is this is an old El Rey de Mundo though, as the flavor was not over the top in terms of complexity. It tasted like a well aged vintage that may have lost some complexity, but has settled into prime smoking time. Whatever it is, I will be buying some, as I could smoke this daily and be happy. One of the better Habanos I can think of flavor wise as of late. I sure hope it is recent production in the regular line, but I have a feeling it is an old cigar.” –Dustin (CatfishBluezz/Cigar Federation)

“The flavors were very good and very unique. I really dug them. The construction really bummed me out though as it started off bad with the tight draw and then burned poorly at the end of the second third. I would really like to smoke another one hoping that the construction issues were absent and bringing with it an excellent overall experience.” – Aaron (aaron72)

“This was a very good cigar, especially the first two thirds. If the last third hadn’t gotten dry and a little bitter, it would have scored higher. The flavors were not in your face, but quite complex. I liked the transitions it offered and kept me entertained. I would definitely smoke more of these, and I would like to see if the final third was the same in all samples. Not my favorite Cuban, but a solid stick.” -Emmett (rhetorik) –

Smoking Time (in minutes): 94

Edit
Reviewer Appearance Aroma 1/3 2/3 3/3 Draw Burn Constr. Overall
Seth 83 87 88 85 85 95 97 100 85
Dustin 97 97 100 100 100 88 97 88 100
Aaron 90 87 90 92 90 85 88 83 90
Emmett 90 87 90 92 87 90 97 92 90

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.

Blind Cigar Review: Bolivar (Cuba) | Coronas
Blind Cigar Review: Bolivar (Cuba) | Coronas
Appearance
90
Aroma
88
First Third
89
Second Third
93
Final Third
88
Draw
89
Burn
98
Construction
90
Overall Experience
88
90
Total Score - Very Good