Trinidad Fundadores

As I've noted before, the Trinidad line out of Havana was marketed via mystery and intrigue with Castro himself originally denying that the Trinidad even existed. Now that the Trinidad has been on the market for over a decade it is being presented as a Habanos S.A. headliner along with their flagship Cohiba, with which is produced out of the El Laguito factory.

The Fundadores is one of the more recent sizes to be released. It comes in a flawless golden brown wrapper with the customary "rat tail" cap. The foot has a smooth woody smell and on this particular occasion the pre-light draw was quite tight.

Once lit the initial flavors are sweet mellow tobacco with notes of vanilla and toffee. As I got a couple of inches in the sweet flavors waned and some cedar overtones enveloped the tobacco core. By 1/2 way there was a bit of coffee to accompany the woody notes; however the draw was still uncomfortably tight, reducing the amount of smoke and no doubt the intensity of the flavor. This problem finally corrected at the 2/3 mark. At this point there was an increase in smoke and a rich peppery spice leading to a rich tobacco finish.

The Trinidad is ultra complex, rich in flavor and easy on the eyes. Despite being rolled by some of Cuba's most accomplished Torcedores, it still suffers from a bit of inconsistancy regarding construction. That is its only flaw. Even still, one heck of a cigar!

Wrapper: Cuba
Filler: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Rating: 94

Partagas Serie P No. 2

Last week I was on holiday in Spain, the largest importer of Havana cigars, so needless to say, I have a couple of new entries. The first is the Partagas Serie P No. 2, a fairly large cigar by Cuban standards and one that packs plenty of punch.

It comes wrapped in a nice darkish EMS leaf from the Vuelta Abajo region. The foot was thick with woody and tobacco smells and the pre-light draw was nice and firm. Once lit it provides the expected Partagas full bodied tobacco that nearly overwhelms the subtle nut and cedar notes. By half way there is a noticeable black pepper spice that caries the smoke in to the final 1/3 where the tobacco core firmly reclaims the position as the major player in this rich full bodied smoke, and caries to the end with a bit of spice.

The construction was excellent and the aroma was potent, so much so that the band has smelled up my entire dossier! My only complaint here was that at times that flavor was a little too full and came off a bit harsh. This is no doubt a matter of taste and many others have seen this as a benefit. This is a great cigar and one that I think could be even better with a bit of aging.

Wrapper: Cuba
Filler: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Rating: 92

CAO Brazilia Lambada

I recently picked up a CAO Brazilia Lambada as part of a sampler. CAO has really never done anything for me as I've gone through a number of their lines without being impressed.

It does come wrapped in a nice dark, woody Brazilian leaf. There were a few large veins and it had a lack of oily sheen. The pre-light draw was nice and firm and the foot had a bit of an earthy stench to be honest.

Once lit it did produce copious amounts of smoke and a full earthy flavor. After about 1.5" it took on a more woody core with earthy notes. By 1/2 way it had swapped back but did so with what can only be described as bitter coffee overtones. Fortunately that didn't last long (or this would be the end of my review) and the mellow woods began to come to the forefront and it had a bit of spice on the finish.

The burn was uneven for much of the smoke despite several efforts to correct it. It finally evened out in the final 1/3 on its own. The ash was light gray and firm and it did have a good draw. All in all the construction was below average and the flavor was something I'd generally avoid. Despite some out there in the cigar blogosphere raving about CAOs, I'm going to have to say that this one went the way of my general experience and was a below average smoke.

Wrapper: Brazil
Filler: Nic
Binder: Nic
Rating: 87