Smoked: Cohiba Macassar

Smoked at: West Chester. Ohio

I’m lighting up a Cohiba Macassar for the first time. The draw starts out a little tight, but opens up after a few minutes. The ash holds well to a good inch and a half – light grey stacked like a roll of nickels. It took awhile to get the cigar burning and pumping out any smoke. This would become an issue throughout the smoke. The cigar went out 3 times requiring relights beyond the touchups due to an uneven burn.

Flavor profile: Woody (very woody – not as much as the Southern Draw Kudzu but it’s in that ballpark), earthy, vegetal notes, herbs and floral notes (makes me think it would pair well with a Highland single malt scotch), leather, pepper, some sweetness (kind of like soda), a few puffs bring out dried fruit. The tobacco is well-aged. I’ll give it that. But there is a lack of complexity. The flavors are fine, but very basic. There is a slight transition during the final third to some nuttiness, oak and a bit of grain, starchy – maybe corn.

The Macassar is a medium full bodied, medium strength cigar, although it did dry out my throat a bit during the final third. It became rather harsh with frequent sips of water required.

This is a decent cigar, but I can’t imagine paying the MSRP price point for this stick, which I didn’t, thank you. If you can find the Macassar for under $10 on sale, give it a try. I just hope you have better luck with the construction.