Vega Fina

As some of you know I am a member of the Altadis VIP program. Altadis supplies me with sample smokes and should I run a herf they will donate a box of cigars for that event. It’s a good deal, and I look forward to getting the cigars in the mail every 6-8 weeks or so. The cigars I got recently caused me to roll my eyes as they haven’t been anything to write home about. In fact I wound up giving them out. Well this morning I was looking for a quick smoke and I lit up the VegaFina and to my surprised I liked it. So I decided to light up a second one and formulate a review…

Cigar: VegaFina
Size: 5 x 50 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Indonesia
Filler: Columbina, Dominican, Honduran
Strength: Mild

Appearance and Construction (19/20): The cigar features a nice tan colored Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper. In fact if you remove the simple band it would look like a Davidoff. There are some small veins and a little but of tooth on this well packed cigar. In fact it is very difficult to find a flaw on this smoke.

Flavor & Notes (28/30): On the prelight draw and the foot there are some well defined fig notes with a slight caramel. On the first third the notes from the prelight are gone. However what remains is some tea notes with an underlying sweetness. As we enter the 2nd third of the smoke some faint notes of fig return giving this cigar a nice distinct flavor. The final third of the cigar has some spices with a nice sweetness along for the ride.

Burn/Ash/Draw (18/25): Here is where the cigar runs into some problems. The burn of the cigar tends to get out of hand with some touch ups needed to prevent the stick from getting out of hand. The ash is a night light gray but it is weak and doesn’t hold on. You have to watch it to avoid a lap full of ash. The draw despite being well packed is a tad loose and it smokes fast.

Overall (22/25): If you are looking for a reasonably priced mild smoke this cigar is it. The flavors once lit are hard to realize without a season palatte but it smokes better then the price would indicate. A truly enjoyable smoke that did not disappoint.

Rating: 87
Price: $3.50