Cubao Maduro

I discovered these cigars a little bit later then most of the cigar world. I fell in love with them at one of my favorite shops, Fume Cigars in Montclair, NJ. I found out recently my pronunciation of cu-bay-oh was a butchering of the proper way. The correct way direct from Espinosa & Ortega themselves is coo-bau.

Cigar: Cubao Maduro
Size: 6 1/8 x 50 (No. 5)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium/Full

Appearance and Construction (19/20): The Cubao Maduro features a clean looking Broadleaf wrapper that has not been enhanced in any way shape or form. The wrapper is virtually vein free, and features a nice roll with an excellent triple cap. The cigar however does feel light in weight and while the foot is slightly spongy there are no soft spots to be found in this stick. The cigar utilizes a two band system with the primary band denoting the brand Cubao with the secondary band denoting maduro. The colors of brown and white with a touch of gold help keep this band simple, but eloquent.

Flavor & Notes (27/30): Prior to lighting up this stick the prelight notes off of the cigar were that of mocha from the foot, and chocolate from the wrapper. The prelight draw reveals some of that typical Pepin spice and a faint mocha in the background. Upon lighting up the cigar one is treated with some pepper and spice notes that slowly give way to reveal notes of leather and earth but there is a cherry like sweetness hanging out in the background that is oh so delicious. As we approach the second third of this cigar the notes of leather remain, but they are joined by an emerging mocha while the sweetness remains in the background but it slowly fades. As we approach the final third of the cigar the notes of mocha really begin to shine with some leather on the finish.

Burn/Ash/Draw (24/25): As you can tell from the photo the cigar burns even and the medium colored ash is dense with no flake. The ash became a little weak shortly after this photo so I chose to ash before I wore it. The draw was perfect despite some concerns prior to sparking up.

Overall (23/25): This cigar has become one of my go to cigars as of late. I know some of you might say wait, didn’t you say cigar X was a go to cigar? Well the answer is yes. I smoke on average of 20 cigars a week and other then grabbing something new to review I have a set rotation of cigars and the Cubao is in that rotation. Definitely a good smoke worthy of my money.

Rating: 93
Price: $10.00 in NJ

I actually smoked this cigar yesterday afternoon, but did not get to write my review til this morning. It was my second Cubao in 2 days. The first was at the outside tiki bar at the Elks. When I review a cigar I keep notes and translate them into the reviews you read. So continuing my repetitive nature I drove over to the beach and got ready to smoke!

The Skinny:

Cigar: Cubao
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 5.5 x 52 (#6)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Oscuro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Pre-Smoke: I was really attracted to this candy colored wrapper that reminded me of a Sugar Daddy in color. The roll while not sloppy, it was not seamless which gave the cigar character and definition. There were almost no veins to speak off and this cigar was begging to be smoked. The scent off the wrapper was a well defined chocolate while at the foot there were notes of caramel and some faint molasses. After giving the cigar a straight cut with my idiot proof hippotech cutter the pre-light draw was of caramel. Touching the cut end to my tongue I was hit with some serious hot pepper… So far so good..

Smoke: After lighting this smoke I was hit with what I will call the trademark of Pepin Garcia. That quick hit of in your face pepper that it seems like all his cigars start off with. This does not make it a bad thing, as the pepper always seems to subside and this was no different with the Cubao. As I closed out the 1st third of the cigar I was treated to notes of caramel with an underlying sweetness.

As the second third began I noticed my burn line was a bit jagged, but nothing to be concerned about. The ash was a very light gray and flaky so to prevent myself from wearing my ash I tapped the cigar and dove into the second third which the notes of caramel continued but were joined by some chocolate and coffee.

I reached my final third about 50 minutes into the smoke and the cigar maintained notes of coffee and some bitter chocolate. I smoked the cigar to the nub and the total smoke time was about 70 minutes.

Overall: I was very apprehensive to try this cigar as I had one 601 and did not like it. I was temped to go back and get another 601 at my local B&M where it was discovered the boxes they had were infested with the Lasioderma serricorne otherwise known as the tobacco beetle and the boxes were discarded. But I broke down and am glad I gave this wonderful cigar a try.

Rating: 90
Price: $7.00