This one time production will be limited to a maximum of 2,000 boxes from our highest skilled rollers in the Honduran factory. Each box will feature one of two unique images commissioned by George Rico from the Miamiartist, and friend, known as “Kid”. Gran Habano will release the Zulu Zulu to select retailers across the country.

While limited in production, pricing will still remain affordable with an MSRP of $9.00.

Now, this is different! This cigar’s story has a socially responsible component to it. It appears that George Rico wanted to raise awareness and benefit Invisible Children.

Invisible Children is an organization; “…that uses film, creativity and social action to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war and restore LRA-affected communities in central Africa to peace and prosperity.”

Some the proceeds from sales will be donated to Invisible Children. For more information on Invisible Children please take the time to explore their website and videos at http://InvisibleChildren.com.

These cigars do look tasty. Also looks like they come in a nifty carrying case with some great looking art. Might be worthwhile to pick up several of these.

About Gran Habano Cigars
Gran Habano Cigars was founded in 1995 by Guillermo Rico and his son George Rico. Using only the best raw materials on earth, Gran Habano begins the growing process with Habano and Corojo seeds which are grown on company-owned farms inColombia,Panama,Nicaragua andCosta Rica. The process comes to fruition at our boutique factory, which focuses on quality control and high-end productivity making it one of the top cigar companies in the world.

According to an article over at Cigar Advisor, Azteca is the company’s first departure from the established Gran Habano flavor profile.  According to the younger Rico, “There has never been a Gran Habano, until the Azteca. It is actually a double maduro, as both the San Andres wrapperand binder are extra-fermented naturally, without sweating or other artificial means. The long filler is Nicaraguan and Panamanian, and the first release of the Azteca has been aging since August, 2009.  The three available sizes are: the 5-1/2″ x 52 Aguila (Eagle) Torpedo, the 6″ x 54 Jaguar, and the 6″ x 60 Puma. George Rico explains the “Rediscovery of Full Flavor,” by saying, “For years, cigar smokers have misinterpreted the desirability of ‘full body.’  Full body is only a measurement of strength. In reality the Flavor, not the body, is the measure of cigar satisfaction.  Full-bodied cigars tend to be one-dimensional … often, the more power, the less flavor.  It’s possible to smoke a strong cigar that lacks flavor, while many mild cigars are loaded with satisfying flavor … one shouldn’t confuse the two.”

Cigar: Gran Habano Azteca
Size: 6 x 54 (Jaguar)
Wrapper: San Andreas Maduro (Mexico)
Binder: San Andreas Maduro (Mexico)
Filler: Nicaragua & Panama
Strength: Full

Gran Habano Azteca (Jaguar 6 x 54)

Appearance and Construction: In the photo you might notice a small wrapper defect, these took place during shipping. The Azteca features a wonderful looking oily Maduro wrapper with no veins that stand out. The stick has a nice weight to it with no soft spots and a well packed foot. The busy over-sized band features the word Azteca and some artwork that fits into the name of the stick. The back of the band features the names George Rico & Guillermo Rico all though the semior is hidden until you peel the band. The foot sports a secondary band that denotes the size (Jaguar) and as I have stated before I am a huge fan of the foot band.

Flavor & Notes: The prelight draw has a distinct taste to it that I would guess was a combination of the Mexican and Panamanian tobacco. There was a sweetness present almost bordering on berries from the cold draw while the foot offered up a subtle spice. Once lit the cigar offers up some chocolate notes that are bittersweet before slowly giving way to some wood and a touch of leather. As we move on to the second third of the cigar the bittersweet chocolate really begins to shine with secondary notes of coffee, wood, and spice. The final third of Gran Habano Azteca serves up notes of dark chocolate, wood and a slightly leather finish.

Smoking Characteristics: A lot of smoke, burned well, nice draw, firm ash. Wow, I can make these reviews a lot shorter if I chose. But seriously from the first spark to the last puff this cigar was a major league producer of smoke. The burn while it started off a little jagged was nice and even by the time I put the cigar down and the dark color ash held on for the first 3/4 of the cigar. Yes, you read that right, 4.5 inches before I decided to ash.

Conclusion: This cigar is classic old school maduro meets up with the new school maduro. The strength is there, the flavor is there, that maduro sweetness is there. An enjoyable cigar that is worthy of a purchase and so much better then the first draft that was sent out to me back in March.

Rating: 89
Price: $6.60

Gran Habano Cabinet Selecton

I picked this cigar up last week in Philadelphia and it was the first time I saw them in a B&M. I have seen them on-line, and I guess because of that most people do not carry them. However with Pennsylvania currently having no cigar tax they can get away with cigars that are usually a catalog brand. Twin Shoppe is a great smoke shop on 10th and Tasker in the City of Brotherly Love and the smokers haven that I found these sticks. I suggest you check them out, and they are only a few blocks away from Gino’s or Pat’s which have the best cheese steaks in the city.

Cigar: Gran Habano Cabinet Selection
Origin: Honduras
Size: 5 x 52 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Nicarauga Corojo
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Appearance & Construction (16/20): A slightly box pressed cigar with a red and silver band that bleeds and lacks definition which gives the cigar an appearance of being  factory second. The wrapper is a gorgeous looking corojo wrapper and if you remove the band it would look like a Punch Rare Corojo Rothchilde. The wrapper has virtually no bands and the flaw on roll lies at the cap where it is a sloppy cap giving the look of a double cap on one side, and a triple cap on another. The cigar is well packed and has a nice weight to it.

Flavor & Notes (28/30): The prelight of this cigar was very interesting as it has notes which I can best describe as a caraway seed. If you ever had rye bread with seeds, the caraway seed is used in rye bread.  The initial light reveals some really nice flavors and as we work the first third of this delightful the cigar the notes of white pepper through the nose and caraway and some subtle leather on the palate. The second third of the smoke some nice floral notes replace the caraway with some cinnamon notes and the occasional wisp of toffee along for the ride.  The final third the toffee notes remain and the hints of leather creep back in to finish the very enjoyable smoke.

Burn/Ash/Draw (21/25): The draw on this cigar rates right up there with some of the best I ever had in terms of a box press. The burn line is straight for the most part until the midway point where it began to burn very jagged. but the ash while being a very light gray was extremely flaky and would not hold on at well. My sweater was full of flake from the ash, and the floor had a nice pile of ashes.

Overall (20/25): Is this a cigar worthy of a 7.50 plus price tag a stick, probably not. Is it a good cigar, yes it is. The one problem I have with the Rico family is their prices on a lot of cigars and that issue continues with this cigar. It has a nice flavor profile, and a decent construction but it should be no more then a 6.50 stick at most. Because of the price I had to take off a significant amount of points on this stick. If you don’t mint paying a premium price for a mild stick then by all means go for it. If you like a corojo wrapper with a little bit of a kick, stick with the Punch Rare Corojo and save some money.

Rating: 85
Price: $148.99 at Famous-Smoke