Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5″ x 5 ring gauge
Price: about $6.25
Review Sample
Background
I met Frank at the first Chattanooa Tweetup after missing him a couple times on his trips out to the LA area. I was able to try La Caridad del Cobre at that event. At this year’s tweetup I was very excited to see the “new to me” biography as one of the cigars Frank sent us to give away. Dave did a review on it here. I was only able to smoke one cigar for this review.
Prelight
The wrapper on this cigar was a nice medium brown in color with both lighter and darker mottling to it. The cap was kind of odd looking. It looked like a triple cap that maybe someone had used a little too much tobacco to make. There were also some scattered medium veins to it as well. As I put my nose to the wrapper I got a fairly intense aroma of leather with lots of barnyard coming form the foot. When I gave it a squeeze there was a slight amount of give but no soft spots. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got notes of chocolate with a good draw.
Flavor
The cigar starts off with some leather, lots of chocolate, and a hint of graham. The second third saw flavors of chocolate, coffee with a hint of cinnamon. As I finished off the cigar I didn’t really get much change in what flavors I noted, just the intensity that they showed up on the palate. The cigar started off in the upper end of medium and finished off firmly in the full range with a slight nicotine hit present.
Construction
I had some issues with the draw being a little tight after lighting up the cigar that were solved by the bleeder tool on my MTX. The burn was a little wavy but nothing that I needed to get the lighter out for.
Value
The $6.25 price for this cigar is a great value in my opinion.
Conclusions
I definitely enjoyed this cigar a lot more than La Caridad del Cobre maduro which was my previous favorite Frank Herrera Blend. I do think that most could handle the strength. If you like the flavors of chocolate, coffee, cinnamon and leather you should definitely give it a try. I’ll be picking a few more up when I get the chance. You can get yours here.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
This article originally appeared on Tiki Bar Online.
Nice review Keith, I have had my fair share of La Caridad del Cobre and ehhh to say the least. I haven’t heard of the Frank Herrera before if I see these local I’ll pick one up the flavors you described sound like I would enjoy them… Question how do you like the Xikar MTX tool?