Cigar Review: Atabey

Vitola: Ritos
Size: 6.125” x 55 ring gauge
Price ~$30, not including Humitube (curiously the Atabey website has an MSRP of $75(!) per stick)
Sample provided by United Cigar

Background

Another day, another cigar from the “Selected Tobaccos” brands, which are made in Costa Rica with a “top secret” blend of tobaccos. My old friend, Barry Stein, sent me a sampling of Selected Tobaccos products, which are being distributed by United Cigar, a company that Barry is doing marketing work for. Last week, I took a look at the Bandolero blend, and came away pleased overall with the cigar, but less than happy about the price tag. Today’s smoke promises to be an even tougher sell on someone like me (notoriously cheap), as the blend retails for $20 to $30 per stick. I’m going to be right up front and say there are just a very few cigars that I’ve smoked that live up to that kind of price tag and they include the Davidoff Colorado Claro (although my favored Robusto vitola is closer to $18), Padron 1926 Series 80 Years Maduro, Davidoff Geneva 100 Year Anniversary…and that’s it…can’t think of any more off the top of my head that I would willing pay over $20 for. Which brings us to Atabey.

From what I could glean, Atabey was created by Nelson Alfonso, one of the people behind the branding for the Cuban Cohiba Behike line. That explains the notable similarities between the designs for Behike and Atabey. Atabey is a deity worshipped by the Taino people who inhabited a large part of the Caribbean at one time…

In Taino mythology, Atabey was the first female in the world and was the mother of Yucahu, the main male god of the Tainos. Besides being the mother goddess, was Atabey divinity of the Moon, the Sea of Fertility and Birth.

Her figure is also associated as “Mother of Waters”, associating it with rivers, lakes and seas to give life to the cultivation of cassava, tobacco and agriculture in general.

Barry also noted in his letter accompanying the cigar:

“…the Taino Indians used to sit around in a circle and smoke while praying. The circle was called a “cohiba.” They would blow their smoke with their prayers to the leader of the group, whom was the “behike.” The leader would then take their smoke and prayers and direct it to the goddess Atabey.”

So the whole thing ties together: Cohiba, Behike, Atabey. The reviews I glanced at, the price tag (whether you accept the price it’s sold at or the MSRP listed on the manufacturer’s website), and the overall hype promise a spectacular experience…and I’m really hoping it isn’t oversold. Also, I have to say it…the name makes me want to say “Attaboy!” As with the other United Cigar products in this series, I received one sample from the company and that’s what I will be smoking for this review.

Prelight

First things first…when you spend this kind of money on a cigar, you have certain expectations for how it is presented. From what I’ve seen of the box/jar presentation online, and from what I can see from the sample on my desk presently, they definitely have done the job in that regard. The band is graphically simple, yet elegant and stunning. Yes, it definitely resembles a Cohiba Behika…no, I really don’t care. The use of blank ink, metallic gold ink, gold foil and silver foil is rich, yet restrained. Props to Mr. Alfonso and the design department for what is definitely a “statement band.” The wrapper leaf is also fantastic; I couldn’t find a flaw in the leaf or the construction…I believe it would have easily passed QC for the Davidoff White Label line, which probably has the highest standards in the world. I got a sweet molasses and hay aroma from the wrapper leaf, not unlike what I can remember from some lighter Ecuadorian Habano wrappers, like that on the Four Kicks. The foot had a slight ripeness of manure and earth, along with more hay and natural tobacco.

I clipped the end with my Xikar Xi and got an excellent draw. The cold flavors were of natural, aged tobacco, molasses, and hay. I have to admit…the unlit flavor was pretty great and really put me in an anticipatory mood for the actual lighting.

Flavor

The Atabey took a bit of time to get evenly toasted and lit. Once fully fired, the beginning flavors were of toast, earth, natural tobacco, and molasses, along with touches of lemon grass and smooth light-roast coffee on the palate. The retrohale presented more toasty bready notes along with white pepper. Despite my skepticism, I was finding this cigar to be smooth and refined, with tons of complexity and just enough pepper bite to keep the proceedings interesting. As the third continued along, I noted that the body started off in the medium zone, with definite potential for building. I started to get roasted nut notes on the retrohale and an increase in earthiness on the palate.

The second third saw a continuation of the earthy notes building, along with a bit of pepper coming through on the palate. Overall, the blend was still extremely refined, creamy and well-balanced.

The body of the Atabey stayed in the medium range until the final third when it fairly suddenly bumped up to the medium-to-full range rather quickly. I got a stronger black coffee note, earth and still subtle notes of molasses while the citrus had ebbed away to almost nothing by that point.

Construction

As is to be expected from a cigar at this level, construction was top-notch. I had an excellent draw, almost perfectly even burn line and ash as solid as concrete.

Value

Some reviewers don’t take price into consideration and just leave off the “value” part of the equation altogether. I’ve heard it said, “You can’t put a price on an experience.” To which I say: Poppycock. If you are paying your hard-earned money for a smoking experience, you have to know if the amount of money you plunk down is worth it. I’m putting the Atabey in a rare category: worth the price, even though the price is really high.

Conclusions

As noted above, I was very skeptical going into the Atabey experience…how could a cigar I had only marginally heard of be worth this kind of money. So, color me surprised when I finished up with the decision that “Yes…the Atabey is definitely worth the price of admission.” It was a very complex, very satisfying smoke from beginning to end and I would love to be able to afford to smoke them more often. As for the top secret blend, I’m inclined to think it has a fair amount of Nicaraguan leaf, maybe a bit of Dominican, and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. Whatever is actually in it, though, it’s definitely a great smoke that you should try if you get the chance…and it’s my first “Perfect 10” of 2015. Attaboy, indeed!

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 10/10