Vitola: Robusto- 5” x 52 ring gauge
- ~$7.50
- Samples provided by Gran Habano Cigars
Background
Part of the latest shipment of review cigars from Gran Habano was one that I honestly had not heard of, even though it had been around for a while: Cabinet Selection. In looking around the net a bit, it seems like this cigar came out in 2008 to 2009 and has been off the market for several years, with none of the large online retailers having any stock currently. I am guessing at the price based on an old (circa 2009) review I found.
The Cabinet Selection is a Nicaraguan puro, made at the Gran Habano facility in Honduras. It uses a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper leaf. And that’s about all there is to say. I got a couple sticks from Natasha Rico at Gran Habano Cigars specifically for this review; GH is a sponsor of Leaf Enthusiast.
Prelight
There seemed to have been an attempt with this cigar to set it apart from the regular Gran Habano line by taking the design used for the majority of their older cigars and changing it to just red and silver foil. The secondary band mimics this look. The result is a bit of a mess, with the loss of a good amount of detail in the artwork and the band reflecting so much light that it’s hard to read without turning it back and forth so that different parts of the band are obscured by the light. Packaging isn’t everything, but I would change this if the blend is brought back at some point.
The wrapper of the cigar was a medium-brown color with a very evident reddish hue to it. It didn’t have a ton of oils to the eye, but when I touched it, it felt very oily. Giving the wrapper a sniff, I got light notes of wood and nuts, with a touch of earthiness. The foot of the cigar had a stronger earthiness along with a sweeter, almost chocolatey component.
After putting a straight cut not the cigar, I had a good draw that tasted of cedar along with a cooling sensation that was like that of mint…but not minty.
Flavor
The GH Cabinet Selection lit up quickly and evenly. Soon it was chugging out a rich smoke with plenty of cedar, but also a sweet citrus flavor and a good amount of pepper spice on the palate. The retrohale was a mix of dry wood, red pepper and a little nuttiness. As the first third continued on, the sweeter citrus notes were joined by a light chocolate, while the cedar and pepper played stronger backing roles.
The second third had more interplay of sweeter notes of orange and milk chocolate. The cedar flavors receded a bit, while a coffee bean notes started to come through. The pepper spice hung out in the background along with a touch of baking spice.
The last third of the Cabinet Selection saw a resurgence of the pepper spice and cedar, with the sweeter notes backing way off to a supporting role. There was still some coffee bean in the mix, as well.
Construction
I had a very good draw, solid ash up to three-quarters of an inch or so, and a even enough burn line that I never needed to touch it up.
Value
The price on these is simply great for the experience they deliver. Note that the price does reflect that it was released about 8 or 9 years ago, though.
Conclusions
In my early years of cigar smoking and in these last few months of receiving some review samples from Gran Habano, I’ve smoked most of what they have offered. The Cabinet Selection is easily my favorite of all of those. It had a great mix of sweet and spicy, punctuated by cedar and coffee notes. The complexity was very pleasing and the flavors were never disappointing. This is a cigar that really should go back into production if they can get the right tobacco still, although a redesign of the bands would be nice, too.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
