Vitola: Box-pressed Churchill- 6.5” x 48 ring gauge
- MSRP $10.50
- Samples provided by Cubariqueño Cigar Company
Background
One of the latest releases from Cubariqueño Cigar Company is the Protocol Cyber Crimes Unit, which you may also ben referred to as the Protocol Green. It was released last year in a single size…a Box-Pressed Churchill. It does keep with the “law enforcement” themes of other Protocol releases, while also paying homage to brand co-owner, Kevin Keithan, whose day job is in the internet security industry.
As with all other releases from the company, this cigar is made a Erik Espinosa’s La Zona factory in Nicaragua. This is a Nicaraguan puro, featuring a Rosado Habano wrapper leaf.
I received 3 of these from Cubariqueño Cigar Company for review purposes; this is the third one I’ve smoked as part of this review cycle. I got information for this background section from Cigar-Coop’s article about the introduction of the blend.
Prelight
The neon green for the color coding on this cigar is a little bright, but very “matrix-y,” I guess. It’s probably the weakest of the colors used on any of the Protocol lines, but I don’t hate it. The box press was nicely executed with softly rounded corners and smoothly flat sides.
The wrapper leaf had a slightly-darker-than-medium brown color with a minimal amount of oiliness but it was very smooth and even, with small, flat veins. The aroma from the wrapper leaf was a mix of natural tobacco and earth, while the foot of the cigar had notes of earth, cedar, and cocoa powder.
Once I clipped the head of the cigar, I got a great prelight draw that had flavors of cedar and hay mostly, along with a slightly sweet cocoa powder.
Flavor
I fired up the Protocol Green and got notes of cedar and cinnamon and red pepper, along with lesser flavors of cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate. The finish and the nose had notes of roasted nuttiness, while pepper burn was really noticeable on the retrohale. As I worked my way through the first third, I noted that the cinnamon died while more cedar came through. All the while I was having to puff fairly frequently as the cigar kept acting like it wanted to go out on me, even though I was getting a good draw. This was actually a repeat of one of my earlier samples.
The second third had more cedar and a slightly sweet note that was not the chocolate from earlier, but was hard to define. There were undertones of coffee and leather, as well, while the pepper spice provided a nice, steady burn.
I didn’t get much different in the final third.
Construction
The draw was good, the burn line was decent, and the ash was solid…but the cigar didn’t want to stay lit for long, it seemed, forcing me to relight several times and puff more throughout, making it burn hotter.
Value
Good cigar and decent price tag, adds up to good value.
Conclusions
The Protocol Green (Cyber Crimes Unit) was a good cigar that was high on cedar flavor that really isn’t my wheelhouse…I like some, but when it becomes too strong, it’s a turnoff for me. That said, I feel like it fulfilled its mission of being a unique cigar in the line and if you’re looking for a medium-bodied very cedary smoking experience, it might be right up your alley.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
