Vitola: Unico Especial (short torpedo)
Size: 5″ x 48 ring gauge
Price $14.99
Obtained From SmallBatchCigar.com as a review sample
Background
Today I’ll be looking at another of the Warped Cigars line, the La Colmena albeit in a limited size. The website says this cigar is supposed to be reminiscent of the cigars from the ISOM and made with traditional Cuban rolling methods. This is one of the blends made in the El Titan de Bronze factory in Miami. They claim that only 100 of these cigars are produced each day by a category 9 Cuban ex-pat roller. These cigars are comprised of Nicaraguan & Dominican fillers, with an Ecuadorian binder and an Ecuadorian Deflorada wrapper. They come in two different sizes a 6″x36 petite lancero and a 5.5″x44 corona gorda. They come packed in 10 count boxes. The cigar I’m reviewing today is the same blend as the regular sizes but one that was only available to people who placed orders at the recent IPCPR show. Instead of being packed in a wood box, they are packed 10 to a tin. This was the second of this blend, and the first of this size I smoked.
Prelight
Until I found out that la colmena meant the beehive I couldn’t figure out what the image on the band represented, now it makes a lot more sense once I understood that. The wrapper on this sample is a nice golden brown in color with some oils and some fine veins. The wrapper was slightly velvety to the touch and had a scattering of tooth as well. There was a slight green spot near the bottom of the cigar that again looked a bit like a water spot. The cigar had a slight amount of give when I gave it a squeeze but there weren’t any soft spots. When I put my nose to the wrapper I detected some light hay, with the same thing coming from the closed foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw on I tasted some light cinnamon and wood with a good draw.
Flavor
The cigar starts off with red pepper spice, green herbs and a hint of sweetness on the finish. Towards the end of the first third I started to get notes of hay and wood with the sweetness on the finish building while the spice was waning. The cigar started off in the upper end of medium. As I moved into the second third the flavors changed slightly to cinnamon, wood, leather, light cream, and green herbs. The finish was still definitely pretty sweet. The spice started to come back towards the end of the second third. The strength built a bit as well. The final third the intensity of the cinnamon and wood flavors build considerably. The spice grew more intense as well with the tip of my tongue starting to tingle. The cigar moved into the medium full range as it finished out.
Construction
My thoughts on a closed foot on a cigar is pretty straightforward, I don’t like them. This one caused some difficulty getting the cigar lit up as they tend to. Other than that the draw and burn line were pretty much perfect throughout. The cigar gave off lots of thick smoke with every draw.
Value
$15 is just a bit high IMO for this cigar. There are many other cigars that I like better for this price point.
Conclusions
In spite of the price this was a very enjoyable cigar. I will say that I enjoyed the Amando No. 44 (corona gorda) size that I smoked first even more than this one. This would be a great first cigar of the day with a cup of coffee. Only the most nicotine sensitive would find issue with the strength of this cigar. I think this is a cigar I would buy once in a while but not a lot. As you might expect you can pick up this cigar from our sponsor SmallBatchCigar.com.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8.5/10
This is probably a cigar I would really enjoy. The price just seems to be a little high.
Didn’t realize they were that expensive. Sounds pretty great though. Thanks for the review Keith.
While I love the look of the Closed foot I hate the actual concept of it. I really don’t understand the purpose of it outside of the look, I often cut it off with my cutter. The cigar does have a Cubanesq look to it. Great review
Exactly what czerbe said. To the Tee. I can not emphasize that enough, how much it looks Cubanesque.
Agree with the group, don’t like the closed foot idea and makes the cigar a pain in the ass to get lit. I have heard nothing but good things about these cigars, will have to add this to the ever growing list of cigars to try.
Got to try one at IPCPR and really enjoyed them. Have not found an outlet to get more as yet. Great review!