Cigar: Yute by Edolara Cigars
Size: 6 x 52 (Toro Flathead)
Wrapper: Habano Vuelta Arriba (HVA)
Binder: Habano Vuelta Arriba (HVA)
Filler: Criollo 98 (C98), Habano 2020
Price: Bought two five packs for $81.00 at Rodrigo Cigars
Used promo code mentioned on the sales page for a 10% discount
Coming from a recent emailing by George Rodriguez is this week’s review. I remember seeing the email the first time because I had just gotten up and wasn’t fully awake yet (no coffee at that point) and thinking: “A Toro Flathead? Who does that?” Well, someone does, and his name is Eduardo Lara, owner of Edolara Cigars. It’s a cool story as to how the ‘Yute’ came to be but I think that I can summarize it with this quote:
“They all laughed at me… until they lit the cigar!”
Something tells me I’m not going to be laughing about the cigar either, but let’s find out for sure.
No construction issues were found on my initial examination of the cigar used for review. One thing I will note as I found this on a few others I smoked prior to review: Be very careful in taking the “band” off as some of them were glued on pretty tightly and took some of the wrapper with it. The review cigar’s band, reminiscent of the CAO Amazon Basin, stayed in the package as I slid the cigar out of the plastic packaging. The flat cap is a nice touch to a favorite vitola of mine, although make sure when you want to cut or punch it (I punched mine) that you do so when ready. The flatcap itself is very thin. Pre-light aromas consisted of fresh straw and wood and the flavors from the cold draw were faint hints of dried fruit.
The opening flavor notes after lighting gave me initial hits of wood, a duller spice hitting all around the palette and bitter cocoa. The draw had a nice balance, coupled with a near-perfect burn. The initial strength I would classify as medium-to-full bodied. The ash on this particular cigar was one of the best I have had in years. It was so good that I ended up taking a photo, mostly because I am a magnet for ash. The duller spice mentioned above started to back off the palette around 25 minutes in. Stronger wood notes began creeping up at the halfway point with the inclusion of leather. By the last inch, the bitter cocoa notes returned with fuller wood and leathery flavors, all of which were amplified by the full bodied strength at the end of the cigar. Total smoking time was 1:10.
Despite having a near-perfect burn and amazing ash, the wrapper on my review Yute starting coming off in the last inch to inch and a half of the cigar. And also by that point, I had bits of tobacco falling off into my mouth, which was more annoying than anything. Out of 10 cigars I purchased and the ones smoked (this one being six), this was the only one that I encountered that problem with.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
To recap the Yute by Edolara Cigars:
- Other cigar offered by Rodrigo Cigars that hit the mark. The Yute has a nice coupling of flavors with a fair bit of strength to it, especially at the end.
- I think newer cigar smokers could handle the Yute initially but the strength does go up quite a bit by the end.
- I think the cigar is definitely a good value for the price, especially when buying a couple five packs at a time.
- This is another one of those cigars that without the wrapper coming off and the cigar breaking down is easily a 9/10. I enjoyed the Yute by Edolara Cigars, but there are other offerings from Rodrigo I like more, such as the La Fortaleza. Regardless, The Yute is a solid cigar that I would enjoy anytime.
Thank you very much for reading. I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.
