Company Introduction: Kuuts Cigars

Originally published at Tiki Bar Online

I have to start off this post by issuing a brief apology. I received these cigars from Kuuts back in late March. At the time my schedule was packed with blog posts and shopping trips that needed to be done before I took off at the end of April for Nicaragua for a few days. I asked Keith to think about doing the reviews for these sticks, since they had sent the same sample package to him, but there were a couple problems. First, he seemed to have construction issues with all the first samples he smoked; this continued on when he actually did a review and continued to have problems. Second, he just didn’t care for the flavors; could it have had anything to do with the construction issues he found? Certainly I have found that burn and draw issues can affect flavor. We called off the reviews he was working on but I wanted to get back around to these myself so I decided to present them as a “company intro” piece.

Kuuts, LLC, is the American market company created by the owners of Promo Tobacco of Spain and Compañia Hondureña de Tabacos (a factory) in Honduras. Kuuts will be distributing all their products in the American market and is headed by John Gonzalez (Vice President) and Gabriel Alvarez (Operations Manager). I got to meet Gabriel in Miami (on my way to Nicaragua) and the company is sponsoring the Chattanooga Tweet-Up at the beginning of next month.

PLACERES RESERVA

From the text Gabriel provided:

Placeres Reserva, spanish for Reserved Pleasures are completely hand made in our factory in Jacaleapa, Honduras. This box-pressed gem is a medium to full bodied cigar that features a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper with a Costa Rican Binder and combined Nicaraguan and Honduran filler in order to produce the incredible flavor and aroma that this cigar has to offer. It is available in 5 vitolas. The Marevas — 5 X 42, Estrellas – 5 X 50, Belicosos – 5 ½ X 52, Colosos – 6 X 54, and Toro Grande – 6 X 60.

I was sent the Estrellas vitola, basically a box-pressed Robusto. I have to say the cigar looked great. The band was attractive and quite traditional. The wrapper was a reddish-brown with a very oily feel. Putting it to the nose, I got notes of earth and leather; the foot had a pungent earthiness with a bit of wood to it as well. I got a good draw after clipping and the prelight flavor was earthy and sweet.

Based on the strong Nicaraguan influence of this cigar, you might expect it to come on strong right at the beginning, but you would be wrong. I think it’s probably best to remember that these cigars were designed for the European market first and they are generally not as interested in getting beaten over the head with powerful tobacco as many American smokers seem to be. Judged from that perspective, I would say the Placeres Reserva starts off medium in body, while the flavor is cedary up front, with earth and dried fruit playing backup. The was a medium-plus peppery hit on the nose as well.

As I smoked through the first third and into the second, I got notes of citrus and sharp cedar, mixed with earthier notes of dry cocoa and coffee. The body increased a bit, as well, until it was certainly that medium-to-full area the company states that it occupies. This was a very nice smoke with some interesting and hard-to-pin-down flavors; in some ways, very Nicaraguan, but in other ways, not at all.

I liked this smoke and would definitely smoke it again.

MIRÓ

Next up is the Miró, which according to Google Translate, is the past tense for “look”…or simply: “looked.” Not sure what is meant by that, or maybe it’s slang for something else. But Gabriel said this:

Miró Cigars are a product of a prime selection of perfectly fermented tobacco. Their distinct aroma precedes their intense, profound, slightly matured flavors that slightly intensify the further you get into them. The Miró brand of cigars is a full bodied cigar that is sure to make any ordinary occasion into an absolutely unique one with the incredible flavors and aromas given off by the perfect blend of a Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and combined Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. Considered our companied sleeping giant, we are sure that todays medium to full smoker will grow to love this cigar.

I smoked the 5.25 x 50 ring gauge Robusto. The band is wide and more modern, although I wouldn’t say really contemporary. It’s an interesting and unique look, although some of the type on the band is difficult to read because of the combination of medium-low contrast and very small font size. The cigar’s wrapper was a fairly dark brown and quite oily to the touch. I’m not sure I’ve seen a Sumatran wrapper this dark, actually…it’s possible, though I don’t remember when. The aroma was basically neutral, just a little hint of cedar and leather. The foot was slightly more aromatic, with a bit of dried berry scent and some earthiness.

The cold draw on the Miró was mostly sweet and a little fruity…almost a blueberry flavor, of all things. Once lit, the flavors were much darker, though; the cigar was heavily earthy with some muddied-up sweetness and muted woodiness. Through the first third, that was the story, it seemed. The body was full, but the flavors were muddy and muted, with nothing coming through distinctly to me.

Some citrus zing broke through in the second third, livening up the proceedings, but the predominant flavor was still a deep earthiness. By the end, I had experienced some interesting and somewhat unique flavors that I had trouble describing, but they were fleeting and still somewhat indistinct in the blend. In the end I found the Miró interesting and felt it had potential, but lacked enough flavor to want to add it to my regular rotation. Just judging from past experiences, it could have been the Honduran leaf that I had a negative reaction to, so if Honduran is more in your wheelhouse, it is something you should try.

TABACALERA ZAPATA

Finally, we have the 3rd cigar from the Kuuts initial American release, Tabacalera Zapata. “Zapata” is Spanish for “shoe”…and that sounds like it could be an interesting story.

The Tabacalera Zapata brand is a mild to medium bodied cigar that features a uniquely primed Honduran Connecticut Oscuro Wrapper with an Honduran binder and a combination of Honduran, Nicaraguan and Jaltepec tobaccos for the filler in order to give this blend its well-balanced flavor. While mainly staying in the medium range of strength this cigar provides a very pleasant smoking experience for those that enjoy a well flavored cigar without that elevated strength factor.

I was sent samples of the 5” x 50 ring gauge Robusto to try out. Of the 3 bands, I think I like the Tabacalera Zapata the best.It’s a fairly simple 2-color, black and gold metallic ink, along with a custom die cut and strategic use of embossing. The design is a little old world, a little new world, mixing European and Central American cultural motifs to very nice effect. The Connecticut Shade wrapper used is only slightly darker than what you might expect from an Ecuadorian crop, but this Honduran leaf is called “Oscuro” anyway. While the word technically means “dark” and is applied to very dark, almost black wrappers, when used as a modifier of other words it can denote a “darker Rosado” color, or in this case…”darker Shade” coloration. What is particularly different about this leaf from many Shade leaves is the amount of oil on the surface. To the touch, it’s almost like touching a Connecticut Broadleaf. The aroma was a sweet hay with a touch of molasses. I took a whiff of the foot of the cigar and got more hay, along with a heady barnyard aroma. The cold draw was just slightly tight and had a rich, sweet grassiness, a bit of earth, and a lemony zing.

It took a long time to get this cigar lit up correctly. Longer than I can remember almost any Shade wrapped cigar taking. It seemed like it was an almost solid wall of tobacco on the foot, too, so it may have been slightly overpacked.. When I finally did get it burning evenly, though, it produced a good amount of smoke and an interesting flavor combination of sweet hay, slightly bitter grassiness, and citrus sourness. It was on the one hand a fairly typical Shade cigar and on the other hand had a little extra body, a little extra kick of pepper in the nose, and a little more complexity than most. After about 5 minutes, I did have to note that the draw was a bit tighter than it should have been and the flavor might have come through even more pronounced if it wasn’t so snug.

By the time the second third rolled around, I seemed to get through the tighter part of the construction and the smoke pulled through more freely. The flavor opened up as expected, too. I got plenty of grass and earth flavors, along with more pronounced cedar. What started to fade was the sweetness that would provide a better balance to the flavor profile. It wasn’t totally gone, but it had diminished quite a bit.

As I finished the Tabacalera Zapata, I had a solid impression of the smoking experience: definitely in the middle of the body spectrum with flavors that trended more toward the bitter with notes of espresso, earth and grass. It’s not my favorite Shade cigar, but it’s far from my least favorite and definitely something I would smoke again.

Again, I have to emphasize that these cigars were developed for the European market and have reportedly been successful there. They may not immediately appeal to some American palates, but there are interesting and somewhat unique in their execution, so I would encourage you to give them a try. As I’ve said before, you may just find a new favorite cigar.

Thank you again to Gabriel for sending these samples for me to try and thank you to Kuuts for sponsoring the 2013 Chattanooga Tweet-Up.