Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
Last week I looked at Tarazona’s original 3 blends, writing overall impressions of them all; today I’m looking at a couple blends Tarazona distributes (editor’s note: this arrangement changed in early 2014). According to the press release that was sent out in January, the Cubanacan Connecticut was released at last year’s IPCPR show and the Habano version was released at the beginning of 2013. Cubanacan is the name of the factory Tarazona uses in Estelí, Nicaragua. There are 5 total vitolas and they come in boxes of 50, retailing for between $5.35 and $7.85 per stick. I received 1 each of the Connecticut and Habano blends in the “Rothschild” vitola, which is a basic Robusto at 5” x 50 ring gauge. Let’s dive in.
CUBANACAN CONNECTICUT
The golden Connecticut Shade wrapper on this cigar is set off by a dark brown band with gold trim and subtle, but effective use of other colors and some embossing. The wrapper was oily to the touch and perhaps not quite as flawless and pristine as something you would see on a Davidoff white label or Zino Platinum, but those start around 3 times the starting price of this stick. Some people may be in a place in life where price is no object, but I haven’t achieved that yet. The aroma from the wrapper was fresh, sweet hay. I got more hay and a little earth on the foot. The prelight draw was slightly sweet with some hints of maple, wet earth and spice.
After lighting I got a sweet molasses flavor on the front end, along with some earth and spice in the middle of each puff of smoke. The body was close to medium right from the start and, though there were definite indicators of a Connecticut Shade wrapper, it seemed to have a lot of Nicaraguan influence (the filler), as well as a little kick from the Ecuadorian Habano binder. So far, I was really enjoying this smoke. I had started to get a little bored again with some Connecticut Shade wrapped cigars again (I go through phases…who doesn’t?), but this really grabbed my interest.
And I have to say that the Cubanacan Connecticut stayed interesting throughout the smoking experience. I got plenty of earthy goodness, along with enough sweetness to balance it out, plus occasional notes of cream, grass, cedar, and pepper spice. Overall I found it a complex and enjoyable medium-bodied cigar.
CUBANACAN HABANO
The Habano version is slightly darker in color, almost the color of dark coffee with just a touch of milk in it. There were a couple veins that looked large, but were flattened out very effectively. The leaf was very oily to the touch and though it looked somewhat toothy, it didn’t have much of that kind of texture to it. The banding has the same logo as the Connecticut, but this time with a lighter background that again helps it set off from the wrapper leaf. Giving the wrapper a sniff, I picked up sweet hay notes with a bit of molasses lingering there, too. I’ve smelled this before on Ecuadorian Habano wrappers and I like it! The foot was earthy and a little chocolately. I clipped the head and noted the prelight draw to be full of sweet tobacco flavor.
During prelight, I was starting to think this Nicaraguan filler and Ecuadorian Habano binder and wrapper combination was somewhat familiar to me, but that feeling pretty much went away after I got it lit. While I did get a little bit of molasses sweetness, the overwhelming notes were of Nicaraguan earthiness and pepper spice. Through the first third, I noticed the pepper spice fade a bit, but the earthiness only seemed to get more prominent. The sweet tobacco flavor with a touch of molasses never went away, either.
And on through the end, the Cubanacan Habano was flat-out a great smoke. It was medium-to-full in body with plenty of earth “umph” and enough lingering pepper spice to keep things really interesting. The sweetness balanced out those notes well and I enjoyed the stogie down to the nub. I can say that this is definitely the best of the Tarazona smokes I tried in these two sessions and this one will eventually get the full review treatment, although I would like to do so in the smaller ring gauge vitola that is available.
I would recommend you trying both of these and see what you think. Definitely two different and interesting entries in the Tarazona catalog.
