Tags
cameroon, cigars, connecticut shade, corojo, drew estate, habana, havana, maduro
When it comes to cigars, I generally live in the world of value (cheap) priced sticks. It actually gets painful for me when I consider paying more than $6.00 for a single cigar. Given this, and the availability of cigars in my area, I’ve spent a lot of time with the current La Vieja Habana series by Drew Estate, having smoked many examples of 3 of the 4 wrapper types offered. As of the writing of this review, I have yet to source the cameroon wrapper, and will likely take to the internet to secure a few of them to round out my understanding of the series as a whole.
This particular series of cigar seems to be almost educational in a sense. Everything I’m reading has led me to believe that the filler is the same in each of the offerings, with the only difference being the wrapper. If this is true, then the La Vieja Habana line is a great place to direct newer smokers who are still getting learning their own tastes. Each of the 3 different wrapper types I’ve smoked have brought vastly different experiences. My favorite in the line is the maduro, which has a velvety coffee and cocoa presence with semi-sweet undertones throughout the whole stick. None of the offerings I’ve smoked have proven to be overly complex in flavor, but they have been representative of the baseline flavors for each wrapper type.
The Connecticut shade wrapped sticks have been my second-favorite in the line, and I’ve smoked more of this wrapper than any of the others. It is a mild and creamy cigar, with almost no spice or variation to that mild creaminess. If there is a better starter cigar, in terms of flavor and price, I haven’t found it yet. I can honestly say, that for a starter smoke, I actually like this particular cigar over Macanudos, which tend to be a lot more complex and spicy in profile. For someone that has never smoked a cigar, the LVH Connecticut would be a perfect suggestion as not only is it mild, it is unoffensive as well. Often cigars in this price range will be less than forgiving to fast smoking and poor habits, but the LVH Connecticut has never left me dissatisfied, even when pushed.
All reviews are subject to the personal preferences of the author, and here is where mine factor the heaviest: I do not like the Corojo wrapped offering at all. This should take nothing away from the cigar itself. It burns fine, the flavor wasn’t bad per se, it’s just contrary to my own preferences. I tend to favor a creamy coffee or cocoa profile in my cigars, occasionally liking spice, leather, and cedar. The Corojo was really earthy tasting to me, but not in a good way. I found it to be earthy kind of like mud is earthy. The flavor of that particular wrapper fell completely flat for me, and held the same flavor through the whole stick.
All in all, I believe the La Vieja Habana line to be a great value, and it will likely continue to be a staple in my humidor for a long time to come.
Of Pipes and Patriots 