Myself and Pandyboy decided to light up a Cohiba Behike 52 since it was named the cigar of the year 2010. It was bought from the LCDH in Teddington around August last year. I stored mine at 68RH% until smoking.
Pre smoking
Had a tapas meal before hand washed down with a lovely Peronni beer about half an hour before smoking. The meal was a little spicy but the palette was cleansed with a glass of water or two before leaving for the Hotel Du Vin smoking shack where we lit them up. I decided to drink a Havana club rum and coke with this fine cigar. The cigar was in pristine condition. Nice smooth slightly oily wrapper. Firm to the touch and well packed.
I decided to punch this cigar and the draw was perfect, just the right amount of resistance. Pre draw was a sweet caramel.
Smoking
First puff after lighting I got the classic Siglo VI flavour profile mixed in with a light burnt caramel flavour mixed in. By the first 1cm the burnt caramel changed to roasted caramel for the first third. Strength was mild and very smooth.
The ash was nice and compact and a beautiful grey. Flavour profile stayed the same till the end of the first third. The band was nice and tight but because the cigar wrapper was so smooth I could slide it to the cap.
The wrapper burned very well and just needed one touch up during the entire smoke and no relighting was needed. The ash was getting long so I decided not to risk it and tap it off however the ash was rock solid and I could have attempted a Nub stand with it.
Second third started developing Hoyo Epicure No 2 Flavours that worked very well with the classic Cohiba flavour profile. Also it started becoming more creamy and almost a marsh mellow flavour creeping in.
The final third started to see the cigar build in strength to a medium strong to strong cigar. Also towards the very end i got slight peppermint overtones that was like an after eight mint at the end of a good meal, very nice. The sweetness of the rum and coke was working well with this cigar. I decided to nub this cigar to the very end and skewered it with my little knife on the end of my punch keyring to cut stuck cigar bands off, worked a treat.
As you can see i sucked every last bit of goodness from the cigar and enjoyed it thoroughly. It is one of the smoothest Cubans i have smoked however not the best but it is up there with my top 5 smokes ever. I think it is just a bit over hyped which leads to high expectations that is didn't live up to. It just wasn't complex enough in it's flavour changes and they weren't distinct enough for me.
I loved smoking this cigar as you can probably guess from this evidence or lack of it left lol.
Sorry about the dark photos but it was light when we started and after 45 minutes it was pitch dark. Just me and Pandyboy under our blankets by a gas fire braving the cold in the excellent Hotel Du Vin smoking shack.
I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar but i think it is overpriced for it's size. I'm glad i smoked it and ticked the box. Would i pay full UK prices for another? No, but i would at a discounted rate . It just isn't different enough from the normal Cohiba Siglo line to warrant the higher price IMHO. YMMV.
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Pre smoking
Had a tapas meal before hand washed down with a lovely Peronni beer about half an hour before smoking. The meal was a little spicy but the palette was cleansed with a glass of water or two before leaving for the Hotel Du Vin smoking shack where we lit them up. I decided to drink a Havana club rum and coke with this fine cigar. The cigar was in pristine condition. Nice smooth slightly oily wrapper. Firm to the touch and well packed.
I decided to punch this cigar and the draw was perfect, just the right amount of resistance. Pre draw was a sweet caramel.
Smoking
First puff after lighting I got the classic Siglo VI flavour profile mixed in with a light burnt caramel flavour mixed in. By the first 1cm the burnt caramel changed to roasted caramel for the first third. Strength was mild and very smooth.
The ash was nice and compact and a beautiful grey. Flavour profile stayed the same till the end of the first third. The band was nice and tight but because the cigar wrapper was so smooth I could slide it to the cap.
The wrapper burned very well and just needed one touch up during the entire smoke and no relighting was needed. The ash was getting long so I decided not to risk it and tap it off however the ash was rock solid and I could have attempted a Nub stand with it.
Second third started developing Hoyo Epicure No 2 Flavours that worked very well with the classic Cohiba flavour profile. Also it started becoming more creamy and almost a marsh mellow flavour creeping in.
The final third started to see the cigar build in strength to a medium strong to strong cigar. Also towards the very end i got slight peppermint overtones that was like an after eight mint at the end of a good meal, very nice. The sweetness of the rum and coke was working well with this cigar. I decided to nub this cigar to the very end and skewered it with my little knife on the end of my punch keyring to cut stuck cigar bands off, worked a treat.
As you can see i sucked every last bit of goodness from the cigar and enjoyed it thoroughly. It is one of the smoothest Cubans i have smoked however not the best but it is up there with my top 5 smokes ever. I think it is just a bit over hyped which leads to high expectations that is didn't live up to. It just wasn't complex enough in it's flavour changes and they weren't distinct enough for me.
I loved smoking this cigar as you can probably guess from this evidence or lack of it left lol.
Sorry about the dark photos but it was light when we started and after 45 minutes it was pitch dark. Just me and Pandyboy under our blankets by a gas fire braving the cold in the excellent Hotel Du Vin smoking shack.
I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar but i think it is overpriced for it's size. I'm glad i smoked it and ticked the box. Would i pay full UK prices for another? No, but i would at a discounted rate . It just isn't different enough from the normal Cohiba Siglo line to warrant the higher price IMHO. YMMV.
Sent from my iPhone using tapatalk
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