Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Size: 5 x 42 “Marevas – Petit Corona”
Body: Medium
Price: $11.00

Today we take a look at the Cuban Cohiba Siglo II.
A big thanks to Bruce Cholka for gifting me this cigar.

BACKGROUND:
Factory: El Laguito
This cigar was introduced in November 1992 and introduced to the international market in 1994, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus to the New World.
Made from Vuelta Abajo tobacco.
All of Cohiba’s cigars are known to go through an exclusive third fermentation that gives it its unique taste.
That’s all I got folks.

DESCRIPTION:
For some reason, the rollers on these Cohiba blends didn’t take a lot of time rolling them. They are very lumpy and bumpy. Big tree trunk veins with lots of small veins. But a perfectly applied flat triple cap. The cigar is an oily, amber/light brown color that is very smooth to the touch.
All of these cigars are a bit soft to the touch. Not really a solid cigar but not a spongy one either. Somewhere in between.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell the strong floral notes and barnyard that this cigar is famous for.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I can smell chocolate, grass, and vanilla. All flavors that this cigar is known for.
The cold draw presents flavors of grass, chocolate, vanilla, sweetness, and ginger.

FIRST HALF:
I use my new lighting technique and am rewarded with a perfect burn line and big, immediate flavors of cocoa, vanilla, grass, ginger, wood, and honey.
Big plumes of smoke arise from this little cigar.

And then in a flash, the cigar burn line goes wild on me so I do a minor correction and put it down to cool. I have to admit that I’ve had this kind of trouble before with Cubans. Real Cubans. Not the fakes.
I let the cigar rest for 5 minutes and the near canoe has rectified itself without help from me. That cooling down method is something I should have thought of years ago. Your Uncle Katman ain’t that bright.

Strength is mild/medium.

Some spice shows up in the form of black pepper. Creaminess appears for the first time. Very nice cigar. I now see why it is so many smokers’ favorite.

Most Cubans are overrated. Bad crops. Lousy weather. Emigrants to Central America or the U.S. have depleted the very best of Cuban’s journeyman. But they are still very good at a lot of brands/blends. This is one. RASS is another. I have to be honest here. I have been screwed more than my share buying fake Cubans so I rarely get them and basically only review one when it is a gift.

El Laguito Factory did not put its best rollers on this cigar. I continue to have minor imperfections in the burn.
Caramel is up next. Very sweet. But then either honey or honeysuckle really hammers home. There is also a very sweet buttery element.
The ash is very delicate and doesn’t last more than half an inch.

Strength is medium body.

Here they are: Chocolate, vanilla, grass, spice, honey, wood, ginger, creaminess, floral notes, and caramel.
Clearly, this is not a jam packed cigar. It feels like it is smoking too quickly. Or it is my mind playing tricks. This is such a wonderful blend that time whizzes by.

I apologize for the photos. I’ve got some tremors this morning and I can’t hold the camera still. I have a tripod but it is an inexpensive one and won’t allow me to get the angle I need for my shots.

This is a special little cigar. The Cuban Cohiba Siglo II packs a lot of punch in a small package.
Flavors are big and bold. And the blend has been complex since the first inch kicked in.
There is a very nice balance and a long finish.
Clearly, this ain’t no fake Cuban.

I want to thank Joey at Summit Cigars for the nice care package I received yesterday. Hi Joey. Thanks brother.
And the same happened from Ana Cuenca. She loaded the care package til it couldn’t breathe. And both sent very nice, compassionate notes.

Back to the Cuban Cohiba Siglo II. Sweet Spot 1.9.
This blend is a killer. I would love to smoke it in one of the bigger sizes. This one goes by so fast I can barely keep up.

SECOND HALF:
Smoke time is 35 minutes.
Cigar band comes off but way too much glue and I nearly destroy it.

The Cuban Cohiba Siglo II is blasting away at bold and rich flavors: Chocolate, creaminess, spice, coffee, vanilla, caramel, honey, grass, wood, ginger, and lovely floral notes.
This is the complete package.

I love the RASS but the Cuban Cohiba Siglo II is giving it a run for its money.
What a treat.

As you can tell by now, I’m having trouble searching for words. My vocabulary has taken a big hit.
I don’t know what else I can say about this cigar I haven’t already said.

Transitions. A constant spinning disco ball and light show with laser pin point action.

I’m smoking the Cuban Cohiba Siglo II very slowly to make it last. This is, by far, one of the best blends I’ve smoked in ages.
The char line issues disappeared in the first half. Dead nuts perfect now. Without any help from me.
Strength jumped to medium/full. No nicotine yet.
I think I’m tripping.

A certain online cigar store had a post in which a well-known cigar personality wrote about how reviewers go overboard with their descriptions. He basically wrote a humorous article but went too far. He reduced the amount of flavors you find in a blend to only 7 elements.

Now, we all know there can be much more than that.
There were lots of comments. About half of them took issue with his theory. I added my own comment. And shortly after, all the comments were removed. LOL. I mentioned that the Ezra Zion All My Ex’s was a highly exotic cigar with a huge flavor profile. And how I got an email from owner Kyle Hoover telling me I was spot on with the flavors. I posted his email to the review later. In fact, my review was so full of descriptive flavors that none of the other reviewers took a whack at it. I believe I am the only reviewer of this cigar. Maybe a couple other smaller reviewers took it on.

The Cuban Cohiba Siglo II is the perfect blend of flavors, nuance, subtleties, boldness, balance, finish, and character for my palate.
A box of these wouldn’t last long in my humidor.

The Cuban Cohiba Siglo II finishes beautifully. No harshness. No heat. No bitterness.
Clearly, I highly recommend this cigar. But then you already knew that as I am probably the last smoker on the planet to have smoked this cigar for the first time.

RATING: 95

PRICE POINT:
Prices vary quite a bit but the $11.00 range was the most common.
Worth every nickel.
I am in Bruce Cholka’s debt.

SUMMATION:
What’s to say? For me, a perfect blend. The only thing keeping me from rating it higher is the burn issues at the start.

And now for something different:
I don’t have Alzheimer’s disease.
I’ve been diagnosed with one of two different types of dementia. Both rare and untreatable.

The first is Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration.
The second is Niemann-Pick Disease. There are Types A, B, and C.

Both diseases are sometimes confused with the other during diagnosis so further tests are needed. In fact, both are very hard to diagnose. Period.

The second type of dementia I may have has been shown in high numbers of Ashkenazi Jews. I am an Ashkenazi Jew.
I will need further tests to distinguish between the two.

Based on my doctors, and research, there is no clear treatment for either. Anti-depressants seem to be about as much as they can offer.

I have no idea what life expectancy is on either. They really don’t know due to the difficulty in diagnosing the disease; and when it really starts. It could be life-long and only show up later in life.

I could live another 30 years or I could drop dead next year. I vote for 30 years.

Regardless, my doctor visit on Thursday was a real kick to the stomach which resulted in a near sleepless night. I was a mess the next day. I spent months going through a lot of testing. And not knowing was almost as bad as knowing.

One always thinks something like this happens to other people. Other than the results of my skydiving accident and diabetes, I’ve never had a serious illness. The only surgeries I’ve had in my life were taking my tonsils out at age 4 and implanting an electric stimulator in my back a year ago to help with the pain. That’s it.

So I feel I’ve been blessed. If you are a regular reader, you know I’ve led an extraordinary life. So lucky.

I feel that my body of work is somehow a part of the legacy I leave my wife and daughter. My only family. I’m glad I strayed from the pack and inserted myself into my reviews. It has caused a lot of detractors that don’t take me seriously. But then there are the very smart readers who understand what I’m doing. I’m not a cookie cutter writer of reviews.
Unfortunately, the blog server that hosted my first web site has wiped out my reviews. I had thousands of them. From 2009-2012.

Reviewing makes me happy. Like you, cigars are my passion. Writing in the morning is the highlight of my day.
But the wonderful comments you’ve made and emails you have sent me have cheered me up immensely.
And to those special people who have helped me with donations will always be close to my heart.

And the many, many readers that have kept me in cigars while we struggle to pay our bills are in my will.

I love you all. Even those I’ve nearly come to blows with over the years. None of that B.S. is important, or relevant, in the bigger scheme of things and I apologize for pissing people off. It’s just life.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, Cuban Cohiba Siglo II Cigar Review