Wrapper: Brazilian
Binder: Dominican Hybrid of Cuban-seed Pelo de Oro and Connecticut-seed
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cuban-seed, Honduran Jamastran, La Entrada & Olancho San Agustin, Nicaraguan Estelí (Viso and Ligero)
Size: 6 x 52 Toro
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $129.99
I’ve had this cigar sitting naked in the corner of my humidor for one month.
BACKGROUND:
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Released: March 2023
Cohiba Spectre cigars were released in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Every year used a different blend.
This is the most expensive Cohiba has released. Must be a good cigar.
This cigar, according to Cohiba, is named the Cohiba Spectre 2022. If you buy a box for $1299.00, you will see the 2022 title…not 2023. But shipping was delayed, and in the confusion, the name was changed. A little extra aging is always OK.
Only 600 boxes of 10 have been released.
This is the first time that Cohiba has used a Brazilian wrapper.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
I’m reviewing it before there is a rush to buy these cigars. I’m guessing that you avoided the commentary, went straight to my rating, and then to an online store and snagged 5 or 10 sticks.
Obviously, the cigar improves with tons of naked humidor time at your domicile. Allowing the 10 different leaves to meld and breathe and soak in the goodness of your other $130 cigars is the proper way to approach this blend.
Fuck it. I’m going in…
The wrapper smells of exotic spices, floral notes, coffee, vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate, and strawberries.
Construction is nicely done…as it should be. The draw is on the money. Won’t need my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool for this baby.
The cigar is a bit too heavy to let hang from my lips while I type. Need to get my lips back on a routine of clean and jerk to strengthen them.
I must be honest. I expect incredible things from this cigar at lift off.
As I hold the cigar in my left hand to ready it for torching, I notice how the wrapper is just covered in oil. Nice. My hand is shaking as I try to light the cigar.
The cigar digs in immediately with notes of berries, Wheaties, a blanket of malt, creaminess, smoked mesquite, caramel, red licorice, black and red pepper, cumin, and Cabernet Sauvignon red wine. Wow.
An impressive depth wastes no time. The starter’s pistol goes off and complexity leaves the starting blocks in a blur of speed.
Strength is medium.
I make sure to savor this cigar…taking puffs only every few minutes. This refreshes the palate as well as giving me time to imbibe sips of water. Water is a great cleansing device.
I no longer retrohale. Did it for decades and now my sinuses reject the practice. I’m sure there is a hamper full of flavors waiting for those whose sinuses are still intact.
There is a lovely sweetness that brings out the flavors of 9 different leaves buried beneath the wrapper.
I come back to freshly picked strawberries. You may or may not taste this as our palates are as different as fingerprints.
The ash is an unmovable monolith. I cover my naughty bits with a Tupperware tub of newly made tuna fish. The cat comes out of hiding.
I cannot count the times I’ve smoked cigars that boast a panoply of disparate country’s array of leaves and I was left cold in the street hungry and disappointed. Not this time.
The melding of these leaves is brilliant. Lip smacking is on the agenda. The finish is incredible with passing notes that only Jaco Pastorius could manage. Stanley Clarke too.
1-1/2” burned and the flavor points are going Bozo crazy. So much to taste and too little of a brain to identify them as they whiz past like taxis when you are standing in the rain.
This is an intense blend. Holy shit. Lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy. This blend is a stunner. But that is to be expected when you drop a C Note plus some on a single cigar. Taking my time is the key to this blend. Allowing the finish to dance Swan Lake while pirouetting on my nearly overwhelmed palate.
Strength hits medium/full.
Transitions are so smooth that I get how the elite of society enjoys everyday life. If I were a rich man…
No flavor point additions. The complexity is off the charts. Nuances and subtleties are just ridiculous. I almost laugh out loud as this cigar blend astounds me with its behemoth attack.
This is a treat I will never experience again.
The char line is dead nuts perfect.
The red wine disappears and is replaced by a hearty Bavarian dark lager. The sweetness of the hops and malt join the line of dancing elephants. And that’s me at the back with a shovel.
If I am only receiving the blender’s intent with just a month of naked humi time, I can’t imagine what extended humidor time will do for this blend. If this cigar was not so limited, I’d wait 6-12 months before lighting up. Yep, this cigar is making an impression.
You absolutely do not want to rush this cigar. It’s early morning. It’s quiet. I am listening to music. And my brain is in extreme receptive mode as the cigar’s finish becomes the high wire act. Just devastatingly remarkable.
With every measured puff, the complexity and depth find inspiration. My merkin spins like a dreidel.
The construction is immaculate. I could shave with the char line.
“California Dreamin’” by The Mamas & The Papas is playing. When I was in the studio, playing bass with Hall of Fame drummer Hal Blaine, he told me that every session he played with that group, band leader John Phillips always arrived at the studio with a big leather doctor’s bag full of every drug known to man. At that time, Hal was going through another of his many divorces and living on his boat, Studio Sea, in Marina Del Rey. Hal passed in 2019 at 90. God bless him.
Where was I? I can’t control my tangential spasms…my apologies.
The strength hits full tilt and my testicle bra explodes and the boys lay on the floor defenseless.
This blend is amazing. I truly wish I was a better wordsmith so I could describe how this cigar gives me a body buzz.
Waves of shades and tones lay into my palate like a military incursion. I’m dizzy with rapture. Again, holy shit.
I get to the halfway point in 45 minutes. Oddly, I’ve not experienced a sweet spot. I’m not sure if this applies to this blend. The cigar lives in its own time and space.
The strength is full but so smooth that I glide like an eagle catching updrafts.
Years ago, I rode in a two-man winged glider plane in NorCal. If you’ve never done this, it must be on your bucket list. Flying at 10,000 feet without any sound makes you feel like a superhuman living in each moment as if there is no tomorrow. The pilot allowed me to drive the bus for a while and it was pure ecstasy.
This is as close a metaphor I can come up with to describe smoking the Cohiba Spectre 2023.
The tobacco choices for this blend are astonishing and the blood, sweat, and tears in developing this cigar wreaks of extreme passion.
I had high anxiety about reviewing this cigar. What if it stunk? Thankfully, this cigar has me in a blissful state. It is everything good about being a cigar junkie. It is a real shame that the price point makes attaining a stick or two is out of many cigar smokers’ range. It has been a truly amazing experience.
I smoke cigars to relax. A good stick makes the worries of everyday living dissolve into the ether. If I were any more relaxed now, I’d be a pool of goo.
I was so fortunate to have been able to smoke this spectacular cigar.
If you have the dough, Small Batch Cigar has them. Use promo code ‘katman’ for 10% off.
RATING: 98
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by Phil 'Katman' Kohn 
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