Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Size: 6 x 58
Strength: Medium
Rolled: Mid-2023
Price: $25
This review is possible because there exists a Cuban “shadow market” here in the United States which I will explain at the end of this review.
Before I start, however, please allow me to share my short “cigar bio.”
I went to Havana to check out the Cuban scene, and as I always do when I travel, I adopted the “When in Rome” rule. So, “When in Cuba, smoke cigars and drink rum.” Well, that sounded good to me, except I had never smoked anything in my life so I had very low expectations.
I randomly chose my very first cigar at the Government Store: the H.Upmann Magnum 54.. With zero experience and less than zero confidence, I fired it up. Well, it just got better and better the more I puffed. Oh My God. Is this what smoking cigars is all about? I was ecstatic. I think I even started talking to it, “Where have you been all my life you gorgeous little bundle of leaves?”
I went back to the shop and bought a few more random cigars. I picked up a Romeo y Julieta, a Montecristo, another Mag 54, and a Robania, packed them up and headed to the Bay of Pigs with my wife.
We checked into a little beach shack. There were 3 European couples there, one of whom was a Dutch diplomat. Jens came up to me while I was smoking a cigar on the beach and said “Charlie, I hear it’s your birthday! Happy Birthday” and he slipped me a couple of Cohiba Siglio VI’s.
Mind blown, fate sealed. The Cohibas were amazing, and I was hooked on cigars.
Cuba is on the rocks. The people are hungry and poor. The government is just plain stupid and in denial. The rollers in the factories are forced to sell company cigars under the table just to feed their families while their overseers look the other way. The guys over at the farm secure leaves and roll cigars at the hotels and beaches to sell to the tourists. Everyone has some sort of scheme going on. I am always happy to support those in need and have no problem with my role in this as an end-user.
UPDATE: As I write this, I read that the rickety old power grid in Cuba has been down for 3 days. They can’t even turn on a light bulb. And hurricane Oscar just made landfall there. Business as usual.
Back at my temporary home in Oregon I started researching ways to “import” Cuban cigars. I managed to secure a few hundred from Australia and Canada and even some reputable local “importers”.
The price of Cuban cigars started to go up.They doubled and even quadrupled seemingly overnight and soared right out of my price range. Along with this, the quality has become iffy. Between hurricanes and dubious Cuban government practices, and the rich Asians snapping them up no matter the price, I can no longer afford most of them. So what to do?
Enter the mysterious “Cuban farm-roll” and “Cuban unbranded company cigars”, I will return to this subject at the end of this review.
THE PEREZ 58 FARM ROLL REVIEW:
I purchased this Perez 58 from a trusted “importer” of off-the-grid Cuban cigars.
I am getting the classic Cuban “twang” and complex notes of grass, hay and wood In the first third. The smoke is abundant and creamy. The retro is smooth as glass. There is a bit of spice but no pepper. The burn is razor sharp.
The “Cuban twang” is hard to describe. I see it as a sour note that compliments the flavor profile. Think “whisky sour” if you will.
The second third introduces a sweet, creamy woodiness. The cigar remains complex, and the twang has turned sharp.
This Perez is talking to me. This experience reminds me of being on the beach in Cuba experiencing my first cigar bliss.
The final third remains excellent. I’m getting cedar, hay, baking spice and salted peanuts with minimal nicotine. The smoke remains abundant and creamy with a smooth, pepper-free retro. The strength has gone medium-full. Lovely.
With about an inch and a half to go the construction of this farm-roll has gone South: leaves are flapping in the breeze.
Towards the end, the wrapper dropped off like a prom dress. It’s the end of the party, it’s time to put her down.
I end this review with a big, satisfied grin plastered all over my face. What a great smoke. Even with the wrapper problem I’m a happy boy.
If I were to rate this on the “Katman Scale” I would give it a 93. It would probably be a 96 without the wrapper problems at the end.
Would I smoke this again for twenty-five bucks? Hell yeah!! This is a great cigar.
ABOUT FARM ROLLS AND UNBANDED COMPANY CIGARS AND TIPS ON HOW TO GO DOWN THIS RABBIT HOLE.
There is this “secret society” out there made up of average, ordinary guys following their cigar passion. Here’s how to find them’
To find this shadow market one has to have a bit of time and patience. Start as a lurker on reddit and Facebook cigar forums. Eventually start taking part. Ask questions, answer questions, and make yourself known. Soon you’ll be making friends in the cigar communities. Hopefully, as people get to know and trust you you’ll be invited into private groups where things get interesting and doors start to open.
During my quest I got to know people who have sources for Cuban farm-rolled cigars and company cigars sold outside of the official government-controlled commerce stream. These “unbanded Cuban company cigars” are the exact cigars that are being sold in stores with their fancy banding and boxes. For $10 to $25 (sometimes more) I can buy really good sticks that I couldn’t otherwise afford from average guys here in the US who have that kind of passion and desire. There are no big players in this game.
And the question is: How do I know these are not fake Cubans? You’ll find beyond a shadow of a doubt that these sticks are the real deal once you crack the shadow market. I have researched this to death. I have jumped in with both feet. This parallel commerce is born of passion and is indeed the real deal.
Keep this in mind: when it comes to commerce in these groups and forums one is presumed a scammer until proven otherwise. Trust has to be earned.
I started with these Facebook Groups (there are probably others):
Cuban Cigar Club
Habanos
Cigars Daily Nation
Cigar Connoisseurs
Cigar Aficionados
Today’s Cigar
Stogie Swap
Reddit forums:
r/cigar
r/cigar_refuge
r/cubancigars
r/cigardealhunters
Discover more from Cigar Reviews by the Katman
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Fun review Charlie! Broaches a subject I’m sure many readers are often curious about as well. Though it’s a bad time to buy Cubans in general IMO, the whole situation in the US is so confusing, and overwhelming, that I find that most American cigar smokers don’t bother even pursuing it, unless they have a friend who’s got the inside track and lays it all out for them, or they happen to be traveling. Though the situation with acquiring Habanos abroad can be just as tricky!
I grew up in Costa Rica; or rather, back and forth, a few years here, a few there.. While living there again for a spell in my early 20s, I’d occasionally buy some “Cubans” that were seemingly everywhere, smoke them at night when I went out drinking. Compared to now, they were cheap, but still, quite expensive relative to most things there at the time. Little did I know, that C.R. is seemingly the most notorious source of counterfeit Cuban’s in the world! Probably explains part of why I never really got into it back then, and only really got into cigars almost 20 years later.. Though that is much wilder story involving questionable handling of gasoline. Let’s just say that literally nothing (not even gargling with Dawn dishsoap) takes the taste of deep throated 89 Octane away like a full bodied Central American Maduro of questionable provenance and quality, that a buddy left behind while visiting… The rest is history, and we’re both die-hard broke-ass cigar fanatics ever since! ;D
LikeLike
Thank you, sir! Your gasoline story reminds me of the Zambian homebrew: Chibuku. I sometimes found myself as a guest a Zambian function. It’s impolite to turn down a glass of the vile liquid when offered. If only I would have know about your cigar palette-cleanse trick then! Alas. live and learn.
— Charlie
LikeLike