Wrapper: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Size: Box-Pressed Robusto (5 1/4 x 54)
Strength: Medium-Minus → Medium-Plus (last inch)
Body: Medium → Medium-Plus (halfway)
Price: $9.66 (part of the monthly subscription price of $28.99)
Factory/Blender: Undisclosed
Release: June 2026 Privada Cigar Club release, grouped with Yoshi / Bomb / Bowser
Smoking Time: 1:25

I recently joined Privada Cigar Club. I’ve smoked enough LCA sticks, and I appreciate Brian Desind’s vision enough to think I’d give it a try. One of the sticks I got was the Yoshi, a Dominican puro with six years of aging.

When I read that on the info card included with the drop, I thought, Awesome. I dig a well-aged cigar.

But in the back of my mind, I also knew age could be a double-edged sword. Most of the aged sticks I’ve had, like the Montecristo 2000 LE Nicaragua, have been bangers. But some, and I won’t name names, have been absolute dogs.

I’m not implying anything about the Yoshi. But since I only got one sample, writing a review meant rolling the dice.

Speaking of rolling the dice, it reminds me of a time I went gambling. I was seriously underage to gamble at the tender young age of nineteen. But my buddies and I went to a casino to gamble and get drunk for free, and we were all able to get in except one. He had such a baby face that even into his late 30s, he’d get carded. And the moment he walked in, the security guard escorted him out.

Yeah, he was pissed because he had to sit outside. And being the dicks we were, we left him there. Long story short, we may have won money, but he got laid after telling his sob story about his buddies leaving him outside to a woman who was having a smoke.

Talk about a “smell my finger” moment. Oh well.

I smell the wrapper and foot of the Yoshi, and, unlike what I imagine my friend’s finger smelled like, it doesn’t reveal much. Aged tobacco and a little fruity sweetness. I’ve learned not to pay much attention to pre-light inspections, but with this much age and the brown-stained cello, I was expecting a little more pungency.

I light it up, take my first puff, and it’s a promising start, with a strong hit of fresh cedar, hazelnut, cardamom, and nutmeg. A few puffs in, the cedar chars, and dark coffee and earth enter. These three seem to move to the center of the profile. A gorgeous incense-like aroma of cedar and roasted nuts comes off the foot. It looks like the Yoshi is organizing itself early.

And it’s not surprising with this much age.

Once it settles, I confirm the center. Earth intensifies, as if vying for attention. Cream enters and wraps around the center, smoothing the entire profile. Spice arrives, settles mid-palate, and immediately begins to pulse. The way it tastes reminds me of one of the house blends from D Angel Cigar Lounge in Cabarete, DR. Classic Dominican smoothness and refinement, and a perfect accompaniment to an ice-cold caipirinha on the beach.

As the cigar progresses, a gentle, indistinct sweetness arrives and disperses throughout the profile as the red pepper spice intensifies. It wakes the cigar up and breaks up the monotony of the refinement and smoothness.

Then I hit a nice little transition.

Toasted almond, marzipan, tropical flower notes of bird of paradise and pikake arrive. These are followed by herbal notes of bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary, and finally, some beer malt. The spice continues to pulse on my tongue, and the nicotine level rises just a little, but it’s enough to make its presence known. The flavors shuck and jive and do a little dance in my mouth. I’m encouraged by the activity.

Then I hit the halfway point.

It’s like someone took a vacuum and sucked out a lot of the flavors that were just dancing in the profile faster than Linda Lovelace going down on Long John Holmes.

The cigar still tastes good with the flavors that are left. And its saving grace is that the pervasive background sweetness remains. But it was like walking into a library after being on a busy street abuzz with activity.

But I continue because the profile still has enough meat on its bones.

Unfortunately, for as good as it tastes with the flavors left, the only thing it does until the end is get stronger and darker. It becomes one of those sticks that I stop paying attention to and just sit with. It’s enjoyable enough, but it’s not very engaging.

I like it enough to smoke it to the nub because it never collapses or gets dense. But I can’t help thinking this should’ve been a far better experience.

Rating: 88

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: brendan delumpa, cigar reviews, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, katman, phil kohn, Privada Cigar Club Yoshi ~ Guest Review by Unco B | Cigar Reviews by the Katman, unco b's stogie diary