Black Ops Habano | Cigar Review

By Cigar Reviews by the Katman on March 31, 2014 • ( 0 )

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 5 x 52 “Robusto”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $5.00 MSRP

I am a desperate reviewer, and man. I have some beautiful cigars on the cusp of being ready…but not ready yet. And I have a shitload of cigars arriving this week. All nicely aged for me.

I reviewed the Black Ops Maduro and what a friggin disaster that was. Horrible cigar. Since I rise every morning and sit my arse in front of the laptop, I dumpster dived and came up with this beauty. Note in the photo below. There are both Connecticuts and Habanos. Can you tell which is which? (Clue: I previously smoked one Habano. So there are three Habanos and four Connecticuts.)

Also, the sticks are way out of size scale. Look at the photo below. Both are supposed to be 52 ring gauge. I measured them. One is in fact a 52. The smaller is a 48. That is some lousy quality control.

Plus when I lay then down to take a photo, cigar band up, they keep rolling on me because they are so out of round.
Black Ops cigars are made by Gurkha owner Kaizad Hansotia. What a shock.

Normally, I don’t review house brands made by Gurkha. But a friend sent me a 12 pack with 4 each of their three blends: Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro.

The sticks are OK in the construction department. Seams are tight. There are some tree trunk sized veins. The wrapper has that sort of caramel brown look. And it feels very smooth. There is just the slightest hint of some oiliness.
I clip the cap and find aromas of spice, sweetness, paprika, and cocoa.
Time to light up.

First to enter is the spice. Nice punch in the palate. The draw is perfect and there is a nice cocoa flavor. In fact, it gets stronger and stronger with each puff. Both the chocolate and the red pepper.

None of the cigars, under this branding, are jam packed with tobacco. All feel like they need another bunch of leaves to fill out the wrapper. And there are plenty of soft spots.

Got you drooling yet?

The smoke output is blinding. And the char line ain’t half bad.

The cocoa is joined by creaminess. This blend tastes a whole lot better than the Maduro. But a Habano wrapped cigar can often taste a whole lot better than a Maduro..in the right hands, of course.

The ash is almost snow white and I’m Grumpy. I shouldn’t be so stuck without a cigar to review for you that you might actually smoke.

The second third begins without any change except that the spiciness is a bit stronger. We have three flavors: Creaminess, spice, and cocoa. Whew!

And then, dang me, some nuttiness arrives to save the day from the cigar blend being a total one trick pony. Sweetness comes and goes.

I quickly move to the halfway point where the flavor profile is nearly enjoyable. The flavors become interesting instead of lying there in bed like my first wife…motionless.

The slim combo of creaminess, cocoa, spice, sweetness, and nuts is very nice. Or maybe I’m hung over. (Actually, I’ve never hung over anything in my life. Ask my first wife.)

I am startled and amazed at the char line being very close to dead nuts the entire smoke. The cap is a mess so I clip a bit. Who wants to see my spittle along with loose tobacco in my photos.

I can’t believe I am saying this but the damn cigar has hit flavor bomb status. Woe is me. I had a whole list of jokes I was going to use based on my Maduro experience.

The cigar band is ridiculous. And the blood splotches are childish.

I just bought a 6 pack sampler of Black Leaf Trading Company cigars from Cigar Federation. Now that’s how you use a scary looking skull on your band. See photo. (And thanks to CF for allowing me to use their photo.)

It is galling for me to admit this but a $2.50 cigar tastes pretty good to me right now.

I begin the last third and the only changes are that the flavors are much more intense.

The strength of the cigar started out as mild/medium. By the last third, it just plain classic medium. If this cigar was meant to be medium/full, it should have kicked in by now. I guess between the ridiculous cigar band and the manliness of smoking a medium/full bodied cigar it is supposed to attract the experienced smoker. As well as the inexperienced smoker who buys a stick because the cigar band is cool looking, man.

Finally, the char line becomes a bit wavy but I have to hand it to Hansotia on this one. No cracked bits of wrapper. An excellent char line. And all around good construction; except for that it should have been packed with more tobacco.

The sweetness is now accompanied by a nice butterscotch flavor. And a bit of nougat.

Normally, I post every new review on my FB page. I am too embarrassed to post this one. But I think it is appropriate that when a good hearted follower sends me cigars he would like to be reviewed, the least I can do is follow through with that request. It would be very rude not to.

The ash has gone from white to speckled gray.

The last 1-1/2” sees the cigar become harsh and hot. So much for a good thing.
I don’t know if I can go much farther.

Look, this cigar is meant to attract newbies and inexperienced cigar smokers. The blood splotched cigar band with the skull is pure PR. The funny thing is that while the cigar is called Black Ops, there is no mention that any of the proceeds goes to Wounded Warriors, or any other soldier organization…. which I think is a complete scam.

I love reading the customer reviews on the CI page. This little ditty says it all:
“Out of the three flavors, this was the best. However, it was still just average at best. For the price of these, you can do a lot better.”

So there you have it my friends. A perfect yard ‘gar. And the cigar is now so hot and harsh, I put it down.

And now for something completely different:

I had just joined the English progressive band, Curved Air. It was a comeback tour after being disbanded for over two years. Like all bands clinging to their fame, even after the main members left, the chick singer continued the band with an ever changing roster of musicians.

The band had a contractual commitment to deliver one more album to Decca. They all hated each other and decided the easiest way to do this was record a live album. That way, no new songs had to be composed.

So instead of all 5 being brought back together, it was four plus me.

This band was a big deal in Europe. A dozen albums under their belt. And the chick singer was a rock goddess.

A PR photo session was planned. I put on my best rock n roll clothes and took the bus to St. John’s Wood in London. A block away from EMI studios…Abbey Road Studio.

I met everyone for the first time. Except for Darryl Way who was the co-leader and violin player. I had joined his band first and it was put on hold so they could do the reunion tour.

A photo from that session is at the bottom of this little story. I am the guy who is sitting on the couch arm with the fro.
Darryl had agreed to take me home afterwards. He drove a tiny, tiny MGB. A two seater at best.

Then the chick singer whined that she needed a ride home to Hampstead Heath. Not exactly on the way. But who was I to complain.

I got stuck in the back behind the seats where there were no seats. It was cramped and uncomfortable.

Back then, every single Englishman smoked cigarettes. I’ve never smoked a single cigarette.
It was raining. The car windows were up and the two of them were chain smoking…filling the car with smoke. I began to get car sick.

We dropped the chick off and she invited us in. Darryl, who hated her, politely said he had to go. Thank God.

As soon as we got back into the car, I told him I was nauseated. He said he had just the cure.

We stopped at a small pub where he bought me a snifter of brandy. He told me is the perfect antidote for nausea. I don’t drink.
But I forced it down.

We get back in the car and immediately get caught in traffic. It took a good 45 minutes to get me home. And the whole time, the windows are up and Darryl is smoking.

10 minutes into the trip, I puked all over his dashboard.

This was the beginning of events that would eventually get me fired from the band over two years later.

I made my apologies but I was pissed off. I told Darryl that the cigarettes were making me car sick and he just goes ahead and chain smokes. Fucker.

So I got home white as a sheet. I proceeded to the loo and puked some more. I spent the rest of the day in bed with the spins.
A great start to being a new rock god.