Cigar Review: Cubana Real Semilla

6.75" x 52 ring gauge, $???
Where do I even start with this cigar? I received it as part of my CBC/Burns membership renewal package in November. A week or two later I asked Matt about it and he said it was a pre-release from Esteban Carrera. Of course, I did not have it to show it at the time, so I cannot be sure we were talking about the same cigar. The bottom line is this: I cannot find any information about this cigar on any site. It may or may not be an Esteban Carrera and there is no telling what pedigree the tobacco of this cigar holds. I also have never smoked an Esteban Carrera cigar (to my memory) so I have nothing to compare it to in that way. What this amount to is the closest you will ever see to a "mystery cigar" or "blind tasting" on this blog. Since I don't have a price, I cannot award points for "value" as I normally do; instead, I will award 1 point if I would definitely buy it again at any reasonable price; .5 point if I might buy it again, but only at a low-to-medium price point; and 0 points if I would not consider a purchase.

The wrapper of this Cubana Real Semilla (CRS) was a dark milk chocolate brown with a little mottling. There were a couple flaws--probably not big enough to harm the smoking experience, but noticeable to the eye. The leaf was somewhat oily and had a fair amount of sandpapery toothiness as well. The aroma from the wrapper is a classic humidor smell--a little leather and some barnyard--the foot had chocolatey aromas, but also some barnyard manure, too. The prelight draw was very good with just the right amount of resistance. The flavors were chocolately sweetness, coffee, and black pepper.

After lighting, the first flavors I got were earth, strong black coffee and black pepper. The first third was intriguing and fairly complex all by itself. The black pepper spice was a constant underneath all the other flavors: the aforementioned earth and coffee, as well as roasted nuts, leather and a vague flavor that I usually associate with Mexican tobacco. Judging by the overall flavor mix, I doubt there is a great deal of Mexican leaf used, but it also would not surprise me to learn that the wrapper or binder was from the San Andres Valley. The smoked started out medium-to-full.

The second third were earthy and leathery for the most part, with the pepper diminishing gradually. That peculiar "Mexican tobacco" flavor went away for the most part, too. There was also some coffee bitterness and just a touch of sweetness, but not enough to properly balance out the bitter. The burn line started to go astray by the end of the second third, but it was not too bad and I decided to let it correct itself if possible.

And in the last third, the burn did right itself. The flavors of leather and earth continued to dominate along with some coffee and roasted nuts underneath. Overall, not a bad smoke in most areas, but the flavor that I characterized as Mexican tobacco did come back in the end and it got in the way of my enjoyment of the rest of the flavors. For that reason, I cannot see myself buying any of these in the future. It remained in the medium-to-full range for body and did not have a great deal of nicotine strength, even with its fairly long size. Your experience may be different, but this is not a cigar I can recommend.

Body: 7/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 7/10

AFP Scale:
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3/5
Value: 0/1
Total: 6.5/10