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| IS THIS 1956 ALL OVER AGAIN? |
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Page 1 of 2  Tasting and grading Darryl Lieser’s Isla de Cuba blendsLos Angeles, November 21 – “The Isla de Cuba brand is based on the legendary 1956 Montecristo #3,” says Darryl Lieser of his recently-introduced line of cigars. “The Isla de Cuba cigars are a special blend that I’ve had made for me exclusively for me and my friends for years. Everyone that tries an Isla de Cuba cigar loves it, and I’m ready to share these fantastic blends with the rest of the world.” That’s too good a challenge not to take up, so we did. The Montecristo brand, introduced in Cuba in 1935, became an overnight sensation thanks to its sweetness and accessibility. Noted Swiss cigar retailer Vahe Gerard wrote of Montecristo in his excellent 1992 work, The Connoisseur’s Guide to Havana Cigars that “They were very soft, smooth, suave, almost caramelized with marvelous fragrance and class.” Lieser’s Isla de Cuba line includes a corona of 5 1/2 inches by 44 ring, close to the Montecristo No. 3 dimensions of 5 1/2 x 42, but he also includes other, more popular sizes for today. How did his cigars do? Isla de Cuba Classic: [Honduras: available in 5 sizes] The Isla de Cuba Classic debuted in retail shops in 2007 as a medium-bodied cigar featuring an Ecuadorian-grown, Connecticut-seed wrapper. We found it to be very well constructed and it burned beautifully, with a spicy aroma. It may not be a 1956 Montecristo, but you can see the same elements at work. There is a note of sweetness that is balanced by a spicy finish that will tingle the tongue at the start, and the blend settles down into a very clean, lightly-spiced flavor. It doesn’t overwhelm you, but maintains its character throughout with an even pace. Lieser believes this blend is perfect for everyday enjoyment and its medium-bodied presence and even temperament signals that he’s correct. All five sizes comes in boxes of 25 with suggested retail prices of $6.25 to $6.95, not including local tobacco and sales taxes. Overall grade: A-: Excellent. Isla de Cuba Maduro: [Honduras: available in 5 sizes] A maduro-wrapped version of the Isla de Cuba line became available in mid-2008, but this is not a case is simply slamming on a new wrapper over the existing blend. Instead of the Connecticut-seed wrapper and Nicaraguan binder of the Classic, a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and binder were used with the Dominican and Nicaraguan filler blend. The results were quite impressive. Although noted as a medium-to-full-bodied cigar, we found it also to be medium-bodied, with a slightly spicy aroma. |
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Did you know?
“Al Goldstein, the publisher of "Screw" magazine debuted a newsletter called "Cigar" in 1981 (folded after 4 issues).
