Cubao No. 4

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Cigar Stats:
Brand Owner: United Tobacco/ EO brands
Factory: TACUBA
Vitola: No. 4
Size: 4-7/8 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Oscuro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

EO Background:
EO was founded in 2003 by Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega. Erik got into the cigar buisiness by working for Camacho cigars becoming the companies sales manager. After a couple years he went independent working for different cigar makers. With his knowledge of the cigar market he teamed up with his friend Eddie to start the EO cigar company (Espinosa & Ortega). Eddie with a backgound in computer science married the youngest daughter of Rolando Reyes of Puros Indios and started working for them. EO's first brands REO and Vibe made by Rocky Patel enjoyed some success but ran into some inconsistency problems. Then they teamed up with their friend Jose Pepin Garcia with much success to make the 601 lines geared to the full bodied market. With the 601 line EO became a major player in the cigar industry.

Cubao Backgound
A little excerpt from the letter in their boxes-
Cu-bao - The Taino word for “where fertile land is abundant” or “a great place.”

Cuba is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture and customs draw from several sources including the aboriginal Taino and Ciboney tribes. It is believed that the name “Cuba” comes from the Taino word “cubao” which can be translated into either “where fertile land is abundant” or “a great place” (coabana.)

We have selected the finest filler and binder grown in the Jalapa and Esteli region of Nicaragua — where the soil is as rich as Cuba’s Pinar del Rio — and wrapped it in a rich flavorful Ecuadorian grown Sumatra oscuro wrapper to create CUBAO.

The No. 4 is their robusto size and has the Pepin triple cap that is one with the rest of the cigar. I have to say this is mighty excelent construction and the rollers at TACUBA are getting superb at making the triple cap.

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Drink:Hot green tea that turned into iced green tea by the time I was done. (30 degrees outside)

Pre light:
The aroma is woody and spicy. It has a very spicy red pepper taste to it that aroused my senses all the way down to my throat. It has a dark brown wrapper and a good pre light draw with perfect texture (not soft not hard).

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Smoking Experience:
At the start the burn was a little uneven but I am sure that is due to operator failure. The flavor starts coming in after the first few puffs with some spice and leather. The ash is almost white and so is the smoke. It has a very pleasant aroma with a subtle hint of vanilla. It started a little hot but cooled off into a slow burner which I like. Woody flavors come in at the 1/2 way point. The ash is long and I did not have to until just pass the 1/2 way point.

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At this point cocoa comes in very subtle than picks up in intensity into a sweet hershey bar. There is underlying spice that stay with it and picks up toward the finish. The uneven burn from the start has fixed itself and remained that way to the finish

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At the finsh it is woody and spicy and picks up from a medium smoke to a med/full smoke with some subtle cinnamon.

Final Thought: This is a quality smoke with good construction and some complex subtle flavors. It is not a in your face kick your butt smoke like the 601 line but it is good none the less. I would like to pair this cigar to a German beer like Paulaner which is not overpowered with hops.

MSRP: $6.00 but Alantic cigar has them on sale for 86.95/box of 20

Like it: Yes
Buy it Again: Yes especially at their reasonable price
Recomend: Yes
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Image Another pick of the fine filler.
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Love these too, and fairly reasonable for a Pepin blend.
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How dark was that oscuro wrapper? Never smoked one. Nice review!
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It was dark brown like like a hershey bar. I guess some are black. I am guessing that because ecuador is cloudy most of the time it is a lighter variety of oscuro.
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I get a bit of a dry finish from these but overall I like 'em. I have to say I like the 601s (any of them....love the line) a bit more.
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Thanks for the review! I'm a fan of these... :-)
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Good Review:-) These are becoming one of my new goto smokes.
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Thanks for the review! Got two boxes of these from cigarplace.biz $86.95 everyday price and free shipping on 1st of the month.:-)
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Thanks for the review.
I have not had one yet but I will be having one soon.
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Thanks for a very nice review.:-)
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I just had to piggy back onto James' nice review. As I type, I am finishing up a Cubao #6 (5 1/2x 52.) Wow, this is a very good cigar. Right out of the cello this thing smelled like a chocolate bar--heavy, heavy chocolate. At ignition I was hit with the typical Sumatra profile--what I like to call kind of a "maduro lite:" creamy, spicy, coffee like flavor. Leather & cocoa for the first half, then a distinct bread, raisin & spice developed midway, like a cinnamon raisin bagel. Copious, heavy smoke that would settle down around me, not unpleasant smelling. Perfect draw, superb burn (mine's been resting at about 68/60 for 2-3 months,) firm white ash. Sweet finish, with a leather/woody aftertaste. Full bodied, but medium strength. Smoked mine with water, but I think just about any of my typical cigar drinks (port, lager, stout, root beer) would be a nice accompaniment.

Compared to the 601 line, I'd put this well above the black and about on par with the blue. Haven't had the red or green, so I can't compare. I think it cost me about $6 pre-SCHIP, so I'd say the Cubao was a better value than those.

Definitely a :-):-) cigar.
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I have a box of these resting in the humi and really like them when I'm in the mood for something a bit milder than a 601 (red) yet still packed with flavor.

They are a great "see a need, fill a need" kind of smoke and a nice winner all around.


:-)
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I love these...very nice smoke! Good review! :-)
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Man, do I love these cigars! The #4 is my favorite. I just had the torpedo this week. It had me salivating the whole time. I love that savory meat flavor that is all the way through it.
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This is one Pepin's cigars that I'm actually looking forward to trying and might have to seek it out in the future.
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