Cohiba Robusto Reserva Cosecha 2014

Description

The LongWait and the Golden Hour: Cohiba Robusto Reserva Cosecha 2014 Read More »
I remember when I set torch down. It wasn’t that I ceased to love the leaf; it was more a matter of principle, a wager on myself I had made at the end of a particularly rocky stint in my health. I swore to myself that I would never burn another match stick and light ever again until I recovered, kept theworry stones in my pocketand so one day i
carve them allinto statues of myself being such a deadbeat like this and wont no body evre see their own marbled eyeson backat me ha m. Five years.

Product Specifications

That’s a very long amount of time to be looking at mildness in the humidor and going, “Does that oil still even work?” But I did it: me, sitting on the porch of my folks’ ranch house while the sun was consumed by Texas sunset, painting scrubbrush burnt orange and deep violet. I had just closed the biggest deal of my life, and for the first time in six years I felt like a winner. My lungs were unfurled, my heartwas even and my hand was stretching for a very specific black-lacquered box I’d been saving for just this circumstance. You justbring the whole world to a stand still?

No phones, no mooing cattle in the background, just your own breath. I opened that box and got hit with the smell — that Cuban funk, old and elegant. I didn’t want just any smoke. I only wished that the one I picked would be waiting nearly aslong for me.

I needed something representative of patience. What I’d have had Would the $500 cocktails be any match for a Cohiba Robusto Reserva Cosecha 2014. That smoke? And the Cohiba Robusto Reserva Cosecha 2014 is notjust any cigar.

It’s a statement. That’s when you take the best leaf in the world and say, “Yeah wait a min. Me hold that thought for five!” instead of letting him finish it! Sitting on my porch with a cutter in hand, I witnessed the moment.

I was back. I had the perfect personto share in my rejoicing at its return. The Specifications
But before I get intohow this thing actually felt to me — let’s hit the digits.

This is not a Robusto of the duty-free shop. This is a 2014 Cosecha that was never put to light of day before having already been aged for about five years. It’sanother one of those guys that is part of the Habanos S.A. Reserva program where they pick out the best vitola and give it the royal treatment.

Attribute
Details
Vitola de Galera
Robusto
Body Strength
Medium to Full
Factory Vitola
Robusto
Wrapper/Binder/Filler
Aged 5 Years (Cosecha 2014)
Building: Across Half a Decade, More or Less
I mean, I gotta say, holding this thing is just somethingelse. You ever get some cigars and the feel of them just has that slight “papery” or flimsy quality? Not this one. The wrap is a gorgeous, oil Colorado hued leaf – darker than your typical Cohiba line but not Maduro.

It all comes with that silky sheen that lets you know the oils have been handled just as they’re supposed to have. I scraped it with my thumbnail, and there was nothing soft on it. It was a fat, fat case “ so thick you couldn’t get a 50-ring gauge in it. It’s the double band that kills you.

You have that Taino head signature of a Cohiba, and then just below it, the silver and black Reserva band. It looks as if it’s wearing a tuxedo. I chose to go with a straight cut in order to maximise the amount of that VueltaAbajo blend. The pre-light draw?

Solid. It smelled like cold brew coffee and mildewing library books. It was sweet on her lips, almosthoney-sweet with a hint of something earthy underneath. I hadn’t yet started it up and I was noddingalong. [This was just the smoke I needed for my first in many moons.

The First Third: The Awakening
I toasted the foot slowly.

Cigars like this cannotbe rushed. If you’re smacking this with the triple-flamed torch, what you’re doing is you’re actually disrespecting all five years of aging that went into this thing. I sipped this glycine-fed flame, enjoying as the heat slowly coaxed those 2014 leaves back to life. The first few snags were a revelation.

Ihad HistoryLesson Forgotten what a “textured” one of these wonders was. The smoke was extremely thick and oily on my palate, and some flavors of roasted coffee beans and cedar were already apparent immediately. It wasn’t aggressive, though. That’s the distinction of the Reserva series—it smokes as a full-strength cigar, but it isn’t biting.” It was smooth as silk.

Beyond the half-inch point there was a pleasant and creamy vanilla that could be detected. It reminded me of thehomemade ice cream we made on this very porch when I was a kid. It was sweet, but it also had toasty nuttiness that kept it on solid ground. The burn was razor-sharp, and the ash clung on like a light, structural gray.

It was almost like winning all over again. The Second Third: The Meat of the Matter
Strength really started to pick up just a touch through the second third, but nothing that would bump me out of the medium-full neighborhood.

The cedar notes had turned to oakiness (quieter, more resonant). Here’s where things got really interestinglytricky. I started to pick up some almond notes and super slick leather. This was not “new car” leather: more like my favorite old pair of work boots.

It was recognizable, but cozy in a luxurious way. It’s the change thatI really like. Some cigars are “linear” — they essentially taste the same from beginning to end. This Cohibawas an “easy conversation that develops into quite an interesting one.” The vanilla of the initial third never disappeared entirely, but had deepened and spiced up.

I don’t know, nutmeg, maybe cinnamon, but all were shrouded in that “cashmere” creaminessreferred to in the study. And as I leaned back and I watched the smoke twist up into the Texas dusk, I decided that if this meant having to wait another five years for a smoking likeagain Well you know? Part III;The Final “(“Racing”) The last stage race Introduced in TDF17, plus it’s a logical final part – has neverSochi: an epichighway simply taken care of coming from the French state up. And generally that’s when thelast 1-2 inches become a little too hot or bitter.

Not here. The 2014 tobaccorevealed a little breeding in the stretch. The flavors intensified, the dish tasted even fuller and “Cuban-ier.” The earthiness came through — that rich, red dirt ofPínar del Río. It was meaty, peppery with a kick of black pepper on the retrohale that my nose quivered in delight.

Thefinish was chewy and luscious. Even when the nub was soshort I began feeling it start to burn my fingers, I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a balanced with a lingering sweetness that reminded me of dark chocolate. It was a bold ending of a beautiful show.

I smoked it down to a tinyspark and then thought I might even smoke some more with atoothpick. It was that good. No petulance, no rough edges —