Today’s review is sort of a #ThrowbackThursday. You see, back in mid 90’s one of the hottest cigars was the Cusano Hermanos. And the cigar showed up this week where I happen to work, Two Guys Smoke Shop.
According to David Garafolo, he got a call from a “higher up guy” at Davidoff who told him they had located a couple hundred boxes in their warehouse from way back.
How far back? These cigars are more than 15 years old, and we’ve been smoking them like crazy in the back room at work and this morning they showed up on the 2GuysCigars.com webpage, so i figured I would review one before they are gone forever.
Cigar: Cusano Hemanos Vintage
Size: Churchill (7 x 50)
Wrapper: USA (Connecticut Shade)
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Strength: Mild
Source: Two Guys Smoke Shop
The Look: Just looking at the cigar you can tell this is a true Connecticut wrapper grown right in the Connecticut River Valley. It isn’t the Ecuador variety and this makes me very happy as to me there is a definite different in taste. The blonde wrapper has some thin veins to it, and there is a slightly velvet feeling under the fingers/ The band of green, black and gold denote Cusano Hermanos Vintage. In the hand the cigar is firm with a nice weight to it.
The Notes: The cold draw serves up some earthy notes that take over an initial sweetness and a bit of walnut. The foot of the cigar serves up a buttery richness and some cedar. What really get my attention is the aroma coming off the wrapper as it rests between my lips.
Once the cigar is lit it is like a trip down memory lane, when this cigar was in its heyday I had just begun spending time in a cigar shop in Brooklyn, NY that I would eventually become partners in. I remember when you walked into the humidor the cigars would be straight head on the second shelf. I would smoke this cigar with some espresso and watch the game on TV or sit in front of the shop with the boys.
The first third is earthy with notes of walnuts and pecans. There is some buttery richness on the finish and despite being mild it is full of flavor even after all these years.
The second third sees the strength turn up a notch but still remains mild, there are notes of coffee developing with some continued walnuts and a growing cedar with some pepper through the nose.
In the last third specifically the last inch and a half there is the development of citrus notes over a core of earth and wood.
The Burn: I half expected the wrapper to crack when I cut this and smoked it due to the age, but it didn’t which proves the cigar was very well cared for at the Davidoff warehouse. The cigar burned well with a white ash that held for about 2 inches at a time. The draw was what most would deem near perfect and it remained lit throughout the experience.
Overall: Aging your cigars for a long time could be hit or miss, but this is one cigar that aged really well. When we first opened a box I was hesitant figuring a mild cigar that is more than a decade old would be like smoking air. However, that could not be further from the truth. But what really stands out to me is the use of the true Connecticut shade-grown wrapper and it makes me realize how much more I love it than the Ecuador variety used today. I wound up picking up a box of each size.
On a side note, it is amazing how much cigars have changed over the last decade as I am not sure a mild smoke like this would sell as crazy as it did during the cigar boom. In a day where most new cigars are stronger, this cigar actually shows how blending has fallen since its release.
Which leads me to the score which is a bit high, because I am smoking this cigar based on a memory of what cigars once were, and it was everything as special as it was during the initial release. In today’s stronger market it might have scored a couple of points lower, but the cigar was every bit as special as I remembered it to me and then some.
Score: 94
Price: $69.99 Box
Cusano Hermanos Vintage
Cusano Hermanos Vintage Foot
Cusano Hermanos Vintage Burn
