The Official Brochure Description: The Cuaba Cigar brand appeared in 1996 and reflects the growing mid-1990s interest in shaped cigars. Four brand new factory shapes - all perfectos - were developed for this brand at the timee of its launch in late 1996. The blend offers a mild to medium, full flavour in a small range of sizes with medium-girth ring gauges, and represents traditional shapes and flavour of the pre-nationalization era of Cuban cigars. A new shape, the Distinguidos was first shown in February 1998, is marketed for the year 2000.

The Reality:

HOLY CRAP! I damn near blew my head off with the first Cuaba I smoked! Power? Ever take a pound of blackpowder, mix with silk, add one oz of fresh espresso, stir with a bar of TNT then simmer till mocha brown? Yes, the Cuaba's shape is whacky but it's a pure hand made cigar. It's not pressed and shaped to machine gun precision, each one is tenderly hand woven from preminum leaves and then tucked into their boxes. If you have NEVER smoked a Cuban cigar, STOP!!! The Cuaba is not the cigar to start the romance with. If Montecristo is nice wholesome girl next door, Cuaba is a world class Latino escort with a passion for Jack Daniels, neat. I am not kidding. The power of a Cuaba is 10+ on the "oh wow" scale and the flavour is to tobacco what an Islay is to blended whiskey (not on the same planet). If you are a connaiseur, a person with a palate who isn't afraid of the strong cheeses, musky wines and "salt marsh flooded burning peat bog" whiskey drinker, then order away.

Cuaba