El Cobre Double Fuerte by Oliva

Robusto

The El Cobre by Oliva is a pretty cheap stick compared to most of the CotM list. It’s rumored to be a very strong, very stinky smoke. I’m a bit apprehensive about it. Honestly, I’m not expecting to love this cigar. It’s cheap, it’s ugly (apart from the band), and it smells like a turd. Time to dive in!

Statistics

CotM: September 2012







Chosen by: MisterBastahrd

MisterBastahrd





Shape: Parejo







Size: 5 x 50







Country of Origin: Nicaragua







Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf







Binder: Nicaraguan







Filler: Nicaraguan







Color: Colorado- Maduro

Colorado-





Strength: Full







Price Paid: $3.50







Smoke Date: 5/14/2013

5/14/2013





Age: 9 days

Accessories Used

Cuban Crafters Perfect Cutter (Silver & Carbon Fiber), Bugatti B-2002 lighter with “pyramid” double-flame torch, Handmade English walnut ashtray made by wedgewoodrings.

Pairing

Flor de Caña Centenario Gold 18 year old Nicaraguan Rum, served in a Sagaform rocking whiskey glass with one hexagonal ice “cube”–a Nicaraguan spirit to accompany a Nicaraguan cigar. The crisp, lightness of the rum cleansed the palate from the rainbow of tobacco flavors that poured out of the smoke. Though the smoke was enhanced, I do feel the rum was a bit overpowered. I’m not sure what wouldn’t be.

Appearance/Nose

In a word: rustic. The wrapper was a marbling of different shades of brown. There were thick veins, and the cap was wobbly. The band was quite nice, with copper highlights around red and black, framing a painting of a church (presumably in El Cobre, Cuba) I liked the little flourishes on the sides. The copper is extremely shiny. So much so that it was impossible to get clear pictures of the band without a reflective glare. The nose is an oddly alarming combination of sweet tea and dog turd. My apprehension grew.

Construction

A little squeezing revealed no soft or hard spots. The cap, while double, was a bit crooked and wobbly. It seemed put together competently, but aside from the band, there was nothing “pretty” about this cigar. The burn was pretty even throughout, but had some trouble staying lit at times.

Cold Draw

A bit of resistance, but certainly satisfactory. The taste was of hay and pepper.

Smoking

First third

There is a lot of pepper in the beginning. That’s the first thing I taste. It stays tingling on my tongue from one puff, well into the next.

Underneath the pepper was a ton of flavor. There were chocolate, barnyard, leather, and sweetness. The retrohale stung with an overload of sweetness and spice.

Second third

The second third rearranged the flavors a bit. The pepper is gone except on the retrohale. There was a sweet flowery taste, a strong earthy taste, leather and sweaty, oily, musk.

This cigar did not want to stay lit. I re-lit it twice. Once at about the 1/3 mark, and again at about 1/2. It seems like a puff a minute is far too slow for this aggressive little guy. The ash barely held on for half an inch at one point, likely the result of frequent relighting.

I attempted to smoke faster to compensate and keep from relighting again.

Final third

The Ash did much better from this point onward. The smoke was thick oil, spice, and darkness. This cigar refused to ease up, even a little.

It was a hot day out (about 100° F,) and I found myself sweating as I puff, increasing the intensity of the experience. The cigar was thick and impenetrable. I was enveloped by greasiness, thick smelly smoke, and sweat. I felt like a pig in shit…but in a good way.

Notes

Draw: Medium-Tight

Medium-Tight





Body: Fuller than full. Overloaded. Call a Doctor!

Fuller than full. Overloaded. Call a Doctor!





Primary Flavors: Sweet spice, french fry grease, cinnamon, leather

Sweet spice, french fry grease, cinnamon, leather





Smoke Output: Full

Full





Smoke Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

Overall

Every flavor a cigar can have was represented in there somewhere, in a giant, indelicate mishmash. It stank like a tarpit. It burned like pepper spray. And, amazingly, it was actually quite good! The retrohale didn’t reveal any additional flavors because there aren’t any more to be had in the universe, but it did intensive the volume and bring a teary smile to my face. The fact that it went out twice in the second third was irksome, but it stayed lit after that thanks to aggressive puffing. The finish lasted for hours.

In the end, I was shocked by how charming this cigar is. It does not pretend to be anything other than what it is: a stinky, tarry, loudmouthed jackass of a cigar. There is nothing subtle going on here, but there is a hell of a lot of flavor, and for $3.50, it’s a steal.

Rating