2. Oro Cubano Aniversario
This cigar’s band advertises “Hecho a Mano” or “Handmade”. It’s a good thing they clear this up, otherwise I might be compelled to call and suggest they have their rolling machine repaired. This was an ugly cigar to look at with quite a number of wrinkles in the wrapper and two nicks that cut through to the binder. It was however better packed than stick #1 . 7 inches long and firm [insert potty humor here], it had a decent draw and burned well through the first half with zero touch-ups. It wasn’t a razor sharp line, but it managed to correct itself. The second half was another story altogether.

This cigar started off with a “bright” grassy note which wasn’t half bad. It was accompanied by a slight sweetness and overall it had a mild profile. I thought going into this that I would find one or two really palatable cigars amongst the 30 and I began to think this was the first…WRONG. After a couple inches the flavor developed a somewhat chemical sweetness that made it taste like I had just licked a whole bunch of envelopes. The cap was getting pretty soggy (and I’m not a “wet” smoker), and the draw became weaker, though not from the cap issues. About halfway through the cigar began to tunnel and I knew something was wrong. It was as if it hit a knot of tobacco and moisture because the burn faded fast into a tunnel and the flavor became acrid like wet tobacco. The remainder of my time with the stick was bitter and unpleasant.

Single best part of the cigar: If like when I recall several ex-girlfriends, I can forget about the last half, then I can say confidently the first was pretty enjoyable.

Single worst part of the cigar: Whatever in the hell happened at the 4” mark (tunneling, horrible flavor, etc.)

An overall rating on a scale of 1-10: 5.3 (a good churchill to have quickly on a smoke break at work)