BRAND: Habana León

NAME: Serie F No. 2000

TYPE: Toro

BOX DATE: APR 2005

LENGTH/RING GAUGE: 6 x 50

WRAPPER: Corojo

DATE OF PURCHASE: 8/3/2006

DATE OF RATING: 2/26/2008

TIME IN HUMIDOR (MONTHS): 19.1

LOOK AND FEEL: 89

FLAVOR AND AROMA: 90           

BURN: 86

OVERALL SCORE: 88.2

AGING POTENTIAL SCORE: B = this cigar should age well over the first 5 years and is likely to develop further complexity and nuances

URL: http://www.cigarking.com

STORAGE CONDITIONS: This is the fourth and final review in a series of reviews of the cigars in this batch. The cigars have spent their entire 19 months of aging time inside their original box within my cabinet humidor.

My Aristocrat cabinet humidor has a set-and-forget digital hygro set at 69%RH. Winter temperatures have ranged between 66-72 degrees F. I have kept these cigars in their cellophane wrappers.

TASTING NOTES: These cigars, which honor the famous Cuban baseball team the Habana Leones, are made exclusively for Cigar King by Don Pepin Garcia.

They sport a cinnamon brown wrapper with a pungent aroma of chicken coop and hay. Though the aromas have diminished slightly over the 19 months of this review cycle, if you put your nose right to the foot of the cigar and take a big whiff, odds are that you will come away with your eyes watering. I really do love the pungent aromas put out by the tobacco in this cigar.

I should also note that, in my first two reviews, this same wrapper, which is so enticing today, had a huge dose of ammonia. The moderating influence of extended aging is quite apparent with this cigar, as the aromas have gone from noxious to intoxicating during the course of 19 months. These cigars, which have been sitting in my humidor for over a year, have a box date of April 2005. So, though I have aged them in my own humidor for just over 19 months, they have nearly 3 years on them since they were boxed.

The wrapper leaf on this stick is a little lumpy and bumpy to the touch, but otherwise is a fine example of a Nicaraguan Corojo (probably a Corojo 99 hybrid). The feel of the cigar was spongy and especially soft near the foot. We’ll see if that portends of any problems...

During the first two reviews in this reviewing cycle, these cigars displayed significant burn problems, however my third review noted a nice even burn. This time around the burn was mediocre. Overall, the burn and construction have been inconsistent over the 19 months of this review cycle.

I suspect that the reason for the poor burn problems (as well as the pungent aromas) is related to the fact that the filler blend of these cigars contains about 70% ligero. Ligero comes from the top of the tobacco plant, which gives it more strength, more nicotine and, because it contains more resins, it doesn’t burn as smoothly.

After lighting up this bad boy, I was amazed at how much life there still remains in this cigar. Though the cigar had mellowed somewhat, it still had the ability to grab you by the throat and shake you.

The first half displayed some wood, pepper and roasted nuts. By the halfway point I was noting some tangy sweetness in the tobacco. I also noted that the strength was picking up significantly. This is not a finesse cigar, I’m sure it wasn’t intended to be. This cigar is for you thrill seekers who want to get thrown back in your seat and treated to a wild ride.

I am not sure that this cigar will improve more with further aging, but I do know it shows plenty of strength and I don’t expect it to start tasting like paper anytime in the next century. So, I’m optimistic about its chances to successfully age further.

I have mixed feelings about the overall quality of the construction of these cigars. Of the 10 cigars I have smoked during this review cycle, three of them had poor construction and displayed burn problems. Three more displayed mediocre burns. Part of my Aging Potential score was based on how well these cigars were constructed. For sure, the tobacco will continue to change and I suspect it will change for the better, but if the cigars are of inconsistent quality, in terms of construction, then it may be all for naught.

I have at least a dozen of these cigars left and I will be very interested to revisit them in 6 months to a year and beyond.

~Doc