The postscript cigar for this review is the Cain Straight Ligero Habano, which I featured on the Stogie Fresh 5 cigarcast in Episode 192 Sunday, October 25, 2009. This box of cigars has been resting in the Stogie Fresh humidors for 1 year, 3 months and I pulled out some samples this past week to give them a revisit.

The Cain Straight Ligero cigar is another unique entry into the world of premium cigars. Though not as much a phenomenon as the Nub, which is also a concept of Sam Leccia, it comes with as much marketing panache as did the Nub.

The Cain Straight Ligero is an attempt to incorporate all ligero tobacco into the making of a cigar. Ligero tobacco comes from the top of the tobacco plant and, as such, withstands more direct exposure to the sun and other elements, which makes the leaf darker and thicker and more full in strength and flavor. Hence, a cigar made with straight ligero should be a full-bodied beast. That said, the straight ligero moniker is a bit misleading because this cigar has other tobacco than just ligero. I guess it could have been called the Cain Mostly-Ligero, but I guess that wouldn't have packed much marketing punch.

The ligero for the Cain comes from 3 different growing regions in Nicaragua: Esteli, Condega and Jalapa. These tobaccos are then triple fermented, which helps to temper the strength inherent within the tobacco. It takes a hardy leaf to stand up to the extra heat produced in a triple fermentation, but the Oliva company says these ligero leaves are thicker and up to the task of the extra fermentation.

The Cain Straight Ligero comes in two lines: the Maduro and the Habano. Today's featured cigar is the 6-inch by 54 ring gauge Habano Torpedo.

TASTING NOTES: My first impression of the flavor of this stick was that of black and bitter coffee. Kind of like the sludge that has been sitting overnight in a bad restaurant. However, that was short-lived and was replaced with a tangy sweetness and some oak wood on the palate. The retrohale brought out notes of bourbon and black pepper.

The burn line was even and the dark gray ash was solid as a rock. In fact, I had to snap off the ash in my ashtray after an inch. My general experience with this cigar, after smoking several samples, is that it performs exceedingly well. The draw is smooth and produces copious amounts of smoke, which is one good indicator that the cigar is constructed well. This is consistent with my experience of other cigars made by the Oliva Company.

FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cain Straight Ligero Habano is a good smoke. This is a well-made cigar at a fair price. The flavors of the Cain are predominantly woody, with a bit of tobacco sweetness peeking through the flavor profile.

The extra year of age has brought a bit more balance to the smoke, but it is not complex, in my opinion. Of course, I don't think complexity is really what Sam Leccia had in mind for this smoke. I think he wanted this to be a full-bodied bad boy and in that sense I think he has achieved his goal. This is a full-bodied smoke with full flavor and medium-full strength.

And even though I don't buy into the the hype surrounding the marketing of the Cain, you have to give Sam Leccia high marks for finding ways to sell cigars in a tough and competitive market.

~Doc