Cuban Stock Cigar Company was established in 1995 under its former name: Crown David Inc. The name change was a natural transition for the company, which enjoyed good product recognition for its flagship cigar, the Cuban Stock.

The name Cuban Stock seemed a natural choice since the company employed many Cuban cigar-making traditions. From the tobacco growing and aging techniques, to the rolling and packaging methods, the name Cuban Stock seemed to fit the company well.

Their first cigar was the "Cuban Stock Classic. This was followed by the Cuban Stock Royal Selection and the Cuban Stock Reserve.

The production continued with the Chubbys, a bevy of 60-ring gauge cigars.

Then came the Exquisito Double Capa a double-wrapper cigar and the Exquisito Limitado an Estate cigar with all the tobacco grown in one field in the Dominican Republic.

At the 2009 trade show in New Orleans the company launched two new cigars, the Chubby's Ultimate and the other was the Cuban Stock Extra.

The Extra is made with 100% Dominican tobacco that have been aged for 6 years and a good portion of that aging has taken place in wine barrels. The Cuban Stock Extra comes in 5 sizes. Today's featured cigar is the 6.25-inch by 52 ring Belicoso.

First of all, this cigar has a drop dead gorgeous wrapper. It is smooth, with a beautiful light brown color and it glistens with oils making for a natural sheen. The wrapper smells of roasted nuts and alfalfa.

The flavors start out grassy with an aroma of hops and nuts. There is also a little tingle of spice on my tongue. I'm not sure if it's peppers spice or something else, and it wasn't overwhelming but just pricked my tongue. But, by far the most prominent feature during the first inch was bitterness. It was a combination of green grass and wet hops. And it wasn't particularly pleasant.

Another negative feature was that this cigar swelled up at the foot and split the wrapper. I'd say it was heavy with moisture and when I put the torch to it and started to smoke, the tobacco just expanded like those charcoal snake pellets that you light up on the 4th of July.

I'd like to say this was an uncommon feature, but this has happened to all three cigars I've smoked from this batch. In my opinion, this characteristic can be attributed to either the fact that the tobaccos were not fermented long enough prior to aging or that the finished cigars were not aged long enough post-production. That said, after the first inch or so, this cigar changes predictably. As I progressed through the smoke there were notes of wood, medium roast coffee, and a slight tobacco sweetness.

The retrohale was wicked spicy. I got a good snort of pepper spice, which remained a feature until the very end of the smoke. Quite nice, actually.

The burn line was scalloped but the medium gray ash held firm and when I dropped the ash into my ashtray I literally had to beat the thing with my pencil to get it to come apart.

I have mixed feeling about this cigar. The fact that it displays bitterness early on is not a good feature. Cigars are all about first impressions and a cigar that is bitter in the first inch is not going to capture the attention of many people. If this cigar is, indeed, too moist it could mean that the bitterness is related to excess moisture.

However, due to the fact that this cigar changed dramatically and positively after the first inch, bodes well for the good qualities of the smoke. However, I am not going to unconditionally recommend this smoke, but I am going to revisit it again in a year and I will definitely dry box this cigar if it still feels as dense and heavy as it does right now.

~Doc