DESCRIPTION: Quintero is one of the few Habanos brands not born in Cuba’s capital city, Havana. In 1924, Augustín Quintero and his four brothers established a factory in a southern coast town, Cienfuego, west of Pinar del Rio in Cuba. Augustín Quintero was a tobacco expert, who became noted for his ability to choose the best tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region for his blends.

By the time of the revolution in 1959, Quintero y Hermano was a major export brand whose main market would become Spain. They are still popular in Spain for their strong and raw tobacco taste.

Though the brand's production remained uninterrupted after the revolution, the lines were streamlined in the late 1970's to just 10 models. Currently, the Quintero range comprises just 5 offerings of medium-full bodied cigars, still using premium tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region.

It has been said that Quintero cigars have a completely unique flavor profile among Cuban cigars. That profile has been described as a combination of strong earthiness and grassy flavor that creates a countryside feel and aroma of the native Cuban soil. It is also said that Quintero’s smooth, medium bodied taste makes it ideal for those seeking to experience the taste of Habanos at an affordable price.

Up until 2002, these cigars were all machine-made, but according to Habanos S. A., they are currently totally hand made using short filler tobacco.

This week’s featured Habano is the 4.9-inch by 40 ring gauge Quintero Londres Extra.

TASTING NOTES: This cigar comes out of the starting blocks with full and in-your-face tobacco flavor on the palate, which is very unique to this particular cigar. Whether it be compared with another Cuban or with any non-Cuban stick, the Quintero is a bold and unique cigar. On the other hand, there is a quintessentially Cuban tangy note when you retrohale the smoke. That tangy element is something that forms the quintessential characteristic of Cuban tobacco. So, on one hand the flavor profile is unique and on the other it is very typical of Cuban cigars. I like the profile well enough. The blast of tobacco flavor is a wake up call and certainly keeps your attention.

There are also some light wood and walnut notes. Walnuts have a slight dryness and bitterness to them along with an earthly flavor and I was experiencing that slight bite that is characteristic of walnuts. It's not too bitter, nor is it too dry, it is actually quite a nice feature, in my opinion. The real bang comes in the retrohale, which is full of unique Cubanesque tanginess along with a good dose of spice.

The finish has a hint of pepper spice and a faint tobacco sweetness.

This cigar was medium in body and strength and perhaps medium-full in flavor. It was certainly a very approachable cigar that would likely appeal to a wide range of cigar smokers.

As far as performance goes, I ended up smoking 3 samples for this podcast; one during the week and two today. I normally smoke just 2 samples, but in this case I had to smoke an extra one because the one that I was smoking today was plugged. I got about a third of the way through the cigar and felt like I was trying to suck a bowling ball through a straw and I just gave it up at that point. There is almost nothing you can do about a plugged cigar on a stogie with a thin ring gauge. IF you can isolate the position of the plug AND IF it is somewhere near the foot, then you could cut off the end of the cigar and relight. But using a cigar tool is usually fruitless because the ring gauge is just too small to stick a skewer through the cigar. In any case, I put the cigar out of its misery and picked up a new one.

As luck would have it, the second stick of the day turned out to be perfectly constructed and I had no further burn or draw issues. This brings up a point about inconsistency in Cuban cigars. It has been my experience that Cuban cigars are very inconsistent when it comes to construction quality. I know there are some people who would disagree with me, but I am just reporting my own experience. I have found that, across the board, I have experienced more plugged cigars in the Cuban smokes I've had versus non-Cuban sticks. In the majority of cases, when I experience burn problems in a non-Cuban cigar, I don't experience a plugged cigar, but more often it is one that has a tunnel that causes an off kilter burn, maybe a mouse-hole burn or canoeing ash, but with Cubans, the burn issues are most often a plugged cigar, which is also something that I can't usually fix. This becomes even more of a concern when you consider the price differences between most Cuban and non-Cuban cigars.

The second sample had an excellent draw and an even burn; it was just night and day different than the first sample and was a pleasure to smoke.

The draw was medium firm, which was a blessing considering the potential for poorly constructed cigars coming out of Cuba. I never take the draw on a Cuban cigar for granted because, in my experience, you can literally predict the construction of a Cuban cigar by the flip of a coin.

The other thing I noticed was that this cigar casts a very dark ash. This is something that is more common in Cuban cigars and must be related to either the indigenous character of Cuban soil, or the specific ingredients of the fertilizers used in Cuba, or both.

FINAL THOUGHTS: The Quintero Londres Extra is a 30-minute smoke with plenty of character. The flavors are big and bold and would likely appeal to those who like their cigars full in flavor and body. That said, I think that this cigar would hold appeal to newer cigar smokers who are looking for something that will kick it up a notch.

The Londres Extra is the perfect size for a winter smoke and/or for your commute to and from work. The only caveat, as with Cuban cigars in general, is their propensity for plugged sticks.

The Quintero Londres Extra is a good bargain. For those of you who have access to Cuban cigars, give these a try with your morning coffee or when you only have time for a short, but enjoyable smoke.

~Doc