Cordoba & Morales Clave Cubano Etiqueta Blanca Toro Gorda
Delivering the Delivering the Clave Cubana – Etiqueta Blanca
Remember when you first smoked your first high strength cigar. You know the one, it lit you up and made you want to stay in your comfortable smoking chair or stool. Well I am here to report that after years of smoking cigars and finding but a few that have that effect on me I have discovered another.
I was at one of my local cigar shops this 4th of July and the owners of Cordoba & Morales; Z & Emille Mustafa came in to share their latest creation, the Clave Cubana – Etiqueta Blanca. These cigars will be released Aug 1st but we got a taste of them today. This is one of the nice advantages to living in the cigar capital of the US – Florida., sometimes you get a taste of the newest flavors out there.
The Clave Cubana – Etiqueta Blanca comes in 4 vitolas:
- Robusto
- Toro
- Toro Gorda
- Lancero
They are all box pressed and constructed from Nicaraguan filler and binder wrapped with a beautiful San Andres wrapper.
They are produced in the American Caribbean Cigars, S.A. (ACSSA) factory in Esteli.
The presentation of this cigar is as stunning as the smoke itself. The box is beautiful white lacquer and the band is clean and meticulously adhered. You know right from the start that there was great pride in making this cigar.
I sliced the head with my double blade and rolled the stick between my lips, the pre-light draw was impeccable, the flavor was slightly buttery and sweet. I wanted to chew on this for awhile and just taste the tobacco. I finally torched it up and the first few puffs had a note of citrus that quickly blended in early spice. As it burned, it held a nice lily white ash that stayed through the first 3rd of the burn. Emille from Cordoba and Morales, shared a picture of standing the stick on it ash – impressive to say the least.
The flavor gave off notes of espresso on the front that morphed into a gentle spice throughout. The smoke was creamy and the retro-hale had a light burn. My Palate was awakened with flavor.
I picked up a Toro and will have to smoke that next just to discern more of the flavor profile.
At first, I wanted to say this was a medium body smoke, but as I got to the last third, the strength intensified and it hit me. I have to admit, I got a little light headed on this one. The finish was strong as I smoked it to the nub. This stogie lasted well over an hour and half. I paired this with a Stella Artois but i think the next one I will try some aged rum with it.
Z and Emille – You have a real winner here. Good Luck with the roll out.