I’m happy bring you another review of a new cigar introduced at this years IPCPR. You might be wondering what the big deal is about a new La Aroma De Cuba cigar, and why I’d rush out and be one of the first to review it. Well the scoop is that Edicion Especial is yet another creation of the nearly omnipresent Don Pepin Garcia. Yep, that’s right, Pepin who is already making the San Cristobal and Benchmade for Ashton has added another cigar to their roster.

Another question I’ve heard asked about the new La Aroma De Cuba is whether or not the original line will be replaced by the new Pepin creation. The word is that at this point both will continue to be available. This cigar is, as the name suggests, a special edition in the line.

What makes the Edicion Especial different is that it’s made in Nicaragua instead of Honduras, utilizing a Cuban-seed Ecuadorian wrapper and Nicaraguan filler and binder. Unlike many of other Pepin cigars, this cigar was blended to be a bit milder. That pretty much covers it, let’s smoke it!

Cigar Stats:
Size: 4 7/8 x 48
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Smoking Time:
Beverage: Water
Price: ~$6.75

The Pre-Smoke
At first glance, you might not immediately notice that the band on this cigar is a different than the original. Gone is the red border at the bottom, and instead of a single woman in the center, there are a pair. Overall, it’s a very ornate, attractive band and looks great on the cigar.

The cigar itself is pretty nice looking. Both of the cigars I smoked for this review were pretty smooth, with only a few, spidery thin veins on the wrapper. Unfortunately, one cigar did have a crack at the foot and a wrapper rip about midway up the cigar. I suspect that both were the result of transit. The cracked cigar seemed to be firmer than the unflawed smoke. The rip-free cigar seemed to be a bit firmer at the head than at the foot.

One really interesting thing I noticed in my pre-light inspection was the pungency of the wrapper scent. Both have a very strong tangy, compost scent. This scent overwhelmed my ability to get a very good read on the cold taste.

The Burn
Both cigars had their burn quirks, one was a little uneven to start, while the other got a little jagged midway. As each cigar smoked into the second third, the wrapper formed cracks in the final third. To add insult to injury, I had to relight the second cigar twice. On the plus side, both cigars produced nice, solid lengths of light colored ash and generally had a good draw.

The Flavor
Nowhere were these cigars so different than in the flavor department. They differed so much that I could swear I smoked two different cigars. In the first third, one cigar was very savory and earthy, with some sweet coffee and caramel flavors and butteryness toward the end. The other cigar was, well bland. Mostly mild wood and paper, but I got an rare bit of coffee flavor and savoriness, but this was the exception.

The second third continued to be savory at points and then sweet, with cocoa, syrupy coffee, earth and cinnamon. The other continued to be papery and bland with a bit of creamy sweetness at the end.

The final third was no surprise. The first cigar continued to have a fuller body with earth and dark chocolate, while the second produced just a bit of creaminess, some aromatic cedar and some very mild cocoa.

The Price
It’s hard to complain about the price. Even though this cigar is yet another “special edition”, it doesn’t carry with it an inflated special edition price.

The Verdict
The danger in smoking a cigar from the show is that they spend a lot of time in changing, less-than-ideal conditions. It’s hard to say which cigar was the one-off. By all accounts, this cigar is meant to be milder. And the milder cigar was just boring. The fuller cigar, while a bit too salty at points, had some good flavor and more body than I expected. I would smoke the first, fuller bodied cigar again, but would pass on the milder second. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know which was the norm until I smoke another. And that means I’ll have to revisit this cigar in a weekend video supplemental when they become available.

The one thing both cigars did have in common were burn flaws. And that was a little disappointing.

Liked It: The first more than the second
Buy It Again: Probably, at least to figure out which cigar was off.
Recommend It: Can’t at this time.

Tower of Burn
Here for your viewing pleasure is my trademark Tower of Burn.