This cigar up for review this week is one I heard rumors about for weeks. As I made my rounds at the local shops, it seemed I was a few steps behind a new cigar rep that was introducing a cigar to the Atlanta market. The interesting thing is when I asked about it, people had trouble recalling the name of the cigar. When I finally caught up with this new rep at a recent cigar event, I realized that knew him already. It was Allan, a guy I know from a shop out in one of the northern Atlanta suburbs. Recently he made the decision to leave his job with the shop to take on the thrill of the road.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have very much time to catch up and talk about the cigar. He was heading out as I was arriving, but he did take the time to hand me a couple to sample and give me a quick rundown of the brand. The significance of the numbers on the Fuentes Crucet cigars is that they are the birth years of the owner’s children. (In this case, 1987.) And with that you know everything I do, so let’s light it up!

Cigar Stats:
Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Smoking Time: 1 1/2 hours
Beverage: Water
Price: ~$2.60

The Pre-Smoke
The Habanero 87 is a pretty nice looking cigar. With its large, embossed gold lettering, there’s no chance you’ll miss the name of this cigar. However, you won’t see the name of the manufacturer, Fuente Crucet anywhere on the band. (Which is probably why people had trouble telling me who makes it.) The back of the band has an interesting design, resembling a stack of papers which might be passport documents, birth certificates or other government documentation.

The cigar itself was a very smooth, darker natural colored stick with just a few veins in it. It’s pretty firm to the touch, but a little dry looking visually. There was just the slightest bit of shine to the wrapper, which may have to do with the cigar’s time on the road. The cigars smoked for this review did spend a few weeks in my humidor, but may have benefited from a bit more time.

After noting the very sweet, earthy honey scent on the wrapper, I pulled out my newest toy, the Xikar cigar knife. Using what Ratters on our fan forum calls “The Cranial Screw Method”, I popped the cap off of the cigar to test the cold taste. I fully expect to be called crazy, but the cold taste was a little bit like peanut butter and honey.

The Burn
These cigars burned pretty well. The ash was solid (albeit slightly flaky) and a nice bright white. The draw was also fine. The burn line did get a bit jagged from time to time, but that was generally an indicator that the cigar was about to go out. (And it did a couple of times.) Otherwise the burn line was pretty straight.

The one noteworthy thing about the burn was the room aroma. My wife loves to tell me that my cigars stink, but this time, I have to agree with her. Usually it’s difficult to detect the room aroma of a cigar you’re smoking, but I did notice there was a little bit of a burnt plastic smell toward the end of one cigar.

The Flavor
The most surprising thing about the flavor is the disparity between it and the scent and cold taste of the unlit cigar. Though the cigar smelled incredibly sweet, there was almost no significant sweetness in this smoke.

The cigar started off dry and earthy and remained so until the finish. In fact, this probably has to be the earthiest cigar I’ve had in a log time. While there were fluctuations in the flavor as the cigar burned, the flavor profile didn’t change very much between thirds. Along with the earthiness I did notice a mushroom flavor that was more prominent in the first third than following thirds, and some very distinct cinnamon that was more concentrated in the second third. In addition, I also noticed some dark chocolate and a little bit of coffee here and there.

The Price
You won’t find me complaining about the price of a cigar that costs less than three bucks!

The Verdict
It’s hard to find any major flaws with this cigar, it’s inexpensive, it burns well, and it has an interesting (dare I say unique?) flavor profile. Which is why I hate to say I didn’t care for it, but I really didn’t. The flavor profile just isn’t for me. However, I do appreciate it as a solid cigar, that will appeal to people who prefer an earthier flavors. If you happen to be in that camp, you really need to check this cigar out. Not sure if you are? You can find out pretty easily for about three bucks!

As for me, I’ll probably pick one up once they hit the shops in my area, to see if there are any differences in a more optimally stored cigar. Otherwise, I’m going to have to pass.

Liked It: It was OK, but not my cup of tea.
Buy It Again: I’ll pick up a better humidified one from a shop for comparison.
Recommend It: If you like earthy flavor profiles, you gotta try this.

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