Brand: Wango Tango
Vitola: Slickie
Ring Gauge: 50
Length: 5.50
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Proprietary 4 Country Blend
Price: Aprox. $6.50 before state taxes

Brand:
The Isla de Cuba Brand is roughly three years old and is crafted in Honduras by Altadis. The brand president, Darryl Lieser, had a vision to create a cigar of his very own and choose the 1956 Montecristo No.3 to model it after. Years before being released to the public, this cigar was enjoyed only by friends as well as Darryl himself.

Wango Tango is a new addition to the line which was introduced at this years IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas. As reported by The Stogie Guys, the idea behind this cigar was to create something that would be fun and edgy.

The Wango Tango is available in four sizes, which include, a Quickie (60 x 4.50), Slickie (50 x 5.50), Biggie (54 x 6.50), and a Longie (38 x 7.00). The blend consists of a Connecticut Broadleaf Wrapper and Binder. The filler is only described as a four country proprietary blend.

Pre-Light:

After removing the cellophane on my cigar, I began to look it over. The first thing to catch my eye was a patch of “tooth” at the head of the cigar. This patch was densely a covered section of wrapper leaf which had tiny bumps. These tiny bumps were obvious due to the lack of color on the tip of the bump.

Along the length of the wrapper were a couple of fairly small veins. When handled, these veins did not add a roughness to the texture. When pinching the cigar from head to foot, I found that there were several soft spots throughout the filler.

Using a pair of cigar scissors to open up the cap, I checked the pre-light draw. Due to the perfecto shape, the draw was tight, as expected. As a result I was unable to detect any flavors before lighting

First Third:

After the pre-light inspection was complete I moved to the lighting process. Due to the perfecto shape of this cigar, getting it ablaze couldn’t have been easier. The small portion of exposed filler began burning and slowly progressed lighting the tobacco beyond. The first two or three puffs were very tight and resulted in hardly any smoke at all.

After a few more puffs the burn progressed and I could feel the draw opening right up. Once the nipple was passed I was getting loads of smoke with each puff. The body was in the medium range and produced a finish that was neither dry or creamy.

When the smoke was passed through the sinus, I noted a very interesting peaty flavor. Much like the flavor I dislike in certain Scotch Whiskeys. In this case it was much more subdued and came off as a interesting and enjoyable nuance. The primary flavor across the palate in a mixture of spice and pepper. Neither flavor seem to be too overpowering for my liking, just enough to keep the smoke interesting.

As the stick burned, it produced a light colored ash. When looked at closely, I could see what appeared to be layering. As the ash grew in length it begin faking off around these layered sections. When cleaning up these pieces of fallen ash, they felt soft and powdery as opposed to a more sandy that I have become accustomed to.

Second Third:

After forty-five minutes of smoking I was into the second third of my Wango Tango. Up until this point the body has made a slow but steady climb into the deeper regions of medium. The finish was gravitating more towards dry at this point while leaving me with very slight parched feeling in the back of my throat.

In the flavor department things were beginning to get a little strange. Much like the name, there were some things going on that seemed a bit out of the ordinary. The mild peaty flavor through the sinus was turning savory. The core flavor of pepper and spice were transitioning to a sweet favor which would fade and be replaced by leather.

The ash remained light in color and flaky while the draw produced lots of dense smoke. Unlike the other Isla de Cuba products, I didn’t feel like this cigar was taking as long to smoke as it was. This cigar produced more smoke on the draw than the others and made it feel a little more relaxed. The burn line was thin and a little on the wavy side.

Final Third:

After a total elapsed time of an hour and a half, it was getting close to calling it quits. The body continued to make a steady progression up the body scaled and leveled off at med-full. The finish remained about the same throughout the final third and left me with a mild parched sensation on the back of my throat.

The flavors made another change, although much more subtle this time around. The sweet flavor from the previous third was dissipating and the leathery component took center stage. The core flavor of leather seemed to build a little in terms of depth while the savory sensation through the sinuses was slowly transitioning back to peaty.

As the cigar grew shorter the heat of the cigar increased rapidly. The warmth was easily felt on the fingers and created a harshness across the palate. The draw became more loose as things warmed up and as a result the smoke had to be put down earlier than normal.

Final Thoughts:
When it was all said and done, I enjoyed the Wango Tango by Isla de Cuba. The flavor profile became a bit strange at times, but the idea on the part of Isla de Cuba was to create a fun cigar that was different. I think they did that and some with this particular cigar.

As I mentioned in the video, I think that the price point of around $6.50 for an unknown cigar may be a a difficult hurdle for some to overcome. I think that a sub $5.00 price point on this stick would make it much more approachable.

If you are in the mood to try something that may seem a bit odd, but fun, at times – you may want to give the Wango Tango a try. If you prefer cigars more along the traditional lines, you may want to consider the Isla de Cuba Aged Maduro, Blend 376, or Classic instead.

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