Rojas Havana Nights review thread

[rbbrock]

Since these are pretty new and I got the sampler I figured I'd start a review thread for them.

These are a Noel Rojas blend that is exclusive to CigarPage, and being a fairly recent release there's not much info nor reviews out there yet. I'm usually wary of house brands but since the story was that Noel supposedly had these all ready to go and the folks at CP just picked them up from there I figured I'd give it a try as Rojas is usually a pretty safe bet. I picked up a sampler that includes four each of Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro for $40. These are supposed to all be the same blend with only the wrapper being different, which as we all know is sometimes not the case.

As far as trying them, I figured I'd start with the Connie. I'll add reviews of the other two as I get to them, hopefully within a couple days. I might even go for the maduro later tonight if the temperature stays as nice as it is now!

Anyone else that's gotten them please feel free to chime in as well!

 

[rbbrock]

First up: Havana Nights Connecticut Corona Gorda

Appearance: smooth, light wrapper, a couple green areas, no major veins , nice seams, partially closed foot, no soft spots. Seems like a well built cigar.

First third: grass/hay, light cedar, light spice on retro. Smooth, creamy smoke. Mild.

Second third: cedar becoming stronger especially on retro, sweetness getting lighter but still there, a little minerality coming through as well. Body moving more to medium.

Third third: the smoke is definitely accumulating on my palate at this point making the subtleties hard to taste. This is probably my biggest issue with mild cigars - towards the end most of what you taste is basic cigar tobacco. I'm getting some pepper, stronger charred wood, and leather. After letting it cool and taking a couple drinks of water, I got some of the hay/grass back. Solid medium body at this stage.

I did put it down with a hair over an inch left as it started getting bitter. I've only had these a couple of weeks so I'm hoping the final third and the nub will mellow some with a bit more time

Burn was excellent, draw was perfect with just a slight resistance. Solid white ash that held on well. Smoke aroma was mild and pretty nice IMO. Total smoke time was just over an hour

I'm not typically a big Connecticut shade fan, but the sampler was a good deal and I thought it would be interesting to try the same blend with the different wrappers so I thought I'd give it a shot. My usual disdain for the wrapper may be as much due to the typical blends they're used on, because I do quite like some. This one was a darn good smoke, especially for just a hair over three bucks!

 

[rbbrock]

I forgot, here's the picture of the green areas.

They were in the first couple inches and didn't really affect the flavor much that I could tell.

 

[Mr. Behcet]

Thanks for this review. I've been wondering what these cigars were all about. Like you, I don't usually have a great time with Conn Shade. Looking forward to hearing about the Habano.

 

[JoeMO]

Nice review. I'm looking forward to hearing about the others.

 

[CBoukal]

Great review, thanks for sharing! I look forward to the rest of the reviews and maybe grabbing a sampler myself at some point.

 

[rbbrock]

Havana Nights Habano Corona Gorda

Appearance: medium brown, mottled wrapper with small veins, nice seams, partially closed foot, no soft spots, and one split in the leaf a couple inches in, which didn't seem to affect anything while smoking it. Another nicely constructed cigar apart from that, and at the price some minor flaws are acceptable.

First third: wood, leather, quite peppery. Hints now and then of spice, sweetness. Medium

Second third: No real change, other than intensity gradually ramping up as the smoke progresses. Maybe some pops of spice here and there. Still medium.

Third third: becoming "darker," dominated by woody flavors, with the leather and pepper in the background. Still little flashes of spice from time to time. Pepper coming back to the front near the end. Started to burn hot at the 1.5 inch mark, but I was able to nurse it along a bit more without the flavor turning bitter, so I ended up putting it down with about an inch left. Just under an hour smoke time.

Draw was on the loose end with barely any resistance. Mottled gray ash that held on about an inch and a half. I'm pretty sure the burn was affected by the gusty and swirling wind, but given that circumstance it did fine.

Overall I'd say it's a fine cigar in the <$5 bracket, better than many "big brand" cigars costing that or more. I found it relatively straightforward but good. If the sale price of $3.33 that I got it for comes around regularly it's a great buy.

 

[rbbrock]

Havana Nights Maduro Corona Gorda
Appearance: somewhat mottled milk to dark chocolate brown wrapper with a couple larger veins, not as tight seams on this one, partially closed foot, no soft spots. Again a well constructed cigar.

First third: cocoa, leather, a hint of pepper. On the mild end of medium

Second third: A little coffee flavor mixing in, and pepper on the retro really kicked up a notch or two. Solid medium.

Looks like a bit of a void in the roll, hopefully the burn doesn't tunnel.

Third third: coffee dominating the flavors now, but otherwise staying pretty consistent. I put it down with just over an inch left. I could have nubbed it but the temp started to drop and my fingers were getting cold. Right at an hour smoke time. I'm happy to report that there was no tunneling, in spite of my earlier fear.

Draw was again on the loose end with barely any resistance. Bright white ash that held on about an inch and a half. Burn was good with no issues. I quite liked the aroma of the smoke on this one. All three have had a nice, not overpowering aroma, actually, but this maduro was the best in that regard.

I've quite enjoyed all three of these cigars and would recommend giving the sampler a try. I think I'd rank the Habano slightly ahead of the Maduro, with the Connecticut behind them both (but still plenty good).

So far they have gone on sale fairly often, so they should be easy to get at about $3.50 or better (the lowest price I've seen was one of those deals CigarPage likes to run where if you buy four packs, the price drops, so on that deal they were $17.76 for six sticks).

 

[whopper]

Havana Nights Maduro Corona Gorda
Appearance: somewhat mottled milk to dark chocolate brown wrapper with a couple larger veins, not as tight seams on this one, partially closed foot, no soft spots. Again a well constructed cigar.

First third: cocoa, leather, a hint of pepper. On the mild end of medium

Second third: A little coffee flavor mixing in, and pepper on the retro really kicked up a notch or two. Solid medium.

Looks like a bit of a void in the roll, hopefully the burn doesn't tunnel.

Third third: coffee dominating the flavors now, but otherwise staying pretty consistent. I put it down with just over an inch left. I could have nubbed it but the temp started to drop and my fingers were getting cold. Right at an hour smoke time. I'm happy to report that there was no tunneling, in spite of my earlier fear.

Draw was again on the loose end with barely any resistance. Bright white ash that held on about an inch and a half. Burn was good with no issues. I quite liked the aroma of the smoke on this one. All three have had a nice, not overpowering aroma, actually, but this maduro was the best in that regard.

I've quite enjoyed all three of these cigars and would recommend giving the sampler a try. I think I'd rank the Habano slightly ahead of the Maduro, with the Connecticut behind them both (but still plenty good).

So far they have gone on sale fairly often, so they should be easy to get at about $3.50 or better (the lowest price I've seen was one of those deals CigarPage likes to run where if you buy four packs, the price drops, so on that deal they were $17.76 for six sticks).

You gotta stay out there for the team.

Cold weather nixing the nub is unacceptable.

 

[rbbrock]

You gotta stay out there for the team.

Cold weather nixing the nub is unacceptable.

Once we've had some warm weather, the return to cold is much worse.