On 06JUL2010 in Kabul we received 3 boxes of cigars from Mike’s Cigars in Miami, FL. Martin Klausmier and Oded Ben-Aire got together and decided to ‘hook us up’. There are 10 more on the way. One of the boxes was the Flor de Bauza Medal D’Oro #1. These are produced by Arturo Fuente in their #2 Factory in the Dominican Republic and have been one of A. Fuente Sr.’s favorite cigars. This cigar is a Lonsdale size 44 x 6 7/8 with a slight box press. The wrapper is an Ecuadoran grown Sumatran Sun Grown leaf, with the binder and filler all Dominican. I smoked a couple of these for the review.
Draw and Construction
This cigar was very firm and the wrapper looked a little rough. I think I should have let them sit in my humidor longer than just a few days, but I was anxious to try one and I had sent all my cigars out to the FOBs. I used my punch on the cigar and the draw was slightly restrictive, but I did not have a cutter because I sent all those out the FOBs as well. I believe the draw would have been better if I had used a guillotine double bladed cutter. Even still, the cigar lit easily and burned very even. The ash was dark grey and fell off at 30 minutes and just around 2 ½”. The entire cigar smoked down to about 2” left when it went out on its own. I did not have as good luck with the second cigar I smoked, and the wrapper unraveled after 2”, followed 10 minutes later by the binder. I am certain that it was because I tried to smoke it when it was just too dry. My suggestion is to leave these in your humidor for a few weeks before smoking them to avoid this happening. The fact that I am smoking cigars at 6500 feet above sea level in single digit humidity with the wind blowing dust around all the time and the temperatures up over 110F, well, not exactly the best conditions for cigar smoking or storage. Even with a proper humidor, as soon as I open it to take a cigar out, the humidity drops from 70% to 30% in a matter of seconds, and if I leave the lid open for a minute, it falls below 10%. I guess in this climate you had better memorize what cigars you have in your humidor, and exactly where they are, so you can grab one quick before the moisture is sucked out of the box.
Flavor and Aroma
As I said, I smoked two of these, and other than the minor deconstruction problem of trying to smoke improperly humidified cigars, both cigars had the same flavor and aroma. The only beverage I had was water from the United Arab Emrites. They supply us with bottled spring water and it is pretty good. The cigar started out very spicy with a bit of tannin. As the cigar burned down, the tannin turned to an oaky flavor and I may have tasted a bit of nutmeg, and maybe even some leather, but for the most part it stayed a fairly bold cigar, and the spiciness was throughout the entire smoke. I should have tried drinking coffee with this cigar, and I will on the next one. This is not a cigar for a beginner, and don’t let the light colored wrapper fool you, it is a full bodied smoke.
Value
I have seen boxes of these on the internet from as low at $79/box to as high as $109/box of 25. That puts this cigar at an average price of $3.50/stick, which is a good deal for any decent smoking cigar. I anticipate the next one I smoke will be better when I get more moisture in them. The climate here in Kabul is dusty and dry, and we are at 6000 feet above sea level. On both the days I smoked, the temperature was near 110 F and probably not the best climate for a thin cigar like this. I think it will smoke much better in a more humid climate. Yes, a good value, and the troops here think that this one is a winner.
The cigars reviewed were donated to the troops in Afghanistan via our Cigars for Troops Program.
The cigars reviewed were donated to the troops in Afghanistan via our Cigars for Troops Program.
