Review of Genuine Pre-Embargo 1958 Counterfeit Cuban Cigar

I know what you are thinking…. WHAT?!?!? Don’t let the name fool you. It is what it is, a long fill, hand rolled cigar, in a box, for really cheap, available online, and a decent smoke. Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I can give you my review.

Here is the breakdown on Genuine Pre-Embargo 1958 Counterfeit Cuban cigars. They are made by Tabacalera Perdomo in Nicaragua, and distributed in the U.S. by a company called Santa Clara, the same folks that distribute Fonseca. This is a good start for me, since I am partial to Nicaraguan tobacco. The wrapper is an Ecuador Sumatran and the binder an Ecuadorian leaf as well. Okay, where is the Nicaraguan tobacco? It is in the filler, which also has some Honduran blended in, and if any of you remember some of my previous reviews, you will remember that the main tobacco growing regions of both of the those countries (Nicaragua and Honduras) are adjacent to each other, meaning that they share a border. The cigar I chose for my review was a 5” x 50 ring gauge in the robusto size.

In previous reviews, I have talked about all of my mother’s older cousins smoking stogies back in the 1950’s during our summer family picnics. That aroma is one I will never forget, and believe it or not, this very inexpensive cigar does a good job of nudging my olfactory memory chips. Okay, so what about the flavor? Well, I never got a chance to smoke any of my mom’s cousins’ cigars, but this is a mild to medium stick with a typical ‘cigar’ taste to it with not too much of anything that notable. Maybe a little coffee and some earthy flavors, but definitely nothing harsh or distasteful.

This cigar has the right look, as you will see from the photo. Just the right amount of hand rolled rustic appearance to look and feel like a ‘real Cuban’. It reminded me of a ‘real’ Cuban cigar I smoked overseas called ‘Jose la Piedra’. That cigar has the same look and feel as this one, which is a regular staple of the folks in Cuba. In addition, the Piedra is really inexpensive, as well, even for Cubans. The draw on the Genuine Pre-Embargo 1958 Counterfeit Cuban cigar was easy, not too tight, and the burn was very even. The ash fell at about the mid-point of the smoke, and was very dark, again reminiscent of Piedra. Speaking of smoke, it generates lots of nice gray billows with a total burn time of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Yes, yes, yes and yes. This cigar is sold in boxes of 25 for around $60, which puts them at around $2.40/stick. It is still only any average cigar, but anytime you can get a decent stogie for under $3 it is a keeper in my book, or rather, my humidor.