Cain Habano 660

If you spend anytime around friends or colleagues who are cigar smokers, you'll ofter hear them toss around terms like big, full flavored, mild, chewy, toasty etc. Terms that cigar smokers use to describe the cigar they are smoking or have smoked in the past.

Tasting is of course subjective, and ultimately the enjoyment of the cigar you smokes has nothing to do with what others think of the taste and flavor but what you think of the taste and flavor. Does that mean you shouldn't venture out and try sticks suggested by others, of course not but always coming back to a tried and true cigar that you know you like is always alright my book.

While the discussion of flavors and tastes coming off a particular cigar can vary widely, there seems to be a general consensus when a cigar is referred to as big, bold and/or powerful. In todays review, we are going to take a look at one such cigar, the Cain Habano 660.

I really was looking forward to trying this cigar for the first time, it had a couple things going for it right out of the box that I look for. First and foremost is the Habano leaf. I prefer this leaf finding the flavor and taste to be my "go to" wrapper when choosing a cigar to enjoy. Secondly I tend to lean towards a larger ring diameter. Of course with the NUB cigars of which I have spoken of here recently, the larger diameter is a given, but on todays subject, the 60 ring gauge in conjunction with the 6" length really lends itself to a "big" cigar in more ways than one.

Finally, in looking forward to the Cain Habano 660 is just the simple fact that the cigar is straight ligero and the anticipation of a big hearty smoke is present as you remove the simply but elegant band from the foot.

The other evening had me toasting the foot of the cigar in anticipation of a great evening of hanging out with friends while enjoying the cool breeze of the evening enhanced by the ceiling fan in my screened in back porch.

I utilized a punch to open up the wrapper, and after a good minute or so of lightly toasting the foot, I took the first draw on this cigar. Initial flavor was of a big, bold roasted nut flavor that quickly settled into an extremely rich espresso flavor with a very smooth refined roasted almond taste rounding out the finish.

The ligero leaf is a heartier leaf than from other parts on the plant and tends therefore to burn slower, and this cigar was no exception only showing about an inch and a half of ash after 30 minutes or so of smoking. The cigar burned cool, aided of course by the ash, and as the evening progressed the flavors continued to develop and become more complex offering up the roasted almond flavor while the rich coffee espresso flavor developed on the draw.

After about an hour, the first ash fell at about almost 3 inches, and I relit just to insure an even burn as the new end of the cigar was slightly uneven. I intentionally got the cigar to burn hot just to get a sense of the flavors however at no point did the cigar exhibit any harshness or char even as I allowed it to burn slightly hotter than I normally do.

A versatile and flavor full cigar, but certainly not for the feint of heart. After about 90 minutes I extinguished the cigar still having almost 2 inches of the stick remaining.

This cigar was big, it was bold, it was certainly full bodied and yet it never overpowered, it allowed the flavors to develop without being to obnoxious. A cigar for the beginner, No. A cigar for someone used to big bold flavors for sure, and if along the way they become a believer as well...

...I guess at that point we can only point to the power of Cain.