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| EIROA CBT Maduro – Robusto |
The EIROA CBT Maduro is the second blend to be released under CLE Cigar Company EIROA brand. The EIROA line marks the first cigar line by company founder Christian Eiroa to carry his family’s name. It was a year ago when the first EIROA was released – which was a Honduran puro. It was one of the most unique Honduran puros I smoked and it garnered a selection as the Cigar Coop #11 Cigar of the Year for 2013. This year another installment is positioned – this time an all-maduro blend called the EIROA CBT Maduro. This cigar was released just prior to the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the EIROA CBT Maduro. I found this to be an excellent cigar and one that provided a very enjoyable smoke.
As mentioned the EIROA CBT Maduro is an all maduro smoke – and this plays into the name of the of the cigar. CBT stands for Capa, Banda, and Tripa – which translates to Wrapper, Binder, and Filler. It happens to be that all three of these components are maduro. As many know, this isn’t the first time Christian Eiroa has done this. Back during his days running Camacho Cigars, there was the all-maduro Camacho Triple Maduro – which has become an iconic cigar blend.
Without further ado, let’s break down the EIROA CBT Maduro and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
Specific tobacco origins have not been formally disclosed other than that the three leaves are “maduro”. The cigars are being manufactured at the company’s Aladino factory in Danli, Honduras.
Wrapper: Maduro
Binder: Maduro
Filler: Maduro
Vitolas Available
The EIROA CBT Maduro is available in four sizes. These are the same sizes as was made for the original EIROA. The cigars are packed in 5 count packs and there are four packs to a box for a total of 20 cigars per box.
Prensado: 4 x 48
Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 x 54
660: 6 x 60
Appearance
For this cigar experience, I smoked the Robusto size of the EIROA CBT Maduro. The CBT Maduro Robusto has a roasted espresso colored wrapper. There is some oil on the surface of this wrapper. While there are a few visible veins, I still found this to be a very smooth wrapper. The wrapper’s dark color does a good job at hiding the wrapper seams.
The EIROA CBT Maduro has a similar design to the original EIROA, but with a slightly different color variation It features a red, silver, and black colored band. The band is highlighted by a red circular background. The center of the band says “EIROA” in silver. Surrounding the “EIROA” name is “SALUD”, “AMOR”, and “PESATAS” in a smaller silver font. There is a black ring surrounding the red circular background. On that ring it is the text “Tradicion, Tabacalera, and Calidad Superior” – also in silver font . There are red and silver pinstripes going around the back of the band. On the left side of the band is a silver rectangle on the pinstripes that says “HECHO 2013” in small black font. On the right side of the band is another silver rectangle on the pinstripes that says “DESDE 1916” in small black font.
The slogan “SALUD, AMOR, and PESATAS” translates to “HEALTH LOVE (AND) MONEY”. This is a old Spanish saying in which the Gallegos (Spaniards that lived Northwest Spain) felt was the key to happiness. The expression “Tradicion, Tabacalera, and Calidad Superior” translates to “Tradition, Tobacco, and Superior Quality”.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Prior to lighting up the EIROA CBT Maduro Robusto, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was successfully clipped, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw provided a mix of floral and coffee notes. Overall, I considered the pre-light draw to this cigar to be satisfactory. At this point, I lit up the CBT Maduro and awaited what the smoking experience would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The EIROA CBT Robusto delivered notes of mocha and white pepper to start. I also detected some earth notes in the background. The white pepper was very much present on the retro-hale – and at times I found the retro-hale to be rather sharp.
Later in the first third, a subtle sweetness joined the mocha flavor up front. I found this provided the right amount of sweetness without overwhelming the pallet. The pepper notes that were on the tongue receded into the background while the earth notes had moved into the forefront.
Throughout the remainder of the cigar, I found the mocha and earth notes varied in intensity. At times the mocha notes had more sweetness than other times, but as mentioned above, the sweetness never became overwhelming. Toward the end, I found these flavors were all still at play and there wasn’t a surge in spice. The resulting nub was excellent – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
The EIROA CBT has about as good construction as a cigar can get. This was also reflected in the burn and draw attributes. The burn line remained straight from start to finish – requiring few touch-ups along the way. The resulting ash varied in color. On some of the CBT Maduro Robusto cigars I had it was darker, and at other times it was lighter. The ash itself was not overly firm, but far from being a loose ash either. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
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| Burn of the EIROA CBT Maduro Robusto |
The draw was outstanding. It had a touch of resistance to it – which is something I like. In fact, I found this to hit my sweet spot. This made this cigar an enjoyable smoke from start to finish.
Strength and Body
While the EIROA CBT Maduro is a completely different cigar than the EIROA, I did find when it came to strength and body these two cigars were quite similar. I assessed the EIROA CBT Maduro has having enough strength to qualify as a medium to full strength cigar. As for the flavors, they were definitely full-bodied – and this will be amplified by the retro-hale. In terms of strength versus body, I gave the edge to the body with this smoke.
Final Thoughts
The biggest question on everyone’s mind is how does this compare to the original EIROA? Cutting straight to the answer, the EIROA CBT Maduro is not going to be at the same level. While the CBT Maduro is an excellent cigar, the original EIROA is a better cigar. As I mentioned up front, it is my opinion that original EIROA ranks as one of the great Honduran puros ever released. I found the one area where the CBT Maduro came up short was in complexity. I didn’t find it to be an overly complex cigar with a lot of nuances and transitions. I still thought it did produce some nice flavor. I’d probably lean this cigar more toward an experienced cigar enthusiast as opposed to a novice – namely because it does have a powerful retro-hale and I always recommend a novice learn to retro-hale. As for myself, this cigar is still worth a box split.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 91
References
News: EIROA CBT Maduro
Price: $10.20
Source: Sample Provided by Manufacturer (*)
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 106
Stogie Feed: EIROA CBT Maduro by CLE Cigars
* Cigars for this assessment was provided by CLE Cigar Company. The samples were received in order to provide feedback. Cigar Coop is appreciative for the samples, but in no way does this influence this write-up.
Oddly enough, I like the CBT over the original Eiroa. I tried the Prensado size this weekend and paired it with a Sumatra blend coffee. The coffee brought out a bit more of the sweetness in the mocha.