Cohiba Comador – Toro

The Cohiba Comador was a cigar project that was introduced in late 2013. The Comador generated considerable attention because it was done as collaboration between General Cigar Company’s Cohiba brand and musician Shawn “Jay Z” Carter.  In fact the cigar is being positioned under a spinoff brand called “Comador Cigars”.  The cigar is positioned as an ultra-premium cigar.  Last year, one size (the Toro) cigar was soft-launched in several high end premium packaging options to Barney’s department store as well as Club Macanudo and the 40/40 Club in New York.  Recently, a nationwide rollout of the Comador has been made – this time in three vitolas.  Recently, I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Cohiba Comador.  Without a doubt, this is one of the better cigar releases that has been released by not only Cohiba, but by General Cigar Company as a whole.

When the Cohibia Comador was announced, Dan Carr, president of General Cigar commented on the project., “As a visionary, artist and connoisseur, JAY Z is the epitome of modern luxury and the ideal partner for Cohiba. JAY brought tremendous creativity to the development of Comador, and we responded by leveraging Cohiba’s assets to deliver an amazing cigar using rare, proprietary tobaccos, with contemporary, urbane packaging.”

General Cigar has said that Jay Z and Cohiba team spent two years collaborating together to develop the cigar’s flavor and characteristics.  Jay Z commented, “I worked with Cohiba because I knew they’d take my vision of a luxury cigar and bring it to life in the right way. We took our time working on this, to get the blend to exactly where I wanted it to be. Comador looks and tastes the way I think a cigar should.”

Without further ado, let’s dive closer into the Cohiba Comador and see what this cigar brings to the table:

Blend Profile

The cigar is made in the Dominican Republic by the Cohiba Master Blender team.  Comador says that all of the tobaccos are proprietary.  All of the tobaccos (including the Connecticut wrapper which is shipped to the Dominican Republic) undergo a proprietary aging process lasting four years, including a final year in Dominican rum barrels

Wrapper: Connecticut Grown Havana Seed
Binder/Filler: Includes Caribbean and Central American Tobaccos.

Vitolas Available

Three size are being offered in 20 count boxes:

Toro: 6 x 52
Gigante: 6 x 60
Double Corona: 7 1/4 x 54

There were three luxury packaging options for the early release of the Toro – a seven count Robusto box, a seven count travel humidor, and a humidor containing 14 cigars (with the potential to store 63). 

Appearance

For this cigar experience, I smoked the Toro size of the Cohiba Comador.  This cigar has a coffee bean colored wrapper.  There is a slight colorado red tint to the band and upon closer examination, there is some darker marbling  There is a very light amount of oil on the surface of the wrapper and the wrapper itself has more of a grainy feel to it.  There are some visible wrapper seams and visible veins.

The band has a copper design. Across the top is the name “COHIBA” in black font with the signature “red dot” logo inside the “O”. Toward the center of the band is the text “COMADOR” in large black font with two diamonds inside each the “O”s. Below that text is the text “RESERVA ESPECIAL” in a thiner black font. There are two thick black stripes across the top and bottom. The top stripe surrounded the “COHIBA” text at the top. The back of the band is the Cohiba Comador cross-like logo.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up my Cohiba Comador, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut.  After clipping the cap, it was on to the pre-light draw.  This was definitely one of the more unique cold draws I have detected on a cigar.  This provided a mix of leather, cocoa, and a slight minty/musty note.  Overall I was very pleased with the pre-light draw of the Comador.  At this point I was ready to light up this cigar and see what the smoking phase had in store.

Flavor Profile

The Cohiba Comador started out with a blast of black pepper.  Once the pepper settled down I was treated to notes of leather, cocoa and a slight “au jus” flavor.  These three notes quickly moved into the forefront with the pepper notes taking a secondary role.  As the flavor profile evolved in the early stages the cocoa and leather notes remained primary, while the au jus flavor joined the pepper in the background.  Meanwhile the pepper could also be detected on the retro-hale.

Later in the first third, the primary flavors became more of a mocha flavor that was a combination of chocolate and coffee.  The pepper and au jus notes remained background flavors.  Meanwhile I was picking up a slightly bitter espresso note on the after-draw.

In the second third, the mocha flavor continued to be primary.  At times it had more of a cocoa influence and at other times it had more of a coffee influence.  The other flavors all remained the same.

In the last third, the pepper notes increased joining the coffee and chocolate notes in the forefront. The au jus note diminished somewhat. This is the way the flavor profile remained until the end. The resulting nub was outstanding – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The construction of the Cohiba Comador is excellent. This is reflected in the burn and draw attributes of this cigar. Given this is an ultra-premium cigar, I expected nothing less. For the most part the Cohiba Comador had a straight burn line requiring minimal touch-ups along the way. The resulting ash was not overly tight, but it was not loose by any means. The ash itself had a nice salt and pepper color. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Burn of the Cohiba Comador

The draw to the Cohiba Comador was as good as it gets.  It had that touch of resistance – which is something I really like in a draw.  The Comador also produced an ample amount of smoke as you puff it.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength, the Cohiba Comador is not going to overpower you with nicotine, yet at the same time it is going to deliver the right amount of “kick”.  I assessed this cigar as being medium to full in strength.  The flavors of this cigar also weigh nicely on the pallet.  I also assessed the flavors as being medium to full-bodied.  When it comes to strength versus body, the Comador really does an excellent job.  Both attributes balance each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

The involvement of Jay Z and the early release flashy packaging did put a preconceived that this cigar could be on the gimmicky side. However once I started tasting the tobacco on this cigar, those notions went away and this cigar really stands on its own. Personally, I probably would have released the cigar before the fancier packaging as it would have allowed the cigar to stand on its own. In the end I’m really glad I smoked this cigar. As I mentioned this is a cigar that I consider to be one of the best cigars to come out of General Cigar’s Cohiba brand in a long time. This cigar smoked great now, but I’m really curious to see how this cigar ages over time.

In the end, it’s a cigar I’d probably recommend to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. At $20.00 per cigar, the Cohiba Comador Toro is not an in-expensive cigar.   While we do not factor that into our numerical score, it is factored in our assessment rating.  It’s a cigar I’d smoke again, and go for a box split.  If this cigar can maintain consistency, it can easily go higher.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 93

References

News:  Comador Cigar Launches Cohiba Comador, Cohiba Comador Line Extends to Three Frontmarks 
Price: $20.00
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Episode: Stogie Geeks Episode 99
Stogie Feed: Cohiba Comador Toro