Las 6 Provincias CMW by Espinosa Cigars

At the 2022 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, Espinosa Cigars introduced the fourth installment of its limited-edition Las 6 Provincias series, the Las 6 Provincias CMW. This annual limited edition series pays homage to the pre-Castro era of Cuba. The name Las 6 Provincias means “six provinces,” – and it refers to the six provinces that existed before the takeover of Cuba by Fidel Castro. It is also Espinosa Cigars’ most premium limited edition series to date. The company has six planned releases in the Las 6 Provincias series, each with a unique blend, size, and associated artwork. The name CMW stands for Camagüey, and it was the second-most eastern province on the island of Cuba in the pre-Castro era. Today, it’s the Las 6 Provincias CMW that we look at today.

To date, we have seen five installments of the limited edition Las 6 Provincias series:

2018: Las 6 Provincias LHB (La Habana)
2019: Las 6 Provincias MTZ (Matanzas)
2021: Las 6 Provincias LV (Las Villas)
2022: Las 6 Provincias CMW (Camagüey)
2023: Las 6 Provincias ZDT (Pinar del Rio/Zona de Tabaco)

It is expected that Santiago de Cuba/Oriente will be the final province under the “Las 6 Provincias” line release in 2024.

Without further ado, let’s turn our attention to the Las 6 Provinicias CMW release and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Las 6 Provincias CMW features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over all Nicaraguan tobaccos. Production for the Las 6 Provincias CMW comes from AJ Fernandez’s San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano 2000
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: San Lotano

Vitolas Offered

The Las 6 Provincias CMW is offered in one size – a 6 x 50 box-pressed Toro. The cigars are presented in 20-count boxes. We will discuss the box design more in the BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES section. A total of 1,000 boxes were produced.

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano 2000 wrapper of the Las 6 Provincias CMW had a dark espresso color. There wasn’t much in the way of oils on the surface of this wrapper. There were some thin visible veins, and there were also some visible wrapper seams. This cigar had more of a square-shaped box press.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

Before lighting up the Las 6 Provincias CMW, a straight cut was used to remove the cap of the cigar. Once the cap was removed, it was time to commence the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered notes of leather, fruit, and coffee. Overall t,his was an excellent pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to remove the ribbon from the footer of the Las 6 Provincias CMW, toast up the cigar, and move on to the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The Las 6 Provincias CMW opened up with notes of leather, mixed fruit, and natural tobacco. The leather notes quickly faded and were replaced by cocoa, earth, and mixed pepper notes. Before the midway point, the cocoa notes became the primary notes, with the earth, pepper, natural tobacco, and fruit notes settling in the background. Meanwhile, there was an additional layer of mixed pepper on the retro-hale.

As the Las 6 Provincias CMW moved into the second third, the pepper and earth notes increased in intensity. At the same time, the cocoa notes diminished. By midway, the earth notes displaced the cocoa notes in the forefront. Meanwhile, the pepper, natural tobacco, and fruit notes remained in the background. The cocoa notes continued to diminish considerably and fell into the more distant background.

The final third saw the pepper notes join the earth notes in the forefront. The background notes helped round out the flavor profile, delivering notes of fruit, natural tobacco, and cocoa. This is the way the Las 6 Provincias CMW came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly lukewarm and soft to the touch.

Burn

For the most part, the Las 6 Provincias CMW performed quite well regarding its burn. The cigar didn’t require many touch-ups to maintain a straight burn line and straight burn path. The resulting ash had a silver-gray color. This was an ash that was on the firm side. As for the burn rate, this maintained an ideal level. The burn temperature maintained an outstanding level until the final puffs when the burn became slightly lukewarm.

Burn of the Las 6 Provincias CMW

Draw

The draw to the Las 6 Provincias CMW was on the open side – bordering on loose. There was no problem deriving flavors. There were a few points during the smoking experience when I eased up on the draw to control the combustion rate. I would have preferred more resistance on this draw.

Strength and Body

The Las 6 Provincias CMW started as a medium-strength, medium-bodied cigar. Beginning with the second third, there was a linear increase in the intensity levels for both the strength and body. By the second half, both attributes moved into medium to full territory. In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely, with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES

The Las 6 Provincias series is known for its innovative packaging design and old Cuba-style artwork. The Las 6 Provincias CMW feature boxes that depict scenes from Camagüey before the communist revolution. Local Cuban artist Eden Gutierrez did the artworkThe innovative features of the CMW boxes feature internal panels inside the lid embellished with the artwork by Gutierrez. While it’s a simpler box design than other Las 6 Provinicias releases, I still really liked the packaging on this one.

Packaging of the Las 6 Provincias CMW

Each of the cigar bands and ribbons has had a different color accenting them. For the CMW, this accent is purple. I also liked the color accent on this release.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

For many years, I have said Espinosa’s Warhead series is one of the great limited edition series. Now, four cigars into the Las 6 Provincias series, I think the argument can be made for that series to take its place among top limited edition series. When it comes to the Las 6 Provincias CMW, this cigar scored very well on flavor. Espinosa is well-known for its Habano releases, and I’ll be honest – at times, some have become monotonous. In this case, the Las 6 Provincias CMW is probably the most different Habano cigar I’ve had from Espinosa in the 11 years the company has existed. While this is a cigar I would recommend to a more experienced enthusiast, I certainly wouldn’t discourage a novice from trying. As for myself, this is a cigar I would buy and smoke again – and given its limited availability, it’s one that garners box-worthy consideration. Coming in at 91 points, this cigar exceeds the threshold for Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cocoa, Earth, Natural Tobacco, Fruit, Pepper, Leather
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Very Good