These are the latest trend out of Habanos - short but thick cigars for the time-pressed aficionado, first released just a few months ago. Cute. Pretty much half coronas although this vitola is officially a Capricho, a little caprice. Less than 10cm long but ring gauge 47, the same as a Churchill, but half the length. So a Half-Churchill?
Smoke on a whim but ye gods, be careful not to puff too fast.
At present these have almost the same body as the mighty Cazadores, so pretty damn full, but they are a little damp and packed full of tannins. All the best of the RyJ profile is there, charred cherry, coffee grind and a hint of burnt sugar. Perfectly enjoyable... But these need a little rest and a little dry-boxing (i.e. 50% humidity for a week or so) to relieve them of the excess moisture. They were rolled less than 6 months ago I think. As it is, I had to clip and reclip and reclip again to avoid the tannins building up around the slightest hint of saliva at the tip, which pushes out a pretty strong ligero hit more reminiscent of Syrian Latakia pipe tobacco than anything in the cigar world. They have a wonderful white ash and relatively thick smoke, great for smoke rings, but keep going out.
I will dry box these, bring them back up to 65% humidity, and try again. And maybe with real port rather than red wine mixed with cheap cooking sherry (which to be honest does the trick if you're short!)
