The Cuaba Exclusivos
Cuaba is a niche Marca in the Habanos portfolio. The entire brand is made up of perfectos. I have only seen the Divinos, Tradicionales, and Exclusivos as the vitolas still in circulation- and the Exclusivos is the biggest of the three. The brand was launched in 1996 to reignite the love for figurados and to add diversity to the Habanos portfolio. The Cuaba brand is fairly polarizing- in fact, disliked by many.
The Exclusivos stands at 5 & 3/4” long x 46 RG at it’s widest point. Usually the wrappers are lighter in shade. Cuaba is known as mild in body and strength generally. Figurados are more difficult to roll, and the Perfecto may be the toughest of them all. This brings along many aficionados distaste of Cuaba, because being a small, niche brand equates to rollers with less experience rolling a vitola that is very difficult to roll. The result of this can equal a smoke with glaring construction issues. At worst- these cigars are better off used as drumsticks. However I have had samples that burned perfectly. The lack of quality control related to Cuaba makes most not willing to roll the dice. A profile of Peanuts, honey, and woodiness are notes I’ve observed, at least in well rolled samples.
The Exclusivos comes in dress boxes of 25. I would only recommend a Cuaba to someone who is a fan of perfectos, and isn’t worried about rolling the dice to give them a try. I will say, I have noticed an uptick in Cuban quality control in the past two years, which is encouraging for a Marca like Cuaba. One can expect to pay 200-300 for a box of 25 on the secondary market.
The Exclusivos stands at 5 & 3/4” long x 46 RG at it’s widest point. Usually the wrappers are lighter in shade. Cuaba is known as mild in body and strength generally. Figurados are more difficult to roll, and the Perfecto may be the toughest of them all. This brings along many aficionados distaste of Cuaba, because being a small, niche brand equates to rollers with less experience rolling a vitola that is very difficult to roll. The result of this can equal a smoke with glaring construction issues. At worst- these cigars are better off used as drumsticks. However I have had samples that burned perfectly. The lack of quality control related to Cuaba makes most not willing to roll the dice. A profile of Peanuts, honey, and woodiness are notes I’ve observed, at least in well rolled samples.
The Exclusivos comes in dress boxes of 25. I would only recommend a Cuaba to someone who is a fan of perfectos, and isn’t worried about rolling the dice to give them a try. I will say, I have noticed an uptick in Cuban quality control in the past two years, which is encouraging for a Marca like Cuaba. One can expect to pay 200-300 for a box of 25 on the secondary market.