I smoked a couple of singles and discovered this was truly a fantasic cigar. At $115 for a box of 27, this was an amazing discovery. It became my number one cigar. I smoked it all last fall and was loving it. I was recommending it to all my cigar buddies as they had not discovered this fine smoke.
First sign of a problem.
Each issue of Cigar Aficionado Magazine includes a section rating dozens of cigars, basing their scoring on overall flavor, appearance and construction. The final ratings are on a scale of 1 - 100. Any rating 88 or above is an excellent smoke. A rating of 90 or above is a truly classic smoke. Cigar Aficionado rated the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto with a 94. I was quite pleased by the rating, as it reinforced my belief that my own taste in cigars matches that of true cigar experts.
Then -- disaster struck.
At the conclusion of each year with their year-end issue, Cigar Aficionado releases their list of what they consider the top 25 "Cigars of the Year." And, you guessed it... Ths year the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto was on the top of that list, rated the #1 cigar of 2008.
From that point on, it seemed that every human being who set foot in the cigar store asked for the #1 cigar. Demand outpaced supply 10-fold, and finding this great cigar became impossible. At the time, I had more than one full box on hand, but they became precious, to be guarded and smoked only on special occasions.
I have not seen a full box of these cigars in more than six months.
Cigars are not Cabbage Patch Kids. You can't just re-tool a new factory and ramp up supply production when demand calls for it. The specific flavor is created by an individual blend of tobaccos that have been specially cured in a precise manner over months and years of time. There is a limited supply of that tobacco. Additionally, expert cigar rollers aren't walking down every street. It is an art form to roll a perfect cigar, requiring years and years of experience. Somehow I knew that when I would finally be able to get my hands on another box, they would *not* be the cigar I remembered.
Last week, I was in San Antonio. As is my custom when visiting a new town, I patronized a rather nice cigar store to examine their selection. While browsing the humidor, I stumbled across an open box of the Casa's. I inquired about a full box, which was available and I purchased it.
The flavor is the same. Just a really nice medium to full bodied cigar with a magnificent finish.
The construction -- sucks!
At least 50% of the cigars that I have smoked from that box have been improperly rolled. The draw causes the burn to move quickly down the center leaving the wrapper and most of the filler to slowly smolder. This creates an overly hot cigar, with a lack of taste and an awful burn.
In my experience, this kind of roll turns up in about 1 of every hundred premium cigars and is a fluke. In this case, it's turned out to be the norm.
Bummer. I really liked the original smoke. Damn you Cigar Aficionado. And Damn you Casa Magna producers for ruining a great smoke.
