Elogio Habano Crescent City Cigars Exclusivo

If it wasn’t for Armando Ortiz the owner of Crescent City Cigars in New Orleans, LA, I would have never tried or even heard of Elogio Cigars. I was over at his shop in the spring of 2012 when he told Ben & I ” Guys, you must try these new cigars I picked up!” Now, when Armando tells you that you must try a cigar, you can bet that its going to be a winner! Armando hasn’t ever let us down on suggestions to cigars. He has a great taste in cigars and has similar likes to me. The cigar he got us to try was an Elogio and I was in love with them ever since. After I smoked my first Elogio (Habano Corona Extra), I went back into the humidor and got a hand full more Elogios in different lines & sizes. Armando got a kick out of that and said “See, I told you!!.” I have found out, I like every Elogio I have had, but prefer the Habano just a bit more than the LSV line. But don’t count the LSV out, its a mighty fine smoke!

Fast forward to two weeks ago when Armando posted on his Facebook page “Get ready… It’s coming” and pretty much left it up to the imagination. He let the cat out of the bag to me that I’d have a package on its way of something he wanted me to give him my opinion of it. Well, low and behold Armando and Elogio Cigars came up with an exclusive size just for Crescent City Cigars! The size is a 6×48 and we all know, I like a small ring gauged cigar. So this size should be a winner in size, if not flavors. I prefer the smaller ring gauged Elogio, but the 48rg is not too big or small and should offer a good bit flavor. This cigar was released Feb 2nd and this is my first impression of it, being the first one I’ve smoked.

If you would like to purchase the Elogio Habano Crescent City Cigars Exclusivo or any Elogio cigar, you can give Armando a call at 504-522-4427 and he will gladly ship them right on out to you.

Size: 6×48

Vitola: Gran Corona

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano*

Binder: Nicaraguan*

Filler: Nicaraguan*

Cost: $10.90

Source: Armando @ Crescent City Cigars

*Tobacco is grown in Jalapa and Condega regions of Nicaragua. 

First Looks: A very smooth, light to medium brown wrapper covers the densely packed cigar. The wrapper has a strong woody aroma to it and the foot has an even stronger wood aroma with a earthy tone to it mixed in. A very nicely applied triple cap covers the head, which is always a plus in my book. The pre-light draw is pretty thick and almost a little too tight for my likes, but a lot of people prefer the “milkshake thick” draw. I get a light wood and tobacco flavor from the pre-light draw.

Construction: The foot toasty up quite evenly and easily. The draw stayed with the milkshake thickness to it. It was a little tight for my likes, but it wasn’t that much of an issue. The ash was almost a pure white, but had a little off-white color to it and was a very tight ash. Each ash held for a little bit over and inch and was one of the tightest ashes I’ve seen in a long time. The ash would have held somewhat more if I would have moved a little slower with the cigar. The burn was superb and almost dead on straight
(even the ash fell off in a straight line). Never needed a relight or touch-up and had great construction over all.

Flavors: First flavors I get are a light woody with a creamy undertone that has a slight spice zest to it. Very smooth and pleasing flavors right off the bat. I get a faint flavor similar to a black cherry that was subtle and short lived, but very pleasing! Working towards the final third, I get a creamy caramel  sweetness flavor that I liked.

Working into the second third, I got a nice subtle spice that is not overpowering, yet not lacking in strength. On the retrohale, the spice is more pronounced and is accompanied by a black pepper flavor. Around half way, I got some more of the black pepper off the retrohale in the drawn smoke. The spice and black pepper seem to ramp up somewhat getting towards the end of the second third, but never got over powering.

The final portion of this cigar let go of the caramel sweetness & let the subtle spice and black pepper be key flavors in the smoke. The spice wasn’t overwhelming, so don’t let the mention of spice turn you away from it if you don’t like spice. This spice was very subtle and pleasing to my palate.

Final Thoughts: I really liked this cigar! I would like to thank Armando for giving me and Ben a chance to smoke these cigars. If it wasn’t for  him, we’d be missing out on some fine cigars. The draw was a little thick for me, but the great flavors offset the draw and I was really pleased with it. Some subtle spice, a caramel creaminess, some black pepper all make up for a great smoke. I am not sure whether I like the Corona Extra or the CCC Exclusivo more. But, who says you can’t have two favorites of a cigar line!! These are really worth a try and I highly recommend any Elogio cigar & this one is no different!

Also. check out Ben Lee’s video review of this cigar here.

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