Review of Cohiba Spectre Cigar

Cohiba Spectre is General Cigar's most expensive cigar, and is by far the most expensive and exclusive cigar that I ever had the pleasure of smoking and reviewing. The retail price for a single Cohiba Spectre cigar is $90, which is almost triple the price of the second most expensive and exclusive cigar that I have ever smoked or reviewed, and I've been reviewing premium handmade cigars since 2006, and smoking them since the early 1990's. These cigars are slated for release during late October 2018, and will be available in only one vitola measuring 7¼ inches in length with a ring gauge of 54.

So why is this cigar so expensive? Here are just a few of the reasons:

• Supply and demand, only 180 boxes of 10 cigars were produced.
• Made with very rare tobaccos, eight varietals from five countries.
• Use of exclusive fermentation and proprietary deep aging techniques.
• Handmade exclusively by just one expert roller and one expert buncher, both having decades of experience.

To find out more details about Cohiba Spectre cigars, please refer to General Cigar's press release.

The Cohiba Spectre cigar began with a nice sweet and mellow earthy flavor along with some leather, cedar, hints of spice and a trace of pepper. During the first 15 minutes, the smoke became even smoother as some of the sweetness, spice and pepper started to fade. The smoke was at the lower end of the medium-to-full bodied range during the first half-hour or so, then gradually moved to the upper end of that range by the one-hour mark. By that point, leather had taken over as the predominant flavor until the end of the cigar. It took me 90 minutes to smoke the Cohiba Spectre down to two inches remaining. During that time, the cigar had a great draw, even burn and held a long ash. No relights nor touch-ups were needed.

The Cohiba Spectre cigar was impeccably constructed and well balanced with layers of complexity. The smoke was rich and elegant. Cohiba Spectre is a cutting edge cigar that pushes the envelope with its unique characteristics. Although expectations are very high for such a cigar, nobody should expect a $90 cigar to be three times better than a $30 cigar. Beyond a certain point, the cost to make a very good product marginally better will rise at a much higher rate than the degree of improvement achieved. This is called the law of diminishing returns. Just as an example, is it worth paying 200% more to get a 5% improvement? In some cases, it might be.

Due to the high price of a Cohiba Spectre cigar, there is probably nothing that anyone could say or do that would convince most people to buy one. This cigar is not made for the average cigar smoker, with very few exceptions. It might be purchased as a gift for a fellow cigar connoisseur who would really appreciate and enjoy it, or perhaps acquired to celebrate a very special occasion. I rate it with an excellent 4.5 points on a 5-point scale. This may not have been the very best cigar that I have ever smoked, but it was definitely the most expensive and exclusive. Smoking a $90 cigar is certainly a most unique and memorable experience.

Review of Cohiba Macassar Cigar

Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer.