Taboada Bolivar Sublime

[seadub]

WOW! I can tell you all now that I got my ass kicked by this thing! :-P

A good friend and I made it into TJ to see Taboada roll and enjoy a cigar or two. What a unique and colorful man, Senor Taboada is. Just sitting and pressing forms and cutting leaf and rolling cigars. He handed a freshly-rolled 'Bolivar Sublime' to both of us. WOW! What a gift.

Now I have to stop the story for a second to say: I had not eaten anything the entire day and it was not around 2:30pm. I say a Carls Jr. right next to the shop where we were walking in and I thought to myself, 'I should put something in my stomach before we go in.' But the excitement of seeing Taboada was greater than my need to fill my belly so I didn't get a bite.

I think the image of the cigar says it all. The wrapper is a Corrojo. A gorgeous, rich reddish brown. This cigar is a 54 ring and 6.5 inches long. My experience with fresh, custom-rolled cigars started here. Construction...well, what can I say...it's a Taboada! The burn was flawless and only required a simple touch of a flame for a relight when I had mistakenly let the cigar go out. The smoke was dense, voluminous, and potent. Each draw made my lips want to smack together to taste every little bit of the smoke coming in. The overwhelming taste for me was just a pure tobacco taste with a strong taste of fresh earth. There was no bitterness yet there was a sweet taste that I cannot pinpoint. The tobacco was absolutely sublime.

My friend finished his cigar to the nub and I looked down at mine and saw that I had a cigar roughly the size of a robusto still left!!! I couldn't believe how slowly I was smoking, but I'm not a fast smoker to begin with. I continued for another 45 minutes or so and then suggested we go for a bite to eat. When we got to the restaurant the wave of nicotine hit me really hard. And I started to sweat like someone dumped a bucket of water on me, seriously :-D After about 20 minutes I settled down and was able to eat more than crackers and cokes :-)

I really don't consider myself a 'lightweight' when it comes to strong cigars, but I believe this Taboada is in a class by itself. I'm laughing about how I got beat up now, but I can tell you I won't smoke another Taboada unless it's on a full stomach. Oh...and I plan on smoking a couple bundles more! :-D

[Mel]

Nice cigar but are they costly? I heard they were very high.:-(

[olotti]

What a great review and nice picture, that smoke is a beast. What a great story to go along with a great cigar. :-)

[seadub]

» Nice cigar but are they costly? I heard they were very high.:-(

Good point, Mel. All of the Taboada's are quite expensive; around $40 (US) per stick.

[Tone_NY]

Chris nice review and great picture. I'm looking forward to trying one of these.

[shrink]

Thanks for the "review"! Sounds like a unique and memorable experience, and one you are quite fortunte to have had. Be sure to save a couple of those cigars for the long haul. They'll be priceless.

[DrAlejandro]

sounds NICE buddy... I met taboada last year when he was in TJ but unfortunately wasnt able to buy any cigars from him... while at 32 bucks a pop for his cheapest stick its a bit out of my budget I think I might spring for one this year ;-)