I had some time this afternoon to do some mowing and I realized it has been a minute since I did a Yardwork Sessions style review. My “Sessions” reviews are just short form reviews named after whatever activity I was doing at the time. I looked in the humidor for what I wanted to smoke and the Cinque Terre from Julian Sued Tabac caught my eye. This cigar was a limited release from 2021 and was crafted as a collaboration between Edgar Julian Sued and Claudio Sgroi (previously of Mombacho, now owner of CST Counsulting LLC). This 5 nation blend is appropriately named as Cinque Terre is Italian for “five lands”.
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Julián Sued & Compañía
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: USA
Filler: Dominican Republic, Haiti, & Nicaragua
Vitola: 5 x 54 Robusto Extra
Price: &14.95 MSRP
Release Date: 2021
Link to Purchase: Guitars & Cigars Farm LLC
I love the look of this cigar. The wrapper is satiny and oily, the red band is the perfect color choice, and love the simplicity of the band design. The cigar is quite firm and dense. It smells of milk chocolate and raisins. The cold draw is exactly like a Hersheys with Almonds bar… First light greets the palate with medium bodied, full flavored smoke with lots of oily earth and cedar, along with some charred meatiness, earth, and a bit of brown sugar. About a quarter inch there is a ton of citrus, wood, and floral notes with some pepper that is lingering in the finish. The retrohale is more citrus and a bit of potpourri. Coming to the end of the first third the profile is holding strong. The burn is favoring one side a touch and did require a little hit with the lighter. An interesting note is the nostalgic smell of a freshly fired toy cap gun from the foot smoke. Into the second third the profile has shifted to black pepper and wood on the palate with a toast and florality on the retrohale. I had to do another slight touchup passing halfway. The profile is around medium and some citrus is working its way back in on the palate. Into the band point the cigar is coming up to full and there may be a touch of strength. It’s earthy, woody, and still showing a bit of black pepper. Coming to an end at an hour and a half the profile remained much the same into the end.
Overall Experience
Overall this was a pretty interesting cigar as the amount and type of citrus notes were fairly unique. There was definitely a bit of a ramp up in the body, flavor, and strength into the end that would make me say that this geared towards a more fuller, stronger smoker. Though the first two thirds would suit any type of smoker really. The performance was solid beyond a couple touch ups, though the wind kicked up when I started smoking, so that could have contributed.
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