Placeres Reserva – A Nice Smoke

For today’s cigar I am reviewing something that is relatively new.  Kuuts, a distributor of hand made cigars, has established a presence in Miami and will be distributing cigars from a factory in Danli, Honduras.  Recently, they sent out a series of review samples of three cigars.  This is the first.  Often times, I am skeptical of unknown cigars that come without recommendation, but, there are so many good cigar makers without any discernable reputation that it is worth trying some unknown sticks.  Sometimes, you get burned, others you are pleasantly surprised.  Over the past couple of years in writing the blog I have enjoyed several great cigars that were without fanfare or reputation.  The discovery is fun and the cigars can be great.

This cigar is easy on the eyes.  It is a tight box press that looks good.  It has an oily wrapper and is firm to the touch.  I punched and lit mine without problem.

The cigar is well constructed.  It burned evenly with a nice open draw.  The burn was cool throughout.  The ash, a medium grey, held nicely.

Flavors of the cigar were ok.  Initial flavor was grassy and had barnyard notes.  The first few puffs had a slight bitterness to them, but that burned off quickly.  As the cigar made its way to the middle third, it had a woodsy taste with hints of pepper coming through.  Towards the end of the smoke the cigar got more spicy with the pepper becoming predominant.  All in all, I would call this a medium bodied or ‘lunch’ cigar.  I think there are those who would think it was too mild and those who would think it too strong.  But, if you like a varied smoke, this could be right up your alley.

The list price of the cigar is just north of $6, but it will be commonly available for less.  That will add to the value of this stick.