Paso Higueyano
Size: 5.5 x 45; 6 x 50
Wrapper/Filler: Dominican Republic (puro)
Price: $2 USD

During his vacation to the Dominican Republic this year, my friend Anthony took the opportunity to tour a small local cigar factory outside the city of Higuey. He watched the workers roll the tobacco, glue the caps, and trim the foot; and he got to meet the owner and talk about the industry.

These cigars are puros, meaning all the tobacco comes from the same country.

Anthony gifted me two cigars from the trip. Both had white bands, with gold lettering in Spanish. The wrappers were light brown with prominent veins throughout, and both were very tightly packed, although that did not lead to burn problems as I feared.

(1) The first was a vanilla-flavored corona. It was interesting, because I'd never tried a flavored cigar before. The cigar burned well, but the vanilla flavor completely masked the taste of tobacco and I couldn't tell if it was any good or not.

(2) The second was a torpedo, roughly the same size as a Monte #2. I enjoyed it on a cool December night, without spirits, reading Keith Dunnavant's book THE MISSING RING, about the 1966 Alabama football team. Other than a very slight canoe that self-corrected, the cigar burned smooth and cool all the way to the nub. It had an extremely mild taste, with an airy finish and insubstantial aftertaste. The tobacco was average but not premium quality-I'd say comparable to a Padilla Cedro, perhaps. Overall, a pleasant experience.