Summer is here! And seeing as how I live in Central Texas, I absolutely hate the summer. It’s hot from sun up to sun down and all through the night. I’m completely miserable for a good four months out of the year. Having said that, the queso and fajitas are better than anywhere else so it looks like I’m living out the rest of my days here deep in the heart of the Lonestar State.
So when it gets to be north of 100° every damn day, I naturally gravitate towards a smaller cigar that’ll allow me to get back inside the house as quickly as possible where my beloved overworked air conditioner does that beautiful thing that it does. Over the course of the next few months, yours truly will be reviewing some smaller cigars in a quest to find the best bangs for your hard earned bucks…
THE CIGAR – QUICK DRAW HABANO by SOUTHERN DRAW
Size: 4.5 x 44
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $6.31 (jump on over to Famous Smoke Shop and save $20 off $100 with promo code TNCC20)
The Quick Draw Habano features a tight little twisted cap and a closed foot. Combine those aesthetic touches with the visually catchy green band and I can see how this cigar would easily grab your eye when scanning through the humidor, the overall presentation is top notch. The Quick Draw Habano has just the right amount of give when gently squeezed between two fingers. The wrapper exudes a barnyard aroma of hay with just a slight touch of sweetness and, after clipping the cap, the cold draw features a rich sweetness as well.
1/3
Upon setting the closed foot of the Quick Draw Habano on fire, there’s a crisp white pepper spice immediately present through the nose. The draw is rich leather with just a hint of light coffee on the back end. At around the one inch mark that coffee note begins to appear on the retrohale as well. Construction is absolute perfection, the Quick Draw Habano is drawing like a dream and producing a gorgeous white solid ash.
2/3
A little before the halfway mark, that sweetness from the cold draw appears on the draw (I was hoping that it would!) and it dances nicely with the leather. The sweetness is subtle but it’s definitely there and very much appreciated. There’s still ample spice on the retrohale but it has died down a notch.
3/3
In the final third, a Nicaraguan mineral component joins the spice on the nose. The strength via the draw has regressed with the smooth coffee flavor returning and taking lead over the slowly withering out leather note and muted sweetness. It’s a pleasant end to an overall highly pleasant cigar.
THE NUB
It’s difficult to find a short smoke in a vast sea of readily available short smokes that performs flawlessly construction-wise and provides a nice complexity of flavors and surprising transitions throughout its running time (58 minutes). If that sounds good to you, and it should, then seek out the Quick Draw Habano and you won’t be disappointed.
