Purchased: 5 singles (5 X 50)
Cost: R$490 / ~US$100
Store: Tabacaria Roma, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Buy Again? Yes, but sparingly. This is an ultra-premium cigar!
Box Worthy? If can swing it, I will probably buy a box.
tldr;
This review is probably a little premature as I’ve only had the cigars a week, but I couldn’t resist trying one out while I was still here in Brazil. I can’t believe I’ve already been gone a week! But even though this stick could use a little more humidor time, it’s still absolutely fantastic! I will let the others sit in my humidor once I get back at least a few months. I’m also going to get a box of these and save them for when my son gets married in the DR next year. They should be an even bigger treat by then!
I got introduced to these sticks by the owner of Tabacaria Roma. I had just had him pull a box of Danemann Mata Fina toros down from a shelf and was about to exit to pay when he stopped and asked if I had heard of Don Emanuel. I told him I had heard his name in the past but wasn’t familiar with his cigars.
Once he heard that he started talking excitedly, explaining that the Anunnaki was a collaboration between Don Emanuel and Eladio Dias. Now THAT name I had heard of as he was the master blender in charge of Davidoff cigars before he quit and started doing his own thing a few years back.
So, that piqued my interest, and I impulsively grabbed five sticks from the box, even though I knew they were going to be expensive, even in Brazilian Reals. Thank goodness that tobacco taxes aren’t as high in Brazil as they are in the States. These would easily go for $35+ apiece. And yes, they’re that good. Put it simply, if you like Arturo Fuente DR cigars, you’ll love this one. This has a classic DR flavor and strength profile, but it’s unique at the same time.
I’m not going to into tasting notes here, other than share what I’ve tasted: Cashew, hazelnuts, light coffee with cream, toffee, salt, caramel, espresso, leather, hay, citrus, honey, oak, tannins. The finish in the first half was exceptionally smooth, but with a tinge of leather and tannins. But from the second third to the finish, the leather moved to the background and the finish became spicy with white and black pepper with a red pepper heat. Oo-la-la!
The reason I’m not doing a classic flavor profile of thirds is because the cigar offers up a shifting palate of flavors. It’s one of those sticks that is constantly changing. For instance, salt showed up pretty early, then it disappeared after the first third. Then it came back halfway through, but then subsided as I got deep into the second third to be replaced by white and black pepper.
And even though it has amazingly stayed mild to mild+ in strength even down to the last third, the sheer numbers of flavor combinations have made my head spin! This is what a truly great – and luxe – cigar should do. It keeps you guessing, anxiously awaiting what it has in store. I can’t even begin to describe what kind of foundation it has. It has none. It’s at once unsettling and exciting.
Hopefully, I can get more of these in the US. This is one of the best cigars I’ve smoked – ever! It won’t be something I would smoke on an everyday basis. This is a special-occasion cigar that deserves my utmost and undivided attention when I smoke it.
By the way, the total smoking time for me was 90+ minutes.
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