The Cigar House Puerto Rico House Blend

My wife just returned home from a weeklong trip to the island nation of Dominica in the Caribbean. On her way back, she had a stop in Old San Juan in Puerto Rico. Being the loving wife who knows her man, she wanted to bring back some cigars for me. But according to her, she didn’t want to just bring back any old cigar, she wanted to bring back cigars that were produced in Puerto Rico proper. I guess she glommed onto my search for Brazilian-made cigars when we were in Brazil a couple of weeks ago.

She went to a couple of smoke shops that turned out to be more vape shop than cigar shop, then happened to find a proper cigar lounge in the heart of Old San Juan, and that was The Cigar House. What a place to find a cigar! I did a search on the place and it’s impressive. What’s even more impressive is that the young man took my wife and daughter on a tour of the facility, which included going into their temperature-controlled warehouse!

Anyway, she told the young man helping her that she knew nothing about cigars, but she wanted to bring back cigars that were actually made in Puerto Rico. So, he showed her a 3-pack of Hoja Boricua cigars (they need some serious humidor time before I smoke them) and handed her one of The Cigar House sticks they roll in-house. He even packed it with a lot 72% Boveda!

I smoked it this morning, and I wish she bought a bunch of those instead of the Hoja Boricua sticks because this was one of the most unique sticks I’ve smoked in a long time. I don’t know anything about the blend other than what my wife passed on to me: It uses a Puerto Rican wrapper around a Nicaraguan binder and filler. But I don’t care. It just tastes great, and I need to snag a box or two of these.

From the get-go, this cigar was unique. Pre-light, the foot had a distinct scent of Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa along with butter croissant. The wrapper smelled of buttered toast.

Lighting it up, I expected the chocolate and toast, and I got it, but the taste was more akin to biting into a chocolate croissant! It was rich right out of the gate! As I got into the first third, a distinct red pepper spiciness ensued. Then a wave of different flavors immediately developed including malt, burnt sugar, cedar, black pepper, with an interesting umami finish. Body was medium+ while strength was a solid medium.

Into the second third, the flavors intensified as did the strength, but not so much that it bowled me over with an overabundance of nicotine. A vegetal flavor came into play that wasn’t at all off-putting. I normally don’t like that in a smoke, but it worked with this stick. Cinnamon and charred cedar were introduced along with cream as did the spice. But the spice was never overpowering.

In the final third, there wasn’t much change, but a deepening of the chocolate and that vegetal flavor dissipated. It was never strong, but not for me. I think that’s why I’ve never been partial to Fuente cigars. At least to me, they always seem to have a grassy, earthy, vegetal flavor that just isn’t my cup of tea. Anyway, back to this cigar… As expected, the smoke got super-thick and creamy in the final third.

Wow! What a surprise this cigar turned out to be! I’ve tried to call them in hopes of talking to an English speaker to order more, but alas, I haven’t had any luck. Next year, I’m going to the DR for my son’s wedding and one of our stops will be Old San Juan on the way back from the wedding. I’ll probably pick up a bunch and hopefully establish a good line of communication.