Wrapper: San Andrés Maduro / Mexico: San Andrés
Binder: Nicaraguan / Nicaragua: Region not disclosed
Filler: Cuban-seed Nicaraguan / Nicaragua: Regions not disclosed
Size: P 652 Toro (6¾ x 52)
Strength: Medium → Full (last inch)
Body: Medium → Full (home stretch)
Price: $6.00–$9.35 per cigar; $59.50–$85 per box of 10 (varies by retailer)
Factory: Tabacalera de Nicaragua S.A., Nicaragua
Blender: Andreas Throuvalas
Release: Circa 2015 (Regular Production)
Smoking Time: 1:35
Experience Rating: 96
Curivari is one of my favorite cigar brands.
I’ve been smoking their blends for years, and there’s rarely a time when I don’t have at least a couple of boxes in my humidor. To me, they represent the pinnacle of Nicaraguan cigars, right up there with AJ.
They also frustrate the hell out of me.
Curivari has developed a cult following over the years for the flavor and quality of their smokes. They’re a classic example of a brand benefitting from “if you know, you know,” and they’ve built that following with little visible advertising, relying largely on word of mouth. But that’s also their weakness.
Take the Pralines, for example. It’s a magnificent cigar. I’m working on my third box. But I discovered it purely by chance when I was in a shop in Dallas early last year. The box was on a freakin’ clearance table! I would’ve skipped it if I hadn’t seen “Buenaventura Pralines” on the label. I knew the BV line, but had no idea there was a San Andrés version. And it was released in 2015!
Rant aside, while I did a quick review of the P 554 a couple of months after I got that first box, I hadn’t done a formal review on the P 652, which has become one of my daily drivers.
For as good as it is, it deserves one.
Like all Curivari sticks I’ve smoked, the 652 isn’t lacking in tobacco. It’s packed and has a nice heft. The wrapper is mottled and rustic-looking, and it’s so toothy I feel like I’m touching 200-grit sandpaper.
The wrapper gives off rich aromas of floral sweetness, stone fruit, dry grass, and a hint of barnyard, while the foot is filled with dried cherries, sourdough bread, and rich tobacco.
On my first puff, the cigar stands upright with a strong hit of cedar and white pepper, while a gorgeous floral quality floats in the background. Coffee and black pepper form a core after a few puffs. That immediate structure has always struck me with this cigar. The cigar conveys confidence by establishing a stable base before expanding the profile.
As the cigar progresses, toffee settles into the finish. A gentle red pepper spice follows and blooms in my mouth. Bready notes, leather, San Andrés sweetness, dark chocolate, and Honeycomb cereal begin to mill about the profile. Roasted pecan joins the toffee, making me think that naming this cigar “Pralines” was no accident.
Suddenly, the spice starts dancing around my mouth. Its light footfalls remind me of a ballet dancer bounding across a stage, twisting, turning, and sailing through the air.
It’s an unexpected burst of energy.
Cream enters the profile, but it isn’t structural yet. It mills around with the other flavors. Based on prior experience, though, I know it will eventually become the anchor.
Strength and body are both medium at this point, and activity is moderate. What has always piqued my interest in this cigar is that, unlike other Curivari blends that are declarative and in-your-face, this one shows composure, discipline, and restraint.
There are no wild transitions, just a steady progression and accumulation of flavors. And while it may not build a huge flavor-note inventory, what it does offer falls right into my San Andrés-wrapped Nicaraguan wheelhouse. It reminds me of a better LGC Serie R. Not many distinct flavors, but incredibly pleasing to smoke.
Halfway in, the cream thickens and settles beneath the core. Coffee darkens slightly and becomes more pronounced, but never overpowering. The spice advances and pulls against it with every puff, creating dynamic tension and giving the profile a sense of momentum.
Body thickens as strength maintains an even keel. Toffee pulses in the background, and the nuts, cereal, dark chocolate, leather, and bread notes begin pinging around my mouth. It’s a significant jump in activity.
The motion continues into the home stretch. There’s so much happening that it’s hard to keep track of it all. It reminds me of one of those game shows where someone stands in a booth filled with flying hundred-dollar bills, trying to grab as many as possible.
This behavior has always taken me by surprise because this amount of activity is usually accompanied by the profile compressing and becoming denser. Here, everything remains articulate, with plenty of space to move.
Strength is beginning to increase to medium-plus as a light nicotine appears and the spice intensifies and moves forward. The body is full and chewy, but not dense and gravitational. The constant movement of the flavors won’t allow it to collapse.
In the last couple of inches, the core begins to darken. Coffee becomes espresso, and the black pepper becomes more pronounced. The movement slightly wanes, allowing me to make out the predominant flavors of toffee, dark chocolate, a fruitiness I didn’t notice before, Honeycomb cereal, and toasted pecans. That central theme of “Pralines” is still being carried forward. Amazing!
In the last inch, the profile finally starts to compress, causing the spice and nicotine to intensify, ultimately driving strength to just shy of full. But the now mouth-coating spice ensures that everything maintains space and the movement continues. It’s like a drum major making sure the band members maintain their lines and spacing while driving the performance’s tempo and energy.
That energy is carried forward to the end.
The remarkable thing about the Pralines P 652 is that it never loses its energy. It builds steadily, reaches a peak, then carries that energy through the length of the smoke.
The spice is the reason the profile never collapses. It doesn’t pull the cigar upward. It keeps everything separated, preserves articulation, and creates tension even as the body fills out and the strength increases.
And though the nicotine slowly builds and helps drive the strength, it’s well-behaved and doesn’t drive me into euphoria. This is an important distinction because strength should support the experience, not become the experience. The cigar remains fully present and articulate right to the end.
Despite how much I love Curivari cigars, another frustration I have is finding them, especially the BV Pralines. But Atlantic has the Pralines P 652 for $59.50 for a box of 10. That’s a steal! They also have the P 554 if you want a robusto. But personally, I prefer the greater wrapper influence of the P 652.
Leave a comment