Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Toro (6 x 52)
Strength: Medium → Medium-Plus (first half)
Body: Medium-Plus → Full (halfway)
Price: Miami Humidor: $95/20-count bundle
Factory: Las Villas Cigars, Estelí, Nicaragua
Blender: Paul Stulac and Guillermo Peña
Release: Regular Production
Smoking Time: 1:40
Experience Rating: 98
Most cheap or affordable cigars are just that: cheap and affordable. They’re not meant to be anything more than straightforward smokes that get the job done.
There are cheap cigars, then there are the ones manufactured by Guillermo Peña.
When I reviewed the Miami Humidor Bundle Maduro, I was reluctant to say that it punched above its weight class. But the quality of the smoke ultimately convinced me that it did, at least in terms of flavor. Its burn issues are what kept it a $2 cigar. But despite that, I’m still going to keep buying it because it tastes so damn good.
But the Post Script undeniably punches above its weight class.
It always has.
As Paul Stulac put it, he was hyper-focused on the blend because he wanted to produce a great cigar at an affordable price. That hyper-focus paid off. His collaboration with Guillermo produced a line of cigars that would blow away others costing far more than $5.
I’m not saying that to hype it up. I’ve smoked over a hundred of the San Andrés, and it still blows me away that a cigar can be that good for that price.
What about the Habano?
It has the same guts with a different wrapper.
And yes, it has the same effect on me.
Synopsis
Strength begins at medium, remains level while the cigar settles, then rises through the first half before holding at medium-plus and ticking slightly higher in the last inch. Body starts between medium and medium-plus, thickens gradually, then climbs sharply to full at halfway and remains there through the nub. Activity begins between medium and medium-plus, increases during the first-half progression, holds steady through the home stretch, then declines progressively through the final stages.
Like the San Andrés, the physical appearance of the Habano is unremarkable, with its naked, unbanded body. And like its darker sibling, it’s packed to the gills with tobacco.
There are a few blemishes, as expected. This cigar was purpose-built for affordability, so it’s not going to win any beauty contests. But its skin shines with oils, and it’s toothy like grip tape.
The wrapper is stinky, and I mean that in a good way. I mentioned in a previous review that I thought I might’ve become desensitized to the barnyard aroma because I didn’t detect it in the last couple of cigars I reviewed. But there’s no mistaking it here. There’s barnyard and an overripe peach aroma. It smells like my backyard when peaches have dropped from my tree.
So yeah. Stinky.
Amazingly, the foot has none of that. No barnyard. No overripe fruit. It’s woody and malty, with a nice helping of fresh nectarine and citrus.
The cold draw is perfect, and that has become an expectation with the Post Script. There’s great airflow with a little resistance. It’s generous with flavors as well: dry sweetgrass, citrus, cedar, and a lingering sweetness.
I light it up. I’ve smoked three of these so far, and I love that first puff. It’s a wake-up shake of coffee, fresh cedar, and nutmeg.
That’s followed by a literal invasion of toffee, citrus, malt, and sweetness. The finish features a light, effervescent spice that sits on the back of my tongue and the roof of my mouth.
Simply lovely.
The cigar settles within a third of an inch as cream and black pepper arrive, pulling the coffee and cedar together to form a core.
I love how this cigar doesn’t waste time getting down to business. Many cigars I smoke take a little time to find their footing and stabilize. Sometimes, I don’t get a sense of them grounding until I’m well into the cigar.
But not with this cigar or its San Andrés sibling.
The interesting thing is that I’m getting a sense of Guillermo Peña’s signature because the same thing happened with the Miami Humidor Bundle Maduro: immediate structure and clear identity.
I’ll be interested to see if this plays out in the premium blends I’ll be trying soon.
Getting fully into the first half, the sweetness on the finish is a nice exclamation point to the profile. It’s subtle, but it lingers from puff to puff.
The spice’s action is very cool. It allows the sweetness to express itself, then steps forward on the finish, acting like an afterglow of the puff.
There’s nice complexity as flavors start filing in: rice cracker, buttered toast, roasted cashew and almond, chestnut, and baking spices of allspice, cardamom, and nutmeg.
The body thickens as the cream steps forward in the core. Strength is ticking up slightly, inching toward medium-plus territory.
Coffee is darkening, and the cedar begins to char. The Nic guts are really expressing themselves, and that classic Paul Stulac boldness is revealing itself. Mind you, this is the same cigar as the San Andrés, but with a different wrapper. It’s as bold as ever, just a little brighter.
The citrus note seems to be resolving into orange oil.
As I pass the first third, the spice asserts itself and intensifies. Its action is now wave-like, coming in like the tide, then receding on the finish.
The background sweetness continues to linger, and it’s now pervasive. It’s still subtle, so I wouldn’t call the profile sweet, but it’s omnipresent.
Orange oil is now confirmed.
At the halfway point, as Katman puts it, the flavors are canonized.
This is where the Paul Stulac signature shows up. At some point in all his smokes, the profile takes on what I can only describe as a velvety smoothness. For me, that triggers a visceral response as my whole body fills with this sense of pure satisfaction.
It’s the sole reason I rate his cigars so high. Very few cigars do this to me.
This one took the entire first half to get there, but it got there. In contrast, the Blue Lightning Sky hits me like that almost immediately.
With the profile now “signed,” the flavors flow like a viscous, amorphous mass that envelops me.
I’m kind of lost in its warm, comforting embrace.
Moving into the second half, I continue to contentedly float in the goodness of the profile.
No new flavors arrive, but I couldn’t care less. The enjoyment factor is on maximum output for me right now. I’m still paying attention to changes, but my emotional attachment to the task is significantly reduced.
What I will say is that the orange oil and sweetness are buoying the profile. They provide a constant, incredible emotional lift.
And I notice that unlike its dark sibling, strength has been kept at bay throughout the entire experience.
With only a couple of inches remaining, there’s no break in my reverie. The flavors continue to flow in that amorphous mass.
The core darkens a little more as the coffee darkens and black pepper asserts itself, but it doesn’t drive up strength. Spice is still pervasive, but it has actually decreased in intensity. The orange oil continues to provide that pleasing lift on the finish.
The cigar has loaded enough that I have to give it a poke with my PerfecDraw. Airflow restored.
Wow! That brings out a bright citrus note similar to lemon zest which is just beautiful! Roasted nuts then step forward, led by hazelnut, followed by cashew and almond.
It’s tasting so good that I have to control myself from puffing too often.
Getting into the last inch, the profile compresses. Usually with the San Andrés, it gets really powerful here. What I’m loving about the Habano is that I can still feel that compression, but the lighter wrapper, with its citrus and sweet elements, prevents the profile from becoming too dense.
This keeps the strength from moving to full, though it does get pushed up slightly. And nicotine? Not a whit through the entire experience.
The secondary flavors are still present and accounted for, but the compression has curtailed their motion.
At the nub, the profile compresses no further than it did in the last inch. Sometimes, the darkness of the San Andrés becomes overwhelming at this point, and I let it burn out just past the last inch. With the Habano, I just ride it out, still floating in the goodness of the smoke.
Another hit from Paul Stulac, and another reason to appreciate Guillermo Peña’s work.
I feel like the Merovingian in The Matrix.
Smoking this is like wiping my ass with silk. I love it.
I just got my bundle last week, but I’m going to re-up soon. Like the San Andrés, this is going to be another permanent resident in my humidor. When I want a darker expression, I can reach for the San Andrés. When I want a lighter one, I’ll reach for the Habano.
As I said at the beginning, and as I’ve said about the San Andrés, this has no business being this good for the price.
Miami Humidor is the place to buy these and other Paul Stulac cigars. No one has better prices, and it makes sense. Since Paul Stulac cigars are produced by Guillermo Peña and Miami Humidor is part of his ecosystem, there’s no middleman.
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