Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: Toro (6 x 54)
Strength: Medium → Medium-Plus (first half)
Body: Medium-Plus → Full (halfway)
Price: $11.20 USD each paid ($112/10); $15.00 MSRP
Factory: Tabacalera de Nicaragua S.A., Nicaragua
Blender: Andreas Throuvalas
Release: April 2026 (Limited Edition)
Smoking Time: 1:45
Experience Rating: 100
I’ve made it no secret that Curivari frustrates the hell out of me. I’m not alone. They’re known as one of the most secretive companies in the cigar industry, and no one truly knows what they’re up to because they volunteer practically no information.
Believe me, I’ve tried. I either get short, ambiguous answers or complete silence. I’ve even tried baiting them into conversation on Instagram with cool graphic posts.
All I’ve gotten in reply is, “Glad you like it. Thanks!”
When Curivari announced the Gran Reserva Edición 2025 before PCA last year, I scoured the Internet looking for a box. No dice. Then, just before PCA 2026, word came that the cigars were finally shipping, and I knew I had to score a box. I finally found one this past June.
It wasn’t cheap by Curivari standards. Most Curivari blends can be found for around $65–$80 per box, depending on the retailer. The Gran Reserva is the most expensive of the bunch, with my box of 654s coming in at $112. That makes sense considering only 1,000 boxes were released across five vitolas. Even at that price, it’s a steal.
I’ve smoked practically every line Curivari makes, and after smoking this one, I can say without hesitation that the Gran Reserva is the best of the bunch.
Synopsis
Strength begins at medium, rises sharply during the first-half progression, and then remains around medium-plus with one slight dip during the Home Stretch. Body starts at medium-plus, climbs steadily to full by halfway, and remains there through the nub. Activity builds quickly to its early peak during Progression, eases at halfway, holds at an elevated level through the Home Stretch, and then gradually declines toward the nub. The ending therefore represents a concentration of the cigar’s energy rather than an increase in activity.
The Gran Reserva feels substantial in the hand. Curivari didn’t skimp on tobacco with this one. It’s tightly packed, carries a pleasing heft, and is covered in a skin that falls somewhere between Colorado Rosado and Colorado Maduro. The color is slightly mottled, with a few visible veins and a nice sheen of oils across the surface.
The skin carries an indistinct sweetness alongside sourdough toast and wet, dried grass. I almost want to call it barnyard, but it doesn’t have that characteristic funk. There’s a touch of barnyard at the foot, although it’s quickly overshadowed by fruity sweetness and the aroma of freshly baked bread.
The cold draw presents hay, sourdough toast, and a sugary sweetness.
Wow. The first puff delivers coffee and brown sugar, followed immediately by charred cedar and a hint of black pepper. The brown sugar lingers after every puff, leaving a sustained sweetness across the finish.
Coffee quickly moves to the center as a light spice appears and alights on my tongue. The body is thick and rich from the outset, while the strength sits at a solid medium.
As the cigar settles in, cocoa powder enters and attaches itself to the coffee core, while charred cedar also moves into the center. The brown sugar sweetness never becomes structural. Instead, it acts as a punctuation mark on the finish.
This cigar wastes no time getting down to business. Almost immediately after the first puff, the profile begins organizing itself, blurring the line between ignition and settling in. Even AJ cigars, which are so incredibly structured, rarely settle this quickly.
The spice shifts to the sides of my tongue and slowly pulses. The body remains thick and rich, while the strength holds at medium.
About an inch into the smoke, the lingering brown sugar sweetness becomes intoxicating. It isn’t limited to the finish. It also sweetens each puff as the complexity suddenly opens up around it.
Baking spices, popcorn, and fresh-cut cedar emerge alongside an entire bakery case of flavors: sourdough bread, butter croissant, and a more pronounced yeasty bread. Toasted almond, cashew, and malt follow, then the profile takes a savory turn with soy sauce, mushroom umami, and grilled steak.
With that many flavors in play, the profile should feel overcrowded. It doesn’t. The savory elements never clash with the sweeter, nuttier, or bready components, and everything remains incredibly balanced. The bread elements gradually step forward, especially the yeasty bread, which becomes even more pronounced through a retrohale. The retrohale also intensifies the brown sugar sweetness. This is an absolutely lovely smoke.
The body continues to thicken and begins flirting with fullness as a light nicotine presence pushes the strength toward medium-plus. Meanwhile, the spice pulses along the sides of my tongue like subwoofers in a busy dance club. The profile is crowded with flavors, but they’re all moving together with the beat.
I reach the halfway point in a little over 45 minutes. Cream finally makes an entrance and smooths out the entire profile, pushing the body to full. The smoke is white, thick, and opaque. This is the epitome of full-body, full-flavor.
The brown sugar begins resolving into a taffy-like sweetness with each puff. It starts as brown sugar, then finishes as sweet taffy. Nice. Black pepper steps forward in the core, although it never becomes prominent. It’s simply a little more visible.
The spice has stopped pulsing and moved beneath the tip of my tongue, but on the finish, it seems to snap back to the sides. I’m loving its movement. The secondary flavors remain present and accounted for, while the bread elements become increasingly prominent and thematic. The overall movement has waned slightly, but the profile remains highly active.
Strength is now medium-plus as the nicotine further asserts itself. I’m sitting on the edge of bliss and euphoria.
Moving into the home stretch, the overall flavor presentation is simply magical. I’m glad Curivari took its time releasing this cigar. It was announced at PCA 2025 but didn’t begin shipping until just before PCA 2026. Whatever happened during that wait, it was worth it.
The savory elements now step forward. It’s like eating prime rib with mushrooms, followed by a mineral bite that reminds me of horseradish. I haven’t gotten any real imagery from the experience. The earlier dance club comparison was more simile than metaphor. Even so, the complexity of this smoke is marvelous.
There’s no real change in the flavor inventory, but I don’t care. Different things merely step forward. Cream finally becomes structural, joining the core of coffee, black pepper, and charred cedar. It provides a smooth underscore to the entire profile.
The tone begins to darken as those core elements assert themselves and the cigar puts its Nicaraguan puro identity on full display.
Wow. Roasted peanut suddenly appears and combines with the salt and sweetness to create beer nuts. A light retrohale draws out the coffee, which has become a rich, almost luxurious espresso.
The finish is no longer sweet. It has shifted to charred oak with a touch of tannic astringency. Amazingly, the strength has waned slightly as the nicotine seems to subside.
In the last couple of inches, the Gran Reserva fully expresses Curivari’s signature. The company has built its identity around creating Cuban-like experiences with Nicaraguan tobacco, and this is yet another example. Perhaps it’s the clearest example because the cigar delivers full body and full flavor within a relatively moderate-strength package. Make no mistake, though. This is Nicaraguan tobacco in all its dark and bold goodness.
Hazelnut comes out of nowhere and uncannily merges with the coffee. This cigar still has a few tricks up its sleeve. The black pepper and charred cedar in the core become more intense, pushing the strength back to medium-plus, while the spice migrates to the roof of my mouth.
The coffee also becomes more pronounced. It remains melded with the hazelnut but now finishes with a slight acidic bite. Despite the darker turn, there’s an inherent energy running through the profile. I can’t see the movement, but I can certainly feel it.
Yeah, this is unmistakably a Nicaraguan puro, but there’s not a whit of harshness.
In the last inch, what strikes me most about this blend, and Curivari cigars as a whole, is how incredibly coherent it is. Even as the profile begins to compress, everything remains well-defined and, more importantly, well-behaved. Flavors become more pronounced, but nothing takes over. Now it’s cocoa powder’s turn to step forward.
The spice has moved again, this time settling along the inside of my lips. I’ve loved how it has migrated throughout the experience. It has driven much of the cigar’s energy, yet I haven’t felt that familiar tugging against the profile. Instead, it has provided a beautiful contrast without disturbing the balance.
Then coffee, cocoa powder, and charred cedar come together like the Three Tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras. They’re all singing in a powerful chorus, with Il Maestro, Pavarotti, leading the way.
What incredible energy. It isn’t an explosion of additional movement. The energy is concentrating as the core finally sings in unison, and somehow the strength still doesn’t respond.
At the nub, the spice still sits along my lips and glimmers, then slowly moves onto my tongue through the finish. The Three Tenors continue their powerful chorus, and the profile is now focused entirely on coffee, cocoa powder, and charred cedar.
The secondary flavors are gone, and I realize they were never creating the energy. The core and the spice had been driving it from underneath the entire time, providing the beat and pulse to which the secondaries could dance.
Oh. My. God. A light retrohale suddenly produces a distinct stone fruit that resolves into sweet bread. I take another puff to confirm it, and there it is again. Even at the nub, this cigar still has one last surprise waiting.
I listen to the chorus until my fingers start burning.
Wow. I’m glad I left the box alone for a couple of months. I had already waited so long for these cigars to be released, but I refused to let curiosity overcome discipline. That patience was rewarded.
I can find no wrong in this cigar. Structurally and architecturally, it’s almost perfect. What appeals to me most is how it expresses its energy. Activity peaks during the progression, when the flavor field becomes crowded and the spice pulses like subwoofers, then gradually wanes as the smoke continues. But the energy never disappears. It becomes increasingly concentrated within the core.
By the end, the coffee, cocoa powder, and charred cedar finally sing in unison, while the spice supplies the pulse beneath them, revealing that the core had been driving the experience all along. Contrast that with the Southern Draw Manzanita, which left me exhausted by all its movement. The Gran Reserva expresses its energy in an entirely different way.
More than any other Curivari, this is the epitome of presenting Nicaraguan tobacco through a Cuban-like experience. To me, it becomes Curivari’s archetype. I had previously assigned that distinction to the Reserva Limitada Café Noir, but the Gran Reserva possesses those qualities in spades.
Best Cigar Prices currently has boxes of the Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 654 available. Considering how limited and difficult to find these cigars have been, I wouldn’t expect them to remain in stock for long. I’m going to be buying another box post-haste.
Leave a comment