If Forrest Gump was a cigar smoker, I bet he'd say that whiskey and cigars go together "like peas & carrots". I suppose I'd have to agree with him. It's nice when a spirit and cigar work well with together. That was the intent when Scandinavian Tobacco Group hooked up with Sazerac for some collaborations. There have been a few releases such as Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, and now Weller. In 2021 the Weller was released, but it is a completely different blend from the 2022 version. The year isn't part of the cigar title, although there are some noticeable differences in appearance to help distinguish the two. The first thing you'll notice is the 2021 version comes in a glass tube. The 2022 version is in a metal tube. Beyond that, the new version has an updated main band with an elegant fence-like pattern in the background, whereas the 2021 blend is straight black. Well let's dive into Weller and see how it does.
The Deets
Cigar: Weller by Cohiba 2022
Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Size: 6x50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf aged in bourbon barrels
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano, Nicaraguan from Estelí, and Honduran from La Entrada, Jamastran, and Olancho San Agustin regions
Appearance 8/10
The cap wasn't great but wasn't horrible. The bands were very sloppily attached in the back and uneven. I'm a stickler for band quality & application. When a cigar has $25 price tag, it should look on point. There were also some large stems that were bumping out a lot at the cap that are sure to make for an odd feeling when in the mouth. Wrapper had a yummy look to it. Overall not too bad.
Draw 8/10
Using a straight cut provided a snug yet manageable draw. I did a little bit of poking once things warmed up, but to no avail. Since it wasn't at headache level, I stopped messing around with it and just smoked.
Burn/Construction 7/10
I wasn't overly impressed with the performance. The burn line didn't go wild. It just wanted to flirt with wobbling in order to make me touch it up after each ash drop. Towards the final third I did have to relight it once. Unexpected since I wasn't stalling it out. Firm ash though.
Taste 7/10
1/3 - Weller kicks it off with a hard vegetable note. Nutmeg and bread dough do some supporting. There is a slight creaminess with the juicy leather note. Light+ body was more mellow than I anticipated.
2/3 - Things move into the Medium zone with the emergence of heavy oak. Classic black pepper has stood up on the retro. The creaminess is very fleeting and at times more of a dry sensation. Black coffee rounds out the 2nd third.
3/3 - The beginning of the last third was surprising. Instead of being at its' boldest, I found the body to be very soft like flower pedals. I kept thinking that a red wine would almost be better with this instead of a whiskey. Notes of dried fruit agreed with that notion. The tail end of the last third had different plans though. Dark oak decided it was going to bulldoze over everything and destroy my hunch of a red wine pairing. I wasn't able to fully nub this one, but I smoked what was intended.
Overall 7.5/10
This is actually my very first non-Cuban Cohiba. For my own personal snobby reasons, I'm just not interested in a brand that is stealing another company's name. Weller by no means is a scrub cigar, but I wasn't wowed. I can score plenty of $10 smokes that are just as enjoyable. Despite all that, it's worth a one time smoke to see if it strikes your fancy. You'll just have to dig deeper into the wallet to do so.
**Number of cigars smoked for the review: 1