Cohiba Serie M

By Tony Casas | May 16, 2022

I’ve been waiting to write a review of this cigar. Without getting into specifics right away I was pleasantly surprised the first time I lit this cigar up. This week, I take a look at Cohiba’s Serie M paired with a 2015 bottle of North Coast’s Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XVIII

The Good Stuff:

Originally released in 2021 Cohiba’s Serie M is a bit of a departure for General Cigar. First, this is the first time the manufacture has teamed up with Miami’s own El Titan De Bronze factory. Sandy Cobas and her team were chosen to create the first Cohiba made in the USA based on their great success as one of the best cigar factories to date. Next, the blend is also slightly out of the norm for General cigar as it utilizes a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers form the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The Serie M is offered in a single 6 x 52 format packaged in boxes of 10 running $29.99 a cigar. Only 50,000 cigars are being produced.

• Size: 6 x 52
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
• Body: Medium/Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $29.99
• Pairing: North Coast Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XVIII (Imperial Stout 11.3%)

Prelight:

The Cohiba Series M starts out with a great looking, medium brown wrapper which is covered in yellowish-brown inconsistencies. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy with a slight amount of oils. The wrapper feels very thin and brittle while the cigar a a whole feels a little lightly packed. The wrapper is folded over the foot of the cigar while it’s laid perfectly over itself all the way up to the cigar’s little round rat tail style cap. There are a few smaller veins located through the cigar’s body. The cigar is then finished with a dark green Cohiba band with the words “Serie M” on it and secondary gold “Miami, USA band.

The wrapper on the Cohiba Serie M gives off notes of cashew, honey and tobacco with the foot of the cigar is mostly the same with just a little bit of spice peaking through the cigar’s closed foot. he cold draw produces some great notes of cashew, musk, and natural tobacco over some light honey notes.

First Third:

The Cohiba Series M starts with a quick initial blast of black pepper which faded quickly allowing the cigar to release bold notes of cedar, honey and cashew over light creamed coffee, musk, and natural tobacco with a bit of earthiness. The draw is flawless and every little puff kicks out a good amount of gray smoke which dissipates almost instantly while the cigar releases almost no stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is pretty thick but also pretty even leaving behind a flaky trail of medium gray ash which fell into my ashtray about 3/4 of an inch in.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Cohiba Serie M the cedar and honey still lead the packed backed by coffee. musk, cashew, and a light berry note that I only pick up in the second third but is heightened on the retrohale. This cigar is really hitting its stride now and the flavors are rockin’. The burn line has started to really clean up, and the ash is now much more compacted. I close out the second third with only a minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Cohiba Serie M and the Pecan and cedar are owning this flavor profile backed by honey, berry and musk. It’s not overly complex but the flavors are different enough for each other that it makes picking them apart fun. The cigar burned perfectly from start to finish. It took me 2 hours to take this cigar down to the nub. There was no harshness nor any extended heat. The cigar was a bit on the dry side due to my own handling of the cigar so the wrapper was a bit more brittle than it should be. While it cracked slightly this never hindered the overall experience and I burned right through it.

Overview:

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I entered the Cohiba Serie M. I didn’t research the cigar before smoking it and just lit it up and was very impressed the first time. After that, I dug into the researched and realized that it was created at El Titan de Bronze and I should have known it was going to be great. Each one I had after that impressed me even more. The flavor profile is just incredible, nicely complex without being overdone, the burn is perfect, and the construction is flawless. The only issue is $29.99 is pretty steep for just about any cigar. But if you are looking for a Uber-premium that you can really get lost in, dissecting, and enjoying, it may be worth the coin.

Pairing:

Blast from the past! This 2015-ish Barrel aged Old Rasputin XVIII has been begging to be popped. Aged in rye whiskey barrels this 11.3% ABV Imperial stout is brewed at the North Coast Brewery in Fort Bragg, California. The beer leads with an unexpected blast of banana over roasted malt, chocolate, plum, brown sugar, and a really light clove with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing with more chocolate, plum, pecan, and a lightly barrel note. While the flavors in the Cohiba Serie-M were more on the earthy/musky side the beer helped support the underlying sweetness found within the cigar and made for a great pairing. Thanks for the hookup JG!