Curivari Reserva Limitada 1000 Series

Well here we are back into the swing of things and pumping out some good ol’ fashion reviews. Feel like it’s been forever since I posted one. We had so much fun with the contest, even though it was a lot of work getting it all organized. The comments alone were well worth all the work, thanks again to everyone who participated and our wonderful sponsors! So what am I reviewing on my first day back? Well it’s a Curivari Reserva Limitada 1000 Series, a brand I’ve been itching to try for a long time now!

Ever since Tony reviewed the Curivari Seleccion Privada awhile back I’ve been dying to get my hands on anything from the Curivari line. Not only that but they seem to have been getting glowing reviews all over the online community. Being from North of the border, it’s always tougher to track down some brands and this was one of them until recently. While at a herf a few weeks ago this cigar was being featured so I grabbed myself a few hoping to squeeze them into a post, and here we are!

Now in case you’re not too familiar with Curivari, here’s a little background info. They are a Nicaraguan company that is quickly making a splash with an inventory of 4 lines, with one line having 3 blends within it. They are very traditional in their growing and harvesting and grow only Cuban seed Crillo and Corojo tobacco. All of their cigars are 100% Nicaraguan Puros and they strive to blend for a classic Cuban profile with excellent balance.

The cigar up for review today is the 1000 Series (or “Thousand Series”) from the Reserva Limitada line. This blend is wrapped with a dark Colorado leaf and comes in 3 sizes, the 2000(Robusto), 3000(Toro) and 4000(Torpedo). I’m sparking this one up on a warm sunny afternoon and hoping the weather holds out since it’s calling for rain.

Cigar: Curivari Reserva Limitada 1000 Series
Drink: Innis & Gunn Highland Cask Oak Aged Beer
Vitola: Reserve 4000 – Torpedo (6.25 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Just about $7
Burn Time: Just under 2 hours

Construction:
• This cigar has a wonderful dark cinnamon brown wrapper
• There are very few veins on this smooth wrapper and it has a nice oily shine to it
• The whole cigar is fairly firm when squeezed but it still has a bit of give and bounce
• The foot looks fairly well packed although there is a small opening
• The cap is finished well but it looks like it was wrapped around the cigar a few times more than was needed, shouldn’t cause any issues though
• The draw is just right after clipping a tiny bit of the tapered end, don’t clip too much though cause you might end up with a very open draw

Burn:
• The toasting was fairly even and easy and took very little time to get it flowing nicely
• The burn line is looking a little wavy but it seems to be staying in good enough shape for now
• The wavy lines start looking like a problem, then they seem to correct themselves, it’s not perfect but at least it’s not requiring any touch ups from me
• After about the first half the burn got nice and sharp, let’s hope it continues this way
• The last third needed a couple touch ups, but nothing major

Smoke & Ash:
• Lots of smoke coming from each draw with very little effort
• There is also quite a bit of resting smoke that’s giving off a very nice cedar aroma
• The ash is coming in with some mid-grey tones and some black accents
• The strength of the ash seems a little weak and it’s flaking a bit, I tapped it off at about an inch to avoid it landing in my lap
• The second ash was a lot stronger and lasted a bit past one inch before I tapped it off

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper on the Curivari Reserva Limitada has very little aroma on it, maybe just a touch of sweetness
• The foot has a much more interesting aroma with touches of sweetness, floral and even a bit of cedary spice
• The pre-light draw brings in a fresh cedar flavor along with the sweet and floral notes from before
• The initial draws brought a delicious deep cedar flavor with some cocoa notes and just a touch of baking spices, a great start for sure!
• As I progress through the first third, the baking spices remain but the cedar is gone, in it’s place is a sort of creaminess that’s accenting to cocoa very nicely
• This cigar continues to keep me on my toes. Added to the mix is some tasty coffee notes and the sweetness has developed into an almost black cherry type of flavor
• The body of this cigar seems to be in the medium range for the most part and the retrohale is kicking out a fair bit of kick with a smooth sweet cedar finish
• As I start into the last third, the flavors are still vast and complex and keep changing up on me. they are developing nicely and balancing together very well
• The final third build up in body a bit, maybe just the higher end of medium and the flavors started to really jump out in your face
• Tons of coffee, that interested sweet black cherry, cedar and a sort of roasted almond finish
• No bitterness right to the end, nubbed this cigar and enjoyed it

Final Thoughts:
I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed each of these that I’ve had the pleasure of smoking. The unique and complex flavor profile kept me on my toes throughout the whole experience. The burn line wasn’t perfect but it didn’t need me to pay any attention to it and went along without problems. Along with the wonderful flavors it also had a very interesting retrohale that started with spices and finished with a sweet cedar smoothness. At a price of just about $7 for the typically more expensive Torpedo vitola, this is a great purchase and well worth it’s cost. The Toro (Reserva 3000) can be had for only $6.30 and is pretty much the same size. I will definitely be adding these to my future shopping lists, I’d love to see how age treats them in a year or so!

Pairings:
Well no big surprise here, another beer from Innis & Gunn. Have I told you all how much I love their brews before? lol. Well this is another special edition that they came out with called the Highland Cask. Instead of aging them in regular oak barrels they actually age them in barrels that previously contained 18 year old Whisky. They also leave it in there for an extended time totally 69 days. It gives it a very nice touch of whisky malts on top of it’s already delicious profile of creamy caramel and toffee. It’s soooo good! haha. Go buy it if you can find it before it’s gone! As for a pairing, it was awesome with the Curivari Reserva Limitada. It had just enough flavor to compliment the cigar without overpowering it or being drowned out. This cigar would also go very well with a nice dark stout, a strong coffee or maybe a nice Belgian Tripel!