Yesterday I received several boxes of Arganese Café Dominicana. This is a relatively new cigar by Arganese. To give you a brief background, they are aged with coffee beans to capture the enticing aroma. As this is my unadulterated blog, I will share with you my real experience from beginning to end.
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a representative from Arganese who was pushing this new cigar. To be quite honest, pushing was a nice word, like true salesman fashion I couldn’t shake this guy if I wanted to. I think relentless is the best and nicest word I could use. He was going on and on about how the Arganese Café Dominicana was great, wonderful, will sell fast, and all that “mumbo jumbo” salesmen will shove down your throat if you give them enough time. So let’s say I was mildly annoyed by the constant pestering. Although, as a man who likes try cigars that have never touched my palette, I was intrigued to at least get a box. Eventually I caved and purchased a couple boxes of each kind, the Espresso Blend and the Breakfast Blend.
Just a few days later they arrive at my doorstep and I begin to rip apart my UPS package like a child during Christmas. I throw apart the newspaper padding (saving the comics for later of course) and pull out my new boxes. I was caught by the vibrant logo on the top of the box and then realized as I began to open it that it was actually sealed by a magnet…interesting to say the least. I opened the first box, the Espresso Blend, and almost began to tear up. I saw twelve beautifully rolled maduros nestled in a dark, oily, and rich pound of extremely fragrant coffee. As a coffee lover, I wafted in the sweet fruity fragrance of these beans and can say I was quite pleased. They still carried a very rich aroma making my mouth water and increased my desire to light up one of these puros even more. I restrained myself and finished unloading the inventory into my humidor for the next few minutes. After that, I grabbed one of the Espresso Blend maduros and sat down to do a little work.
I must tell you that I have been a long time fan of the Tabak Especial line by Drew Estate. As my go-to morning coffee cigar, I have always enjoyed the flavors and even the sweetness they provide…to a degree. So going into this new cigar I had a high standard set. I sat down to polish up today’s newsletter and smelled the Café Dominicana before I lit up. My nose sparked with enjoyment as I smelled an unmatched blend of the tobacco and the amazing fruitiness of the espresso coffee it was nestled in prior. This was not a sugar sweetened smell at all, but rather one that came purely from the rich oils of the coffee. My anticipation grew more than expected. I gently removed the Cuban-styled pigtail at the end and put it to my lips. Again I was greeted with the coffee flavors and rich tobacco…by that point I felt like I was getting teased over and over.
I lit up the shaggy tip and began my first draw. I was very happy with how easy the Café Dominicana was to draw. I barely had to put any effort into it and my mouth was greeted by rich white smoke emanating strong coffee and tobacco flavors. For the first quarter of the cigar the coffee flavor began to diminish with each and every puff while the tobacco flavors came to the forefront. I will say I was starting to get mildly disappointed by this point. I felt like the tease came true, and I was only going to get rich coffee flavors from the initial light and briefly after. While I can easily say that the cigar is quite tasty as a cigar, what I was expecting was a nice coffee flavor throughout… and I was not getting that.
As I started to write up this review I began to go into the middle of this smoke and it hit me. I do not know how it happened but it did, the predominant tobacco flavor vanished and all I tasted was a rich black cup of barista brewed espresso! I literally felt like I was smoking a cup of espresso. The rich fruity flavors and mild nuttiness of great espresso bombarded my taste buds and I could not get enough. My mind put me at a barista in southern Italy , where I was welcomed by a fragrant breeze, friendly people, a fascinating view of the Mediterranean , and of course… this perfectly “brewed” cigar. What else could I ask for? I was mesmerized by the change and impressed to say the least. If this was what a coffee cigar should taste like, then I am sold.
As I continued along and got to the nub of the cigar, I was still amazed by the rich coffee flavors this cigar was producing. I would like to state, I did not had to clean up the burn, as it remained clean and constant the entire time. I also did not have any issues with the draw either; it remained easy and had produced a good amount of smoke with every puff. I wish they made a cigar “roach clip” so I could have enjoyed this until my lips burned.
At this point in the review I like to go over what the cigar should pair with, both drinks and food. For this puro, I would highly recommend sitting outside on a beautiful calm day and enjoying it solo. The rich aromatic flavors it produces are enough to put your palette into overdrive.
Arganese, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this cigar. I can state with confidence that the Café Dominicana Espresso Blend has made my top five cigars. Enough said.
It’s time to call that sales representative and thank him for being so pushy. Arganese, you have delivered.
