Casa Cuba Doble Dos

I picked up this cigar from a local shop based solely on its size- a 6 1/2 x 42. I had never had a cigar from Arturo Fuente’s Casa Cuba line, so I purchased it and quickly forgot about it. A couple of weeks later I was searching for something to smoke from my selection of singles and came upon this one.

The cold draw provides notes of raisins and hay. The Doble Dos is slightly box pressed, is firm, and has a nice smooth wrapper. After lighting, the first aromas I noted were cedar and leather. After a few minutes, light floral notes entered the mix. This provided a nice balance to the deep earthiness of cedar and leather. The retrohale brought notes of pepper and increased sweetness. This cigar may have had the highest smoke output of any cigar I have smoked to date; in the very beginning, the high smoke output lent to a little bit of harshness, but it quickly mellowed out.

As I moved into the second third, the notes of hay and sweet fruit from the cold draw returned and the peppery notes diminished. On the retrohale there were new notes of baking spice. The burn and overall construction of this cigar was really impressive. The high smoke output continued throughout the second third.

Here is where it got really interesting for me- transitioning from the second to the third third, I noticed a building mintiness. Not a strong peppermint or spearmint, but rather mint leaves and the vegetal notes they bring. This was a phenomenal addition to the cigar. I wish these notes had presented themselves sooner! The mint remained until I finally put down the Doble Dos. This was one of those times that I was genuinely disappointed that a cigar came to an end.

This is one of my new favorites- it is definitely in the top 5 cigars I have smoked. The combination of the vitola, the construction, the smoke output, and the tasting notes really made this a treat. I am planning on returning to the shop I purchased a single from to buy more. On a scale of 1-10, I would give this a 9.4.