Marketed as a budget comparison to Macanudo cigars, I had to try it. And it’s not too bad.

The draw on the cigar is smooth as the cool smoke fills the mouth. An instant cardboard dryness hits the front of the tongue while a light caramel sweetness covers the rest. Not much else, it’s a pretty light tasting cigar. Retrohaling is enjoyable with this cigar as it cooks the smoke and wrings out a nice smoked wood flavour with a little bit of a pear-ish fruit taste. Otherwise, the overall taste is fairly dry especially with the aftertaste.

The aroma is excellent, and this is where I see the Macanudo comparison. It’s a nice heavy bodies smoke that carries a rich, sweetness with it. Thankfully cool to the nose, there’s an overly sugary and caramel sweetness with a nice herbal tobacco hint to it, with layers of cocoa and some fruit. Idling, it just gets richer with a milky sweetness and more cocoa.

While I did enjoy this cigar and it remained consistent through the smoke, it’s an interesting comparison to Macanudo. I actually quite enjoy and purchase Cigar International’s Macanudo knock-offs regularly because they taste and smell just fine at their price point. This Cu-Avana has an ok taste to but, but excels immensely in the aroma department with a much thicker and layered scent to it. A box of this size is $40 for 20, and that makes it a great deal despite the dry taste. it’s a great chaser cigar, and because it’s light in body, a great regular smoke at any time.