COHIBA BEHIKE: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE STUPID

The Good. The BHK 54 (the 54 refers to the ring gauge) is an attractive, tightly wrapped, 5.5” pig-tailed stogie that is sweet, toasty, creamy, and with a trace of spice. It is a medium powered smoke with a dead-even burn from beginning to end. The last two-thirds of the cigar had a perfect draw and produced good smoke.

The Bad. This is supposed to be Cuba’s all-world cigar. However, the first third of the cigar, while not 100% plugged, suffered from a very tight draw. I was afraid that this was going to persist throughout and I would end up with more Cuban mulch for my garden, but it finally opened up after awhile. I was fortunate. Most Cuban cigars are plugged or have too tight of a draw. You know that this is true when the vast majority of the reviews by the Cuba apologists at Cigar Aficionado refer to the draw of Cuban cigars with descriptions such as  “very firm.”  At the Saloon, we call ‘em as we see ‘em and the fact is that the Cubans have NOT corrected the draw problems, as evidenced by this Behike, which has a box date of May, 2012. To be clear, I’m not into cigar chimneys—there is such a thing as too much smoke, of course. I don’t like that either.  But I cannot enjoy a plugged cigar, regardless of the quality of the tobacco.

            While the last third of the cigar burned evenly and drew well, it also burned HOT. It did not burn my fingers, but was hot enough to make it uncomfortable to enjoy, so I chunked it into the flower bed after all. This is a shame because the middle third of the cigar was actually very good. Had the entire cigar been that way, this would have been a terrific smoke. As it was, it turned out to be just another example of the crappy quality control in the Cuban cigar industry. I experienced the same construction issue with a Cohiba #3 I smoked last Thursday which started burning hot about halfway). I can only imagine what folks like Abdel Fernandez, Juan Rodriguez,  Carlos Fuente, and Nick Perdomo could do with tobacco like this!!

The Stupid. Unlike other reviewers, we take the time to compare cigars with those of other labels to help you choose cigars. If the Behike is your taste profile(in terms of cigar strength, toast, and spice levels)*, I would recommend the following cigars which retail for a fraction of the price and give you a consistently good smoke. They are, in no particular order, but some of them have been reviewed in the Saloon: San Lotano Connecticut, Padilla Hybrid, Pinar Del Rio Clasico, Man O’ War Virtue, Alec Bradley American Blend, Santiago Cabana, Por Larranaga Cabinet Selection and the classic Cuba Aliados. All of these retail for under $10, some for as low as $5, and are in my wheelhouse.

Of course, if you want to pay $30-$35 for a Cohiba BHK, which is not as good as these others, just so you can say that you smoked a Cuban cigar,  please be my guest. Of course, beware that there may be only about 3 smokeable cigars in a box. As for the rest, well, maybe you enjoy expensive mulch. Me, not so much.—Mamey

CS Score 3.5(barely)

* Added as per The Oil Baron's comments below.