Iguana 'Papa' Candela cigar review

Many of the cigars I've recently received are going to rest awhile before I review them. However, I'm a huge fan of candelas. Their 'grassy', fresh taste reminds me of the Gyokuro green tea of which I am so fond. So, as I have quite a few of these, off we go.

These are cigars handmade in the Dominican Republic. The wrapper of this one is of course candela (also referred to as 'double claro') - very green as the particular curing process fixes the chlorophyll within the leaves. Like many candelas the wrapper is very delicate and should be treated with care - storing such cigars in a jar resting on their caps will lead to damage, and if dropped will often destroy the cigar. It is very difficult for torcedors to deal with this wrapper, the curing process makes it very difficult to work with as it is thin and breaks easily. The filler is long - Dominican Olor and Piloto Cubano.

Very nice. The cigar burns very well and has an excellent draw..producing large amounts of smoke but yet is still very mild and pleasant. No relight has been neccesary. This is a very substantial cigar, very large. As candelas are appropriate for a morning or daytime smoke, I think I would prefer a smaller size (which are available as well). I usually have little time during the day to smoke such a large vitola. You can easily smoke these for an hour or more. This size would be great for a lazy day at the beach, fishing, or hanging out at the cabin.

If the flavor ever changes over the course of the stick, I cannot detect it. To me it is smooth from start to finish, sometimes 'milky' notes are present. I'm a big fan of candela cigars, and one could not do much better than to pick up some Iguanas if you would like to try these. Candelas have a long history, at one time they accounted for much of the market is the USA. Iguanas are the epitome of the type in my opinion, you don't get greener or 'more candela' than these. In short, these did not disappoint whatsoever.

Iguanas can be purchased from the Thompson Cigar Company at a very reasonable price...$22.50 USD for 10 of the large 'Papa' size (7" X 50).