Cohiba is the most well known cigar brand in the world and also tends to be synonymous with luxury. To make things clear, there are two different Cohiba brands in the world, the Cuban brand owned by Habanos S.A which is distributed everywhere outside of the USA, and the non-Cuban brand which is only distributed in the USA and owned by General cigar company. The Cohiba Riviera is turning over a new leaf on multiple levels for Cohiba as a brand, first off its the first ever box pressed Cohiba making it a unique vitola in the lineup, furthermore it is the frist time Cohiba has used a Mexican San Andrés wrapper which will offer us some new flavor profiles that may have not been as common in previous offerings.

“The experience of Cohiba Riviera is rich and rewarding and befitting of Cohiba’s status as an ultra-premium cigar brand,” noted Sean Williams, brand ambassador of Cohiba.

Under the Lid

The Cohiba Riviera Robusto comes in a dark purple box with the Cohiba logo at the top with the black band, and Riviera in smaller writing right underneath Cohiba. The cigar is wrapped in a medium dark brown wrapper with a slight amount of mottling with thin veins, and a tight wrapper seam. The caps are well placed on the cigar with no issues. The band follows the theme of the box with dark purple being the main color scheme with accents of white and chrome.

• Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
• Binder: Honduran Connecticut
• Filler: Nicaraguan from Condega and Esteli, Honduran from Jamastran and La Entrada
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Vitola: 5 X 52 Box Pressed Robusto
• Factory: STG Esteli
• Release Date: May 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular production in boxes of 20
• MSRP: $19.99 ($399.80 for a box of 20)

The cold draw offers a nice mild sweet berry note, and a hint of barnyard. The foot gives off aromas of fig and barnyard, while the wrapper has aromas of musty barnyard, and bell pepper.

Performance Notes

First Third: The Cohiba Riviera opens up with notes of red pepper spice, oak, and leather up front on the palate, with a slight general mild tobacco sweetness in the background. The profile is not overpowering the palate with one specific note but giving room for each note to take the forefront of the profile. The profile really opens up after a half inch in and there is a coffee and cocoa note that enters the profile. Occasionally the coffee note is a bit overwhelming but not too often to become distracting. The finish is short to medium in length with oak and leather lingering on the palate. Each puff plays back and forth between red pepper spice, and oak being at the forefront of the profile, and coffee with cocoa occasionally sneaking in there. The mild generic sweetness is only tasted occasionally. The retrohale adds a depth of leather, oak, and pepper spice.

Second Third: Pepper and oak are still at the front of the profile with the oak developing a mild toastiness to it, and the leather falling a bit more into the background. There is this slight tanginess I am getting on the tip of the tongue every so often as well. The cocoa and coffee notes are not as common as they were during the first third but I do find them occasionally. As this second third develops the sweetness I was getting previously has fully fallen off and a very mild vegetal note, similar to that of the bell pepper I got on the wrapper, creeps into the profile but is not off puting. By the end of this third the cocoa and coffee notes are nowhere to be found while the toasted oak, pepper spice, and mild leather are really taking over the profile with that mild vegetal note slowly growing and occasionally being detected. The finish is still short to medium with oak and leather, the retrohale is consistently pepper and oak as well.

Final Third: The final third develops a bit with the toasted oak note becoming slightly more prominent and kicking the pepper spice back a bit. I am finding with the cocoa and coffee note not present anymore that the leather note finds itself creeping a bit more forward into the profile as well. Each puff is quite consistent with toasted oak, pepper spice, leather, and that mild vegetal note that is actually quite nice and plays well with the profile overall. By the final few puffs the vegetal note takes over a bit and becomes astringent, while the toasted oak note becomes a bit more charred. The finish is medium in length, and the retrohale is still pepper, and oak.

Core Falvors: Oak, Pepper Spice, Leather, Cocoa, Coffee, Vegetal

Strength: Medium – Medium+

Body: Medium – Medium+

Complexity: Medium – Medium+

Smokin Experience: The Cohiba Rivier Robusto offered a consistent smoking experience throughout with enough nuance and transition to keep me interested in the cigar. With a profile mainly consisting of basic oak, pepper spice, and leather, at no point did I ever look down at the cigar and say WOW that’s an amazing flavor profile, or think that I was smoking anything extremely unique. I would still recommend this cigar to any new or experienced cigar smoker who wants to dive into something that will push them slightly past the medium strength range. In terms of construction the draw was great on all samples, but unfortunately I had some wavy burn and a touch up, which was borderline possibly a re-light, needed on every sample. I also had some cracking once I removed the band on one sample and some minor cracking at the head of the cigar on another.

Purchase Recommendation: Not recommended

Smokin Facts:

• This is Cohibas first box pressed and Mexican San Andrés wrapped cigar
• General and Habanos S.A are constantly battling in courts over trademark disputes for the brand
• STF and General sell some of the blends under a different brand called Silencio to international markets

Smokin Wrap:

Cigars Smoked: 2

Average Smoking Time: 1 hour and 21 minutes

SCORE: 85

Mitchell Santaga – Product Reviews

Mitchell Santaga started his journey into tobacco in 2010 by trying different flavored and machine-made cigars while enjoying a handle of Jack Daniels whisky. Shortly after that he yearned for a more premium experience and dove headfirst into pipe tobacco that his local tobacconist blended, and soon after started indulging in premium cigars.