Tasting Note

Say the name Behike and cigar lovers perk up their ears. Cigar Aficionado crowned the Cohiba Behike BHK 52 Cigar of the Year in 2010, heaping praise on the chubby, pigtailed smoke. While we've never truly embraced the largest of the trio, the BHK 56, we've always given good scores to the middle cigar of the bunch, the 54. Tasting it again this year, we feel the Cohiba BHK 54 is smoking better than ever. All Cohiba Behikes are said to be made with a bit of medio tiempo tobacco, small leaves that grow at the very top of some, but not all, Cuban-seed tobacco plants. That filler component, which once was heaped in with other ligeros, or strong tobaccos, today is separated and fermented on its own, and used as a special ingredient in the Behike blend. The result is a bold, leathery smoke with a solid earthy core and pleasant notes of coffee bean. This Behike is rich, flavorful and eminently memorable. Cohiba Behike BHK 54s are among the most expensive of Cuban cigars, but when they deliver this type of standout flavor, we believe they are worth the expense.