There wasn’t too much going on with the Cuban Cohiba brand in the mid 2000s. Its international reputation kept Cohiba in high demand, but in of innovation, things were kind of quiet. Then, in 2007, Habanos S.A. announced the Cohiba Maduro 5—a Cohiba line rolled in dark, maduro wrappers. This was extraordinary news for a few reasons. Firstly, a Cuban cigar with a maduro wrapper was (and still is) uncommon. Secondly, any new release surrounding Cohiba is bound to generate buzz. More than a decade and a half later, the Cohiba Maduro 5 still impresses us, especially the Mágicos (box date: December 2023), a dark robusto-sized smoke with heady notes of salted peanut, sweet hickory and honey, all striking a balance between the sweet ripeness of a maduro wrapper and the elegant tobacco that defines Cuban Cohiba. It’s called Maduro 5 because, according to Habanos, the wrapper is aged for five years before it’s put onto the cigar. Cohiba in general has always differed from other Cuban cigars on of the tobacco undergoing an extra fermentation cycle. This is one of the brand’s more intriguing points, but the aged maduro wrapper makes the mystique around Cohiba just a little darker. —Gregory Mottola

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