The Cain is the latest offering from Nub architect Sam Leccia and the Oliva family of cigars. It is billed as a full ligero cigar. This means that the filler is almost 100% ligero. The ligero is the top of the tobacco plant and is billed as the most flavorful and powerful part of the plant. Sam uses 3 different ligeros from Habano Seed Estelí, Jalapa and Condega plants. Each plant name represents the region of Nicaragua that it was grown. The F, which stands for Fuerte, is 82% ligero as compared to 77% ligero in the regular lines.
Appearance: This is a cigar that is meant to speak for its self and it comes unbanded. It does come in a nice cedar package with the 5 cigars inside wrapped in a red Cain ribbon. It is very nicely constructed. It is firm from head to foot, with very few veins and no loose spots. The wrapper is an oily, dark brown and smells of cedar and fresh cut grass. After the cut, the cold draw was outstanding and I have a lingering sweetness on the tip of my tongue. This surprised me; I do not expect this cigar to be sweet!
Burn: From the light, the Cain F has a great draw and thick, billowy smoke that gives off the aroma of cedar and dark cocoa. The burn is consistent all the way through and needs no re-lights or touch-ups. The ash is bright white and holds almost through the entire 1st half of the cigar. I only ashed this cigar four times during an hour and a half of smoke time.
Flavor: As expected due to the strength of the ligero, I was immediately hit with a blast of spice. This left a lingering hot pepper taste and was a little spicy on the retrohale. While it did give a hot pepper burn on the retrohale, it was not overwhelming at all and actually was kind of pleasant. If you enjoy spicy food, you know what I am talking about; it was spicy, but enjoyable. The real treat was the other flavors that made up the profile of this powerhouse. During the 1st third, I had a woodsy, roasted nut flavor that balanced out the spice. This continued throughout the cigar with the occasional hit of dark cocoa to make for a consistent and balanced flavor profile.
Overall: Oliva and Sam Leccia have another winner in the Cain F. I enjoyed this full-bodied smoke from pre-light all the way through to the nub. I was expecting a powerhouse of spice and while it was spicy, it had a nice even flavor profile throughout that balanced out the power of the spice. Also, while I had heard that this was a nicotine powerhouse as well, I found it to be very even on the nicotine as well. I did get that full stomach feeling, but at no time was I overwhelmed. I will definitely be adding the entire Cain line to my regular rotation and at the price, it is an affordable and enjoyable full-bodied smoke for anyone who likes a little kick in the ass from time to time!
Hope you like these! We didn't score it because it was a guest review for us and lots of times the scoring doesn't exactly represent the consistency we like. For the record, he gave it a perfect 10.0...
I smoked one yesterday. Smoke what you like, but I thought it was utter garbage. I'd recommend it only for people who'd rather chug 150 proof grain alcohol rather than sip scotch. All power -- lots of spice and pepper but no flavor otherwise. Construction was excellent and burn and draw were perfect but anyone who appreciates complexity and nuance need not apply.
I've been enjoying Cain since they came out and tried the F today. I was impressed with the construction, (flawless) and the power. What I did not enjoy was it's lack of balance and complexity. All power and nothing else. What they achived with their regular line fell very short with the F. There are many powerfull sticks out there that only achieve just that and you can add this to the list.
I'm just going to say this about this line, if what attracts you to this cigar is power and it's price tag, then you are doing yourself a disservice by not going with the Oliva V instead. I can get an Oliva V double robusto for about 5.50 or so, and that's my go to cigar if I crave something strong. It has very rich flavors that create a good balance. A great cigar IMO, much better than the cain.
"Is that a Churchill cigar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
Originally posted by dstokely: I'm just going to say this about this line, if what attracts you to this cigar is power and it's price tag, then you are doing yourself a disservice by not going with the Oliva V instead. I can get an Oliva V double robusto for about 5.50 or so, and that's my go to cigar if I crave something strong. It has very rich flavors that create a good balance. A great cigar IMO, much better than the cain.
Power and price actualy have nothing to do with it in my case. I was interested to see an all ligero cigar smoke well with balance a bit of complexity and finnesse and the Cain natural has it IMHO. As for the F, like I stated, power and nothing else. The V is a great line and the Lancero is fantastic IMO but the profile is different than the Cain and I can seperate the two. Nothing I can really compare Cain to. As far as Cain Maduro, I find it very Edge Maduro like. Not a fan of maddies but I like the Edge Maduro and I enjoyed the Cain Maduro but nothing unique there. Cain Nat is unlike other NC's I have smoked and has a certain nuance I can't put my finger on yet.
I understand that, I tried the Cain for the same reason, I'm interested in trying to maduro, I didn't really like the habano either, the F was one of the worst cigars I've ever tried. Not that its flavors were bad, but that it had really no flavor. I have heard that the cain line was introduced to compare with the edge line so I will have to smoke one before I can say anything about it.
"Is that a Churchill cigar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
Originally posted by dstokely: the F was one of the worst cigars I've ever tried.
I'll second that.
quote:
Originally posted by dstokely: I'm just going to say this about this line, if what attracts you to this cigar is power and it's price tag, then you are doing yourself a disservice by not going with the Oliva V instead. I can get an Oliva V double robusto for about 5.50 or so, and that's my go to cigar if I crave something strong.
Probably the best $5.50 cigar you can buy, and though somewhat full-bodied, it's balanced, refined and aromatic. It's also beautiful to look at and perfectly constructed.
Originally posted by Extensioncord: Probably the best $5.50 cigar you can buy, and though somewhat full-bodied, it's balanced, refined and aromatic. It's also beautiful to look at and perfectly constructed.
You know what else is balanced, refined, aromatic, and beautiful to look at...
AHAHahaH Sooo sorry, I just couldn't resist. At least I beat mytit to it
** as el guapo always say: godspeed & party on **
Posts: 738 | Location: joizey+nyc | Registered: April 29, 2009
Originally posted by Extensioncord: Probably the best $5.50 cigar you can buy, and though somewhat full-bodied, it's balanced, refined and aromatic. It's also beautiful to look at and perfectly constructed.
You know what else is balanced, refined, aromatic, and beautiful to look at...
AHAHahaH Sooo sorry, I just couldn't resist. At least I beat mytit to it
No I don't, please enlighten me. And cord, yea I agree with you, it is one of the best cigars out there, I actually prefer that size to the torpedo, because I've had draw problems with the torpedo in the past and it's usually 1 to 2 dollars cheaper. The lancero is my favorite of the sizes, great smoke and for only 5.50 as well, how on earth could Oliva manage to make such a great cigar and keep the prices so low is beyond me.
"Is that a Churchill cigar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
While i disagree with your reaction to the cigar i fully appreciate your right to share your honest opinion. There is no doubt that a cigar this powerful will illicit powerful reactions. I do take exception to the use of the term, "utter garbage". The tobaccos and craftsmanship of the cigar disqualify it from such a moniker. As we continue to push the envelope of what can be done with tobacco we appreciate all opinions but respectfully request that consideration be given to the process and materials used in those endeavors as they are our greatest source of pride.
quote:
Originally posted by Extensioncord: I smoked one yesterday. Smoke what you like, but I thought it was utter garbage. I'd recommend it only for people who'd rather chug 150 proof grain alcohol rather than sip scotch. All power -- lots of spice and pepper but no flavor otherwise. Construction was excellent and burn and draw were perfect but anyone who appreciates complexity and nuance need not apply.
Originally posted by Jose Oliva: While i disagree with your reaction to the cigar i fully appreciate your right to share your honest opinion. There is no doubt that a cigar this powerful will illicit powerful reactions. I do take exception to the use of the term, "utter garbage". The tobaccos and craftsmanship of the cigar disqualify it from such a moniker. As we continue to push the envelope of what can be done with tobacco we appreciate all opinions but respectfully request that consideration be given to the process and materials used in those endeavors as they are our greatest source of pride.
I love this cigar Jose. Thank you for another fabulous product.
Do you have plans to put the Cain F into full scale production? Or is this a limited release? I have a couple five packs, however I can't seem to find a vendor that carries this cigar.
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Posts: 3278 | Location: WI | Registered: November 16, 2007
Originally posted by Jose Oliva: While i disagree with your reaction to the cigar i fully appreciate your right to share your honest opinion. There is no doubt that a cigar this powerful will illicit powerful reactions. I do take exception to the use of the term, "utter garbage". The tobaccos and craftsmanship of the cigar disqualify it from such a moniker. As we continue to push the envelope of what can be done with tobacco we appreciate all opinions but respectfully request that consideration be given to the process and materials used in those endeavors as they are our greatest source of pride.
quote:
Originally posted by Extensioncord: I smoked one yesterday. Smoke what you like, but I thought it was utter garbage. I'd recommend it only for people who'd rather chug 150 proof grain alcohol rather than sip scotch. All power -- lots of spice and pepper but no flavor otherwise. Construction was excellent and burn and draw were perfect but anyone who appreciates complexity and nuance need not apply.
Jose, I appreciate you coming here and taking your time to post. Having said that, I love most of your products, Oliva V, G, O, Special S, Master Blends. All great smokes, I apologize for bashing your brand but I must agree withe extensioncord that the F is all nicotine, a little spice and a musty earth flavor but that's it. The one I had was just bad, it in no way reflect the entire Oliva brand, as I am a regular buyer of your cigars and will continue to be, but the F is just not a good cigar from the ones I've tried, I've tried 3 now with the same result. I can't bring myself to try the others.
"Is that a Churchill cigar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
