Tabacos Baez Serie SF

The Tabacos Baez Serie SF is a short filler cigar from the hands of Don Pepin Garcia; I’m a fan of the regular Tabacos Baez so when these hit the market I had to try them out.  They are made at Pepin Garcia’s El Rey de los Habanos in Nicaragua and they are a medium-bodied, mixed-filler cigar made up of 70% long-filler and 30% short-filler.  I will say that personal experience with the ash on these would make me guess they had a higher percentage of short filler.

Tabacos Baez SF Robusto
Size: 5″ x 50
Wrapper: Natural Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan (70% long and 30% short)
Binder: Nicaraguan
Price: $2.99 (Man, I love that!)

APPEARANCE

This is a nice looking cigar.  A bit of veining.  Looks good enough I wouldn’t hesitate to give this to a buddy and he’s not going to thing I handed him a dog rocket.  Has a nice deep brown color with no blemishes.

CONSTRUCTION

Well constructed, slightly soft but consistent.  The cigar was wrapped well and the cap was solid.   I keep getting stuck on price with this one and comparing the attributes to cigars that cost 2-3 times as much, I don’t see any difference in the construction here, it id definitely not cheaply made.

BURN AND DRAW

I had no issues with burn or draw on the SF.  It required no touch-ups and the draw was spot-on for me, you get a mouth full of smoke on each puff but you still get some resistance.  The ash was the big giveaway that this cigar had short filler, you need to keep the ashtray close because the SF isn’t going to win any long ash contests.  The best I got was 1/2″ or so and I did have it drop on me a couple times.  Keep this one ashed and don’t let that hinder your overall opinion and you’ll be fine.

FLAVOR

Flavors on this cigar are excellent.  Lots of deep and rich, smooth smoke.  I really love the flavors in the SF.  I got some cocoa and lots of sweet spices – cinnamon and nutmeg.  Once again, I’m wowed by what this cigar delivers in comparison to the price tag.

OVERALL

This is a winner in my book.  I don’t think you can find a better combination of price and performance in a Nicaraguan puro, or in any cigars for that matter.  If you’re watching your budget (and who isn’t these days) but you don’t want to smoke inferior cigars then this is one you can stock the humi with and enjoy all the time.  I’ve seen box deals on these at $50.00 before and you can’t argue with that.