Aruhiba Natural Corona

[Sir Lancerolot]

Today I will add to my cherished body of work dealing with offbeat and borderline WTF useless reviews. While vacationing aboard the cruise ship Pacific Princess, toward the end of a Panama Canal cruise, we made a stop in Aruba. Just inside the cruise ship terminal building in Oranjestad was a booth selling Aruhiba cigars, and some possible Cohibas as well. The Cohibas, while priced like the genuine article, may or may not have been real. I absolutely do not have the skills to make any such determination, so I left them alone. I had no fear that anyone might be knocking off Aruhibas, however. In the interest of experiencing something of a curiosity, I bought a few, and smoked one the evening we left Aruba.

Before getting to the review proper, I would like to present the view from our ship as we passed nowhere particularly near Cuba on our way to Port Everglades. You may be able to just make out a bump or two on the horizon, which must be the western coast of that forbidden island ...



Aruhiba cigars are the brain child of Benjamin Petrocchi, who raises and cures the tobacco on Aruba, and then rolls the cigars. Or perhaps he has help; their web site is somewhat unclear on this point. Petrocchi is deliberately unclear about whether his seeds are of Cuban origin, or sourced elsewhere.

Now, for the cigar. I call this a conservative corona at 5 X 42. It smells promising, of barnyard and sweet earth.



There is not a lot to report, really. It drew fine and burned well. It was moderately flavorful, with pretty mundane earth and cedar notes, lacking complexity. Truth told, it tasted a bit green and harsh, possibly on the verge of a round of "sickness." Good thing I bought several, so I can let them rest and see if they develop any interesting characteristics over time.

Since there is not much to write about on the cigar itself, I will throw in a few general impressions of Aruba, and Oranjestad in particular. I was really looking forward to visiting the land that gave birth to so many of my favorite childhood stories. As a youth, I so much enjoyed reading the tales of adventure and intrigue in "The Arubian Nights." And here I was at last, on the shores of that marvelous land! Was I landing at the port where Sinbad took to the sea? Might someone guide me to Ali Baba's cave? Would I find authentic reproductions of Aladdin's lamp, or even antiques similar in form?

Apparently no one there knows their own history or mythology. Not a single person understood what I was talking about. Or if they did, they didn't let on ...

So, that ends my travelogue of Aruba and (until they have matured a little bit in the coolidor) my experience of her homegrown cigars. I hope you have enjoyed this little journey in words.

[Jordan23]

Enjoyed the review and your humor. Thanks!

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