Cigar Review: Does Leccia's Cain Live Up To It's Legendary Name?

Everyone knows the tale of Cain and Abel, that Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve and eventually murdered his brother Abel, so I was expecting something very dark, rich, and, well honestly, evil from Oliva's Cain Habano double toro straight ligero cigar.

The irony of my smoking this cigar, with such heavy mythical implications, was not lost on me as I was enjoying this cigar at Edwards Pipe and Cigar while watching news coverage of the Dark Knight Rises shooting victims vigil. A truly evil act in contemporary times.

The background of Sam Leccia's Cain cigar came out of Leccia's want to create a truly straight ligero cigar that was also flavorful. This name, however, is a bit of a misnomer, as no cigar could be truly comprised of all ligero leaf, the top part of the leaf which receives the most nutrients and sun, as it would have inherent combustion problems according to Leccia. Therefore the Cain incorporates a little bit of other leaf making this not a 100% ligero, but, and 82% ligero. The ligero used is a blend of leaf that is grown in the Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa regions of Nicaragua.

Before lighting this cigar I notice that it provides me with truly stunning notes of milk chocolate and spice! I toast my cigar, and then once lit, I am immediately greeted with heavy spice and oak flavors with the slightest hint of an undefined sugary sweetness and leather. This flavor holds for most of the first third to half of the cigar.

Once I get a little passed the second third mark, I notice that the spice has diminished a bit and the sweetness has become more defined and the closest I could describe it would be almost raisin-like. While the dried fruit sweetness takes the stage for a bit, the leather stays relatively low key and the oak dries out a bit maintaining the flavor of the spice without the punch. I've also noticed by this point that the strength of this cigar is not at all what I had anticipated. It's still very much a full-bodied cigar, but I'd honestly say that the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero has more of a strength punch, or even the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor!

Toward the end of this cigar the pepper picks back up and the sweetness is reinforced by the leathers and oak flavors! Overall this cigar was a fantastic smoke, full-bodied but not overpowering, thanks to Leccia's triple fermentation process to take some of the ligero's edge off, while still providing the complex flavors this blend provides! I highly recommend smokers who want a nice full-bodied cigar with an interesting flavor pallet to give the Cain Habano a try!

Cigar Event: Ashton Cigars and Odell Brewery Pairing Dinner Pt. 4:

Alright everybody, here it is, the last pairing from the Ashton Cigar and Odell Brewery cigar pairing dinner hosted by Edwards Pipe and Cigar at d’Vine Bistro! And this final pairing was an exceptional and exquisite treat! Up until now, every pairing, from the green chili soup and San Cristobal Elegancia Imperial, to the Piri Piri with the La Aroma de Cuba Edicion Especiale #5, to the Stilton and Goat cheese stuffed Medjool dates and the Ashton VSG, have been, without a doubt, magnificent! Yet, Edwards, Odells, and d’Vine quite possibly saved the very best for last, as dessert often is.

Introducing us to dessert, d’Vine’s chef discusses the simple, yet scrumptious, Raspberry Chocolate Mousse! Made with 80 Cacao chocolate, butter, Cruzan Spiced rum, and heavy cream raspberries, this mousse stayed true to the bistro’s name and was absolutely divine! Eating this was like eating a fluffy scoop of chocolaty heaven!

Next up, Nico, who introduces us to another staple beer for Odell: Cutthroat Porter. This ebony beauty is inspired by the traditional London porters of olde. It is a dark, malty, beer that produces a great roasted flavor with hints of chocolate and coffee rolling over your tongue as though it were a fresh mocha!

Last we have Randy of Edwards Pipe and Cigar presenting us with our final smoke of the evening: the San Cristobal Monumento. An cigar crafted by the Garcia family from a blend of aged Nicaraguan leaf and wrapped in an elegant and oily Nicaraguan wrapper.

I light up my cigar almost immediately while the tantalizing Tiffany spares no time in digging into the mousse. I am blessed with a deep, rich, and satisfying flavor of this cigar as it wastes no time presenting me with strong oak flavors with mocha and a hint of almost creamy walnut and black cherry flavored coffee. Taking a sip of the beer, I am shocked at the impressive smooth and light flavor of such a dark beer. I expected a typical porter/stout bitter roasted malts flavor, but it provided me with the full-bodied nature of a porter with a light-as-a-feather character! It is only now, of course, that I take my first sinful spoonful of the mousse and let it just dissolve in my mouth. Again I am surprised me by how incredibly subtle the raspberry flavor is and just taken away by the buttery cocoa of the mousse. This left me with a moment of pause where all I could say afterward was “Oh. My. God!”

The overall experience of the San Cristobal, with the Cutthroat, and the Raspberry mousse was simply too much to describe in words. Every pairing from this evening had something fresh, unique, and startling about how well these flavors intermingled and played with each other. I never quite had so much enjoyment having a cigar, beer, and meal use my tongue as their playground, and I’m more than willing for them to do it again! Until next time and enjoy those cigars!

Cigar Event: Ashton Cigars and Odell Brewery Pairing Dinner Pt. 3:

So, here at The Cigar Bar, we’ve been discussing the Ashton Cigar and Odell Brewery cigar pairing dinner hosted by Edwards Pipe and Cigar at the d’Vine Bistro, and we’ve had some great things to talk about. Today, we continue with part three, which is easily the most exotic in the Czar’s opinion, which provided an exciting combination of flavors!

Starting again, the chef of d’Vine introduces us to a most interesting little finger food: Medjool dates stuffed with Goat cheese and English Stilton, a type of Bleu cheese, wrapped in speck, a smoked and dry cured Spanish ham that resembles a thick cut slice of bacon.

Presenting Odell Brewery’s contribution to this pairing is Nico who educates us on Odell Brewery’s flagship beer 90 Schilling. 90 Schilling is another amber ale, but unlike Levity, it is a bit darker, more medium-bodied, and provides a bit more of a malted flavor.

The last element to be presented is Ashton’s VSG (Virgin Sun Grown) Pegasus 5X54 cigar. The Pegasus is blended specifically for Ashton cigars by renowned Carlos Fuente Jr. Fuente produces this fabulous cigar by crafting Dominican Tobacco leaf aged between four to five years and uses an exclusive wrapper grown only on a private estate in Ecuador owned by the Oliva family. The characteristics of this dark marbled beauty are immediately evident. It is finely crafted with the absolute best roll, firmness, and draw pre-light.

The first thing I do is light up the Ashton VSG and enjoy its immediate coffee and earth-like flavors, that, when combined with the 90 Schilling, creates an almost creamy, bitter-sweet, mocha flavor. Then, I indulge in one of the stuffed dates and I am immediately impacted by the salty, smokiness of the flavors swirling through my mind. I follow up the date with another swig of the 90 Schilling and I’m greeted by a swirling dervish of sweet and salty flavors carried on the back of the now subtle smoky characteristics of the stuffed date. Then the beer seems to dissolve the saltiness all together. This was my queue to take another pull from my cigar. The date still has some of the smokiness remaining in my mouth as the cigars now woody-like mocha flavor smoothes out the smoky flavor while giving me a pleasant savory undertone.

Of course, after three such spectacular pairings, we’re left with the best part of any meal: dessert. I can assure you folks that this is a dessert you certainly do not want to miss. It rivals the Piri Piri wraps of yesterdays post as my favorite of the evening, and judging by how fast the beautiful Tiffany finished hers, it was easily her favorite too. Check back tomorrow as I give the final pairing of the evening and discuss the conclusion to this relaxing evening of cigars, beer, great food, and even better company!