3 Regular Guys Cigar Review - Part 2 - Iguana (Candela, Connecticut and Maduro)

Cigar Review Courtesy of the 3 Regular Guys at Thompson Cigar.

Any review of the Iguana cigar, by right, must begin with the candela-wrapped one. The infamous Green Iguana. The wrapper quite obviously is green. Now Colm has astoundingly made a backwards progression in his cigar preferences: beginning with smoking maduros almost exclusively and then transitioning into a pretty dedicated fan of naturals. Scott and Dave also heavily favor maduros. Scott used to have a maduro humidor and a natural humidor -that has now changed to 2 humidors for naturals and 5 for maduros. Dave is consumed with finding and smoking the darkest and oiliest wrapper leaf he can find from the Eiroas or Litto Gomez. But, this cigar is green!

We all joked about the color of this stick. Dave noted that the wrapper leaf matches the green in the Iguana band. It reminded Scott of the color of new alfalfa. Colm won the metaphor challenge by confessing that he is initially hesitant of anything that is green and named after a wild lizard that can be found in the gutters of S. Florida. He was quick to rationalize it however, noting that it was indeed Dominican made and as such how bad could it really be.

Genuinely it wasn’t all that bad. The cigar was well constructed, having a generous cap that held together great. The draw was a bit resistant but it burned slowly yielding a flakey dark gray ash. Dave found the smoke to be very mild with a woody and citrusy taste. Scott thought the smoke was light and airy, having a very mild taste that lingered lightly on your palate. The aroma was fresh and toasty. Every one of us noted that this was a good choice for a morning cigar. In conclusion, we lived! And we didn’t really mind it all that much.

Next in line was the natural Iguana which is wrapped in a beautifully clean nutmeg colored leaf. The cigar was as equally well constructed as the candela with a double cap. Scott found the aroma to have a definite cedar note with a bit of sweet toastiness to it also. The draw was easy and the finish was medium in length as it lingered on your palate. The body of the smoke was still quite light but it tasted extremely dry on the finish. Dave thought it resembled a Montecristo Platinum in appearance and picked up on some slight cocoa or café con leche flavors. There still wasn’t much body and certainly no spice. While not a bad cigar it was uninspiring. This wasn’t what Churchill would have been chain smoking as he planned Operation Overlord.

And finally there was the mutant black Iguana –less scientifically known as the maduro of our three sampled cigars. The wrapper was medium brown with some veins and slightly toothy. The stick looked a little bit rugged but the draw was better than the other two –not as airy. The flavor was richer and fuller and a little heavier on the palate with a pleasant touch of bitter chocolate. The taste was also a bit malty, but only if you really want to dig for it. Dave found it to be the most interesting of the 3 Iguanas and reminded him vaguely of an Onyx Reserve. Still it was rather simple.

We did it! Somehow we forgot to write home to mother about these sticks –although we think Colm may have mailed his other two to his mom since we know he didn’t smoke them- but they were interesting in their own right. See the picture of Colm smoking the Iguana in front of the Thompson Cigar Store...

The Green Iguana is not a bad stick for a candela, and if you’re a fan of candelas you may really enjoy it. The Connecticut (Albino Iguana?) was as mild and subtle as can be. It won’t etch itself in your memory but it’s probably a great place to begin exploring this smoking of cigars thing. Lastly we were pleasantly surprised to find the Black Iguana was an ok maduro with some distinction to it. So catch a couple Iguanas. They’re a decent smoke and if you smoke this with the band on you’ll start at least a few conversations.

Buy a box of Iguanas now. >>