After launching its initial three cigars in April of 2014, Crux Cigars has had a busy and seemingly successful first year. The effort that Jeff Haugen and Joel Rogers put in for over two years leading up to their official launch showed, especially at the 2014 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show where Crux was quite busy opening up new accounts all across the country. A year and five separate lines later, there’s quite a bit more selection and range from a company who launched with a handful of 33 or 32 ring gauge cigars.

One of those cigars is the Skeeterz, a short but flavorful cigar weighing in at 4 x 32. Here’s what I originally had to say about it:

While I haven’t had the time to smoke the other offerings by Crux Cigars yet, the Skeeterz is a great introduction to this new company. The size is ideal for a quick lunch break cigar, an evening walk, or any other situation that you find yourself with a shorter time to smoke. While a 32 ring gauge cigar might be too small for some, it’s right down my alley and I really enjoyed it. Though not overly complex, the flavors were enjoyable and the construction was consistent. With the only other thing I could ask for being a good price point, at $2.99 a cigar that was delivered as well. These will be going into my rotation of short smokes and I can easily suggest picking some up to try for yourself.

  • Cigar Reviewed: Crux Cigars Skeeter
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
  • Wrapper: Nicaraguan Jalapa Habano
  • Binder: Indonesia
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 4 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 32
  • Vitola: Purito
  • MSRP: $2.99 (Boxes of 40, $119.60)
  • Date Released: April 1, 2014
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Redux: 2

The Skeeterz is still just like I remember it, a small but really well wrapper cigar. The wrapper barely has a seam I can find, while it looks like it was pulled tight over the binder giving it a slightly bumpy appearance. It’s still quite soft, though there isn’t much of an oily feel to it. There is a slight give when squeezed and doesn’t have any soft spots throughout. A wonderful aroma of cedar, hay, leather and a touch of cinnamon comes off the wrapper while the cold draw has the same licorice, cocoa and hay from before.

Starting into the first third there isn’t much that’s changed about the profile in the year since its release. The initial flavors of fresh hay and spice dominate up front with licorice and black pepper trailing in the background. Before the black pepper ramped up in the first third, which is noticeably not happening this time around. With the black pepper not as strong now, the second third continues with hay, spice, licorice and black pepper, where as before it was mostly dominated by the black pepper. The final third is a delight as cocoa is added to the mix, with hay and spice still leading the pack.

Skeeterz

The excellent construction of such a petite cigar is quite impressive. The draw is ideal and each puff produces plenty of smoke, perhaps more than you might expect from something so small. With such a small ring gauge the ash still impresses me, holding firmly on to over an inch – meaning I only have to ash the cigar three times during the entire experience. The burn is fairly impressive as well, only needing a slight touch up around the halfway mark.

90 Overall Score

Smoking one sample from the original release and another that I picked up about six months later, there isn’t much change save the slight reduction in black pepper, which is a good thing in my book. This is a tasty little cigar that I’ve smoked plenty of over the last year, and one that will continue to stay in my rotation. It’s interesting to see what a year has done to it, and it’s nice to see that the profile has held up and mellowed out nicely. If you still haven’t gone out and picked up any of the Crux line, then you can’t go wrong with the Skeeterz to start out with.

Original Score (March 2014)
90
Redux Score (May 2015)
90
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Brian Burt

I have been smoking cigars since 2005 and reviewing them as a hobby since 2010. Initially, I started out small with a 50-count humidor and only smoking one or two cigars a month. Not knowing anybody else that smoked cigars, it was only an occasional hobby that I took part in. In March of 2010, I joined Nublive and Cigar Asylum, connecting me with many people who also shared an interest in cigars. Reading what they had to say about brands I had never heard of, I quickly immersed myself in the boutique brands of the industry and it was then that cigars transformed from a hobby into a passion.