Dunhill Mojito

One of the most interesting brands in cigar history has always been Dunhill, and the Dunhill Mojito is one of the most sought after vitolas that they produced.

For the history of the Dunhill brand, Wikipedia has it down pat, so I thought I would just quote the article, instead of trying to rewrite it:

Beginning in 1977, Dunhill and Cubatabaco began discussing the possibility of producing a cigar brand bearing the name of Dunhill. An agreement was finally reached in 1982 and Dunhill cigars hit stores in 1984, starting with the Dunhill stores of ten countries and eventually expanding to thirty. The ultimate downfall of the Dunhill brand was that it was out to compete with the other high-end private label, Davidoff. Seeing as how both brands were being produced by Cubatabaco, the Cuban tobacco monopoly wanted to make profits from both and had no wish to participate in the market competition between the two tobacconists. Unhappy with Cubatabaco’s unwillingness, when the original contract expired in 1991 Dunhill chose not to renew, having already begun scoping possible new locations in the Canary Islands, Dominican Republic, and Honduras for cigar production. Eventually, Dunhill would give up making cigars altogether and sold the rights to put its name on tobacco products to British American Tobacco.

Dunhill produced eight different vitolas in the short time they were in existence. Although interestingly, there were seven different vitolas that were proposed other then these, but were never produced.

They are as follows:

• Atados – 6 7/8 Inches x 28
• Cabinetta – 4 7/8 Inches x 50
• Estupendos – 7 Inches x 47
• Havana Club – 9 1/3 Inches x 47
• Malecon – 6 1/2 Inches x 42
• Mojito – 5 5/8 Inches x 42
• Tubos – 6 1/8 Inches x 42
• Varadero — 5 1/8 Inches x 42

• Cigar Reviewed: Dunhill Mojito (1984)
• Country of Origin: Cuba
• Factory: Real Fábrica de Tabacos Romeo y Julieta
• Wrapper: Cuba
• Binder: Cuba
• Filler: Cuba
• Size: 5 5/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 42
• Vitola: Corona
• Est. Price: $100+
• Date Released: 1984

The wrapper on the Dunhill Mojito is a medium brown color and smells slightly of pepper and tobacco. Interestingly, there are bumps up and down the length of the cigar. I would call it lumpy, almost to the point where it is distracting. The cigar is very firm when squeezed as well. I have always loved the Dunhill logo for its old school simplicity and the band on the Mojito is a perfect example of that.

Immediately after lighting, I noted just a bit of pepper that quickly died down into the background. During the first third, there was a fairly strong floral taste, along with some oak and a little coffee.

The second third held most of the same flavors, but the floral notes died down and were replaced by a much stronger dark chocolate and coffee flavor, with just the tiniest touch of citrus.

The final third stayed on course, with the dark chocolate and coffee flavors being dominant. It did get a bit creamy at the end and never got bitter, not even close. The finish was clean and amazing. It was hard to tell I was even smoking a nub at the end, flavor-wise.

Final Notes

• This cigar had some of the darkest ash I have ever seen. A black-grey that is really interesting.
• As I said, the end of this smoke also had a great, clean finish. The high quality tobaccos used is very evident.
• The burn and the draw in this cigar were both excellent, but it produced very little smoke.
• When smoking this stick, I caught myself thinking about whether it is similar to what a Cohiba Gran Reserva is going to taste like in 20 years. They have quite a few of the same characteristics, albeit very different flavor profiles, but the idea still intrigues me.
• Final smoking time was just under one hour and five minutes.