MoyaRuiz The Chinese Finger Trap

Packaged in what looks identical to the toy you might purchase as a kid, The Chinese Finger Trap is a release from MoyaRuiz that hit shelves in June. It’s the fifth release for the fairly new company and second new blend they released this year and the second limited release for the company. The Rake, which was released in June as well and reviewed here, along with The Chinese Finger Trap were both on display at the 2015 IPCPR Convention and Trade Show.

As mysterious as how the toy worked as a child, the blend for The Chinese Finger Trap remains a secret as well, with co-founder Danny Moya stating “The blend is an ancient Chinese secret, thus, no further information about the blend will ever be released.” What we do know however, is that it is limited to 1,000 boxes of 10.

• Cigar Reviewed: MoyaRuiz The Chinese Finger Trap
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: La Zona Cigar Factory
• Wrapper: n/a
• Binder: n/a
• Filler: n/a
• Size: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $11 (Boxes of 10, $110)
• Date Released: June 2015
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,000 Boxes of 10 (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2

Peeling back the faux Chinese finger trap wrapper, the medium brown wrapper isn’t going to win any beauty awards, however it isn’t what I would call rustic or rough either. It actually has a nice soft, oily feel to it and when squeezed doesn’t show any soft spots. The aroma from the wrapper is quite muted, with light notes of damp earth, a touch of cocoa and some very light cinnamon. While the cold draw is more flavorful, it still has a light air to it with some creamy milk chocolate, a light hint of chili pepper, and just a little bit of hay.

The first third starts out with pepper, some sweetness. There’s a wood note, but not cedar or oak like I’m used to tasting, but more along the lines of processed lumber like you’re walking down the aisle at a hardware store. The burn line has started out quite even, but it’s started to wander about an inch in. The ash has held on to this point, but it’s quite flaky so I roll it off in the ashtray. The odd start to the profile has seemingly evened itself out, with some sweet spice, a bit of pepper, some light earth notes and a touch of fresh wood shavings. As I find myself trying to decide if the draw is too much on the open end of things, the cigar inexplicably goes out between draws. Oddly enough after I relight it there’s a great chocolate note that mixes itself in nicely with the sweet spice and pepper.

As I move into the second third a split has appeared in the wrapper at the burn line. It doesn’t appear affecting the flavor, as the profile is actually picking up quite nicely. There isn’t much change in the base flavors – still lots of sweet spice, chocolate, some pepper, light earth and wood shavings – but the flavors have seemingly gotten more intense, really bringing the whole profile up a notch. I can’t call the burn even, but it does seem to have managed the split well enough, without it getting any worse. The ash continues to be quite flaky, so I’m ashing it more often than it could probably handle. Strangely, just as quickly as the profile intensified, it seems to have calmed back down. There are still healthy doses of sweet spice, but everything isn’t nearly as bold as it had been only a little earlier. The burn on one side seems to continuously have issues keeping up and igniting at the same rate as the other side requiring touch ups here and there.

The final third doesn’t see much change in anything really. It starts out with me relighting half of the cigar and continues with more of the sweet spice, a touch of chocolate, more wood shavings than previous and some earthiness in the background. The one pleasantly surprising thing is that with all these touch ups the cigar hasn’t become harsh or bitter, so despite my frustrations with the construction, the profile continues to be enjoyable.

Final Notes

• Each box includes five different colors for the Chinese finger trap, although the cigars are identical.
• Much like La Sirena, there’s a smaller band underneath the massive Chinese finger trap band.
• Both samples were almost identical in not only their profile, but their burn issues.
• As good of a job as the box does at looking like packaging from another era, the wrapper around the cigar does an even better job at looking like an actual Chinese finger trap. Even after picking it up I half expected it to be real, as the paper is textured to give the illusion of the bamboo strips used in the real thing.
• If you’ve never encountered one before, a Chinese finger trap is a joke toy made out of bamboo strips, that when placed around two fingers becomes tighter as the person tries to pull their fingers out. The trick is to push inwards, expanding the trap to allow your fingers to be released.
• I can imagine this might have been part of the reason real traps weren’t used on the cigars, as pulling them off might have damaged the cigars. Not to mention it probably would have been an added cost.
• You can see our booth coverage of MoyaRuiz Cigars at the 2015 IPCPR show here.
• The cigars for this review were provided by MoyaRuiz Cigars.
• Final smoking time averaged just under two hours.