It’s an almost time-honored tradition for cigar companies to have a flagship brand or a central core brand that has any number of variations on it. There’s the common method of releasing a cigar in a natural version and then following it up with a maduro version. Then there are examples like Perdomo, a company that has become synonymous with releasing new lines in three blends.

In the case of Crux and its Epicure line, it took a few years to happen, but the company now has three variations of its Epicure line following the release of its Epicure Habano in mid-June 2023, just about a year after it was previewed at the 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show.

The blend shares the same Nicaraguan binder and filler as the original Epicure and the Epicure Maduro, while the wrapper is an Nicaraguan habano seco leaf. For comparison, the red-banded Epicure line uses an Ecudorian-grown Connecticut wrapper, while the Epicure Maduro uses a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper.

The Crux Epicure Habano is offered in four sizes:

• Crux Epicure Habano Corona Gorda (5 3/8 x 46) — $11.25 (Box of 20, $225)
• Crux Epicure Habano Robusto (5 x 50) – $11.99 (Box of 20, $239.80)
• Crux Epicure Habano Toro (6 1/4 x 52) — $13.49 (Box of 20, $269.80)
• Crux Epicure Habano Gordo (6 x 60) — $14.49 (Box of 20, $289.80)

“The Habano will complete the Epicure trifecta and we couldn’t be more excited for this cigar to get in the hands of customers across the country.” said Jeff Haugen, president of Crux Cigar, in a press release. “We are blessed to work with Plasencia Family making some of the highest quality cigars in the world and the Habano is no exception.”

It is produced at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua.

• Cigar Reviewed: Crux Epicure Habano Toro
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Habano Seco)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $13.49 (Box of 20, $269.80)
• Release Date: June 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Crux Epicure Habano Toro is pretty much textbook in its appearance: a darker-than-medium shade of brown, a bit of oily sheen, small veins, nearly invisible seam lines, a clean roll that doesn’t suggest any issues, all finished of by a clean and tidy head. It took me a second look to notice that the bands were die-cut, and that there are two cutouts that allow the wrapper to show through. The cigars are rolled firmly with very little give to be found across the three I smoked. The foot has an aroma that at first reminds me of soft cotton, specifically a freshly opened set of bed sheets. Then there is dry tobacco, some Lipton tea bags and vanilla frosting. The cold draw is quite smooth, maybe even a touch open, and remind me of a spicy, slightly peppery glaze for meat dishes before some creaminess provides some softness to the flavor.

It takes about two puffs and a retrohale for the signature habano notes to register, as the wood and pepper are both quite clear and distinct in the profile. The former is a touch dry, the latter a bit on the lighter side but still capable of delivering plenty of tingle. There’s something that reminds me of both root beer and Dr. Pepper, and the occasional puff that reminds me of a damp cigar fresh off the table, which can be kind of tough to describe to someone who’s never experienced it, and unfortunately, detracts from an otherwise very good start. Knocking off the first clump of ash seems to bring about a bit of creaminess in the profile, though it doesn’t seem to change or mute the intensity of the other flavors. Retrohales still have pepper for accents when wanted, complementing the flavor well if a bit of extra kick and tingle is desired. Yet I also don’t find that the flavor necessarily needs them to shine. Subtle yet rich wood slowly enters the profile, reminding me of a note I’d find in a woody fragrance, while just a little bit of dusty chalk finishes things off. The ash builds up quite well in the first third, and I’m curious to see if it will continue. Construction is great in other aspects as well, with plenty of smoke and an even burn line. After starting just shy of full, the flavor intensity has mellowed to medium-plus, while body is consistently medium-plus.

The second third starts by getting sharper, moving from crispness to outright pointedness when it comes to the pepper and wood. That change gets corrected not too much later, though the memory and some of the flavor lingers as a reminder. The next step in the flavor progression brings out a flavor that has me thinking of hazelnut syrup for a few puffs, which in the better version of the cigar gets a bit lighter to give the proflie a new top note that intertwines with a thinner creaminess. In one brief instance, it even reminds me of the smell of an Orange Julius. It’s a flavor and aroma that I wish hung around for longer as it’s a pleasant contrast and counterbalance to the earlier flavors, but given that habano is in the name of the cigar, the blend feels compelled to deliver more of those notes. It’s a quick return to the profile that started the cigar, one that’s bright and vibrant with familiar wood and pepper. A slight pivot brings about a really nice profile in the final puffs of this section, as the wood gets really rich and loses what dryness it has had. It’s not quite sweet, though I wouldn’t say there’s no sweetness in the profile. Retrohales, meanwhile, continue to be pepper-forward and now are at their punchiest yet. Flavor is medium-plus but can be taken up to near full with a retrohale, while body is medium-plus and strength is medium-minus. Construction is fantastic in terms of draw and smoke production, while the burn line only gets occasioanlly uneven, but not far enough to warrant a touch-up.

The final third sees the flavor start to get more robust, a change led by the wood flavor becoming denser and picking up just the first touches of some flames. I’m not willing to call it earthy, but it does have some changes that lean towards earthiness as well as well-cooked steak. While the wood doesn’t quite stray into charred territory, it does steadily make progress towards it, eventually getting there at the very end of the cigar, a point I might not always reach when it comes to how much of a cigar I would smoke in general. A charred meat really develops in the final inch and a half, and when combined with the pepper, gives the profile a gruff finish on my taste buds and at the top of my throat. These changes push the flavor into full territory, body is medium-plus, and strength is medium. Construction remains very good to outstanding in every category, with little if anything to complain about in any regard.

Final Notes

• A German court recently ruled that non-Cuban companies are prohibited from using terms like habano and cubano in Germany to describe their cigars, meaning that this cigar couldn’t be sold with this name in that country.
• Not that it affects the score directly, but the ash on the Crux Epicure Habano Toro was impressively durable, building up into inch-plus chunks and holding on quite well.
• The Crux Epicure Short Salomone finished #10 on halfwheel’s Top 25 Cigars of 2019.

• Here are the weights, lengths and ring gauges of the three cigars, though they don’t correspond to the order in which the cigars were smoked.
• Only one of the three cigars hit me with nicotine strength, and that was at the very end of the cigar. The other two have a touch of strength, but not enough by my scale that I would call it impactful.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was three hours and 10 minutes on average. This is a good bit longer than what I would expect from a cigar of this size, and yet I can’t provide a logical explanation. It just seemed to burn a bit slower than average.
• Site sponsors Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar carry the Crux Epicure Habano Toro.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I’m a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.