Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552 is a good looking cigar. It is rolled well and finished with a lovely cap. It sports a wrapper that is between Natural and Colorado in coloring, and it has this lovely coloring of dark tobacco and light coffee beans. The aromas are that of warm spices, leather, tobacco and rich earth.
John: The Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552 has a Colorado Maduro color wrapper and appears to be a Robusto format. The wrapper has a smooth and even appearance, and the cap is well applied. I weighed the cigar at 16.2 grams and measured the humidity at 60.1% using the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included barnyard, earth and wood, while the foot offered sweet tobacco, earth and wood.
Jiunn: The Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552 has an oily and even Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give rich cedar and barnyard funk.

Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552

First Third

Seth: 1595 begins with solid barnyard flavors that are paired with warm spices, leather, tobacco, coffee and cocoa. There is a mocha quality present, and it has a nice leather finish with a medium-full strength and body.
John: The first third gets going with creamy baking spices leading off, while a mild vegetal note takes up the center. Curiously, the baking spices are more subdued through the retrohale, while the creaminess is intensified. As the first third settles in, wood joins the finish at light-plus strength. The wood intensifies through the post draw to medium-minus strength as the first third continues, with an increasing tannic accent developing on the wood. As the cigar continues towards the halfway point, the profile becomes decidedly wood-driven.
Jiunn: The first third’s flavor profile shows mainly generalities. There’s general sweetness, earthiness and spice involved without anything that really pops. Retrohaling is better because there’s a decent punch of dried red pepper spice involved. The finish shows some nut sweetness and creaminess. Strength and body is medium.

Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552

Second Third

Seth: The second third continues to deliver those barnyard flavors with warm spices, tobacco, coffee and leather. The cocoa and mocha flavors have faded, and the cigar continues to smoke at that medium-full level.
John: The second third gets going with creamy, light-strength baking spices leading off, sharp wood making up the center and dry, lingering tannic wood at light-plus strength through the finish. Bread notes move into the retrohale and team up with wood. Just like the first third, the profile settles into a largely wood-dominated experience as it progresses towards the halfway point. The post draw takes on a fair amount of dryness on the palate through the bottom half of the second third and also gains some light-plus baking spices.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile is less general and more specific. But the overall feel of the flavor profile is still average. There’s stale cedar wood and mixed nuts, which dampers the sweet and creamy nature of the cigar. The retrohale is still the best as it gives a punchy pepper spice. Strength and body is still medium.

Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552

Final Third

Seth: The final third is right in line with the second. No collapse of this cigar, but the second and final third are not where the first third is, and that is a shame. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: The last third opens with mild, creamy bread combining with dry, tannic wood, while sharp wood makes up the center of the profile and lingers into the finish. The tannins continue increasing, reaching medium strength. As the cigar reaches the halfway point, tannic wood nearly dominates the entire flavor profile. Through the bottom half of the last third, earth joins the finish and increases in strength as the cigar continues.
Jiunn: No changes to the final third as it’s still the same mixture of stale cedar wood followed by mixed nuts. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552

Burn

Seth: The cigar has a decent burn from beginning to end.
John: The burn was reasonably straight through the first third and very straight for the remainder of the review.
Jiunn: Great burn performance featuring an even burn, tight ashes, cool burning temperatures and ample smoke production.

Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552

Draw

Seth: The cigar has a perfect draw from start to finish.
John: The draw measured 62 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. Subjectively, it was between two and two-and-a-half notches into the resistant spectrum, making it resistant.
Jiunn: The draw was also great, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552 is an average cigar. It has a good start, but the second and final third don’t deliver the qualities in the first. The flavors don’t completely fall off, but they go down just enough to take away from this cigar being good. Heck, I would have taken a good first and second third with an average finish. I am not sure if this is a cigar I would seek out, but depending on the blend, I can see myself picking one up to try again down the road.
John: Blind Cigar #1595 delivered a fairly straightforward smoking experience that became increasingly dominated by wood as it progressed. The first third started with some promise, particularly with the creamy baking spices and mild vegetal note creating some contrast. The creaminess was more apparent through the retrohale than the spices themselves, and the profile initially had enough variation to remain interesting. Unfortunately, the wood began increasing in both prominence and tannic character fairly quickly. By the second third, the cigar had largely settled into a wood-forward profile. The addition of bread through the retrohale provided a modest amount of contrast, but the dry and tannic character of the wood continued to define the experience. That dryness became increasingly apparent on the palate through the bottom half, reinforcing the sense that the profile was becoming narrower rather than evolving. The final third continued that trajectory. Tannic wood moved from being a supporting characteristic to nearly dominating the entire profile, with earth eventually joining the finish as another component of an increasingly dry and woody experience. There were no major construction concerns, however, with the burn becoming exceptionally straight after the first third. The draw was resistant but still manageable. Overall, the Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552 was competent from a construction standpoint but less successful from a flavor perspective. There were some enjoyable elements early on, particularly the creamy baking spices and bread, but the cigar gradually became more one-dimensional as tannic wood took over. It never became truly unpleasant, but there wasn’t enough evolution or complexity to elevate it beyond an Average rating. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 47 minutes.
Jiunn: This experience was lackluster in flavors and enjoyment. There wasn’t anything that pulled me in. The profile was initially generic, then turned into a more specific set of downcast flavors of stale cedar wood and mixed nuts. The Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552 is an easy pass for me.

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$2.12

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.45

Cost/Point

$2.29

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.17

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Curivari Gran Reserva Edición 2025 552