Impact
Cacáo of supposedly humble origins, Cuba continues to impress; clearly some pedigree lives in its beans. Maybe decrepit communism & dilapidated plantations are the way to go in preserving heirloom cacáo while developing a cult status, seeing how in other parts of the world severe hybridization often strangulates prized varietals. The old groves here by contrast taste relatively intact (as if farmers can ill-afford newer seedlings). Viva la Revolución.
Appearance 4.7 / 5
| Color: | jet brown w/ purple entrails |
| Surface: | sheer |
| Temper: | brilliantly gleaming |
| Snap: | slightly subsonic; coarse edge |
Aroma 8.3 / 10
tropical sprite: pomegranate (like its color), cherry, mango, guava + huge soursop cloistered in underlying palm & pine
Mouthfeel 11.9 / 15
| Texture: | odd juxtapose: soft powder... |
| Melt: | ... silken avocado on the reach-around |
Flavor 44.6 / 50
busts out straight-bashing dry chocolate hydrated by crisscrossing nut cream (almond) -> cherry (beautiful beginning; cherry-almond sunrise) -> guava, lime, & soursop bolt upright, soothed in avocado (hence, the teal-colored wrapper), undercut in light pine... tremendous stack thundering across the Pal-ate (sour / wood / chocolate snap into alignment), holds strength & length until fading along a fig-anise-poppy seed trail
Quality 18.1 / 20
Lacks some flavor diversity but what it's got it gots a lot & almost all of it good - especially CQ. Pralus deftly subdues inherent puckering acids without suppressing them outright, thru a combination long roast / short conche scheme. Perhaps short of his best, but his most finessed bar yet.