This is EO's latest offering, blended by Pepin Garcia and manufactured at the Tabacalera Cubana factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. The No. 5 is the toro in the line, and comes equipped with a rough looking oscuro Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. The boxes are really interesting -- the wood almost looks salvaged, like it was recovered from an old barn. The wrapper on this cigar mirrors the distressed look of the box -- it's not black (as you might expect from an "oscuro") but dark brown with some black mottling. Pretty rough looking for a Pepin, but it still has the triple cap.
The 6 x 50 Cubao No. 5 lights up easily and burns almost perfectly even for the duration of the smoke. The draw is excellent and with great smoke production. It forms a solid light gray ash that seemed to hold for about an inch and a half before a crack formed and I had to knock it off.
It starts up with that trademark Pepin pepper, but it's not as powerful as most of his heavier blends. It's certainly lighter than any of the 601 cigars, and as usual this flavor dissipates after an inch but never really exits the stage completely. After an inch I'm tasting cocoa and coffee with cream types of flavors, and the aroma from the foot is really nice -- the cocoa seems to be coming from the wrapper.
There isn't a lot of transition in the second half of the cigar, but I'm noticing a dry finish and a little scratch on the throat. Nothing a cold pale ale can't take of. The intensity doesn't pick up too much until I hit the band where the pepper ratchets up a bit. Up to this point it's mainly a sweet woody flavor as a foundation with cocoa notes on top. The pepper stays in the background and in the aftertaste, which is otherwise pretty clean.
Overall I'd say this is a medium to full bodied cigar, though regular Pepin smokers will think it's more on the mild side. I'd say it's heavier than the Rey de Los Habanos (Red Label) or Vegas Cubanas, but lighter than the 601s, San Cristobal, Tats, etc. Maybe on line with Cabaiguan, but not as smooth.
These are going for around 6 or 7 bucks, which is a great deal for the complexity you're getting. I think most DPG fans will like this cigar as a medium-bodied departure from the heavyweights. It's not the prettiest cigar in the Pepin stable, but it definitely smokes better than it looks.