Cigar Review: Crux Sports

Perhaps frigid winters that limit outside smoking time inspired Minnesota-based Crux to craft a Lilliputian cigar that performs more like a Brobdingnagian. Or maybe they were simply looking for a good, small smoke. Either way, they succeeded.

Crux Sports is a 4.625-inch stick with a 35-ring gauge. Don’t let the size lead you to confuse it with lesser cigars. Rolled by Plascencia in Nicaragua, it features a complex, balanced blend. The wrapper is Habano Jalapa from Nicaragua, the binder Indonesian, and the filler is from Nicaragua.

For this review, I smoked five Sports, all provided by Crux. (Despite an expanding retailer base, there’s unfortunately still not one anywhere near me.) Packaging is interesting. They are sold by the box of 30, which consists of six wrapped five-packs. The individual MSRP is $3.75. Crux introduced the line last summer but didn’t begin shipping until quite a while later.

Cutting and lighting both require a bit more attention than might be necessary for a more conventionally sized cigar. I’d recommend matches, a cedar spill, or a soft flame lighter. A butane torch—especially one with multiple jets—is likely to badly scorch the foot.

There’s a hearty fullness to the start, along with a bit of a bite that doesn’t last long. As you’d expect, there’s not a lot of changes in the small smoke. But a little pepper comes and goes. All in all, it’s quite balanced.

Areas where Sports shines are construction, draw, and smoke production. I was amazed at how even and smooth the draw was in each of the five I smoked, and the smoke volume could easily rival many larger cigars.

The five-pack wrapper displays a photo of four sportsmen dressed in what appear to be 19th century garb with the Crux Sports logo emblazoned on their sweaters. I wondered if there was any significance, but Crux’s Logan Drake informed me that they are “just generic sports guys.”

That’s not the case for the cigar they represent. It’s far from generic, and, as such, gets four out of five stogies.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–George E

photo credit: Crux