I recently sat down to revisit what has long been referred to as an homage to Cuban cigars of old. A blend that served as one of my first video review cigars, and one that continues to crush when it comes to sales and customer feedback.

In robusto extra "Currency" form, The Banker from H. Upmann sits squarely between slim and stubby. It's an oddly sized vitola that you don't see all that often, which is just one more reason why we started stocking it all those years back. Habano wrapped, Nicaraguan and Dominican loaded, and advertised as being the old school medium cigar rolled for everyone, there's an inexplicable appeal to this smoke that goes well beyond the tobacco used to make it a reality.

First launched in 2014, The Banker honors the occupation that brought the Upmann brothers to Cuba in the early 1800s. Furthermore, this blend also serves as an homage to the free cigars that the Upmanns handed out to their favorite clients and potential business associates once a year. Apparently, these cigar gift sets were packaged in a little invention that the Upmann brothers came up with for shipping stogies: The Spanish cedar cigar box. 

Cigar trivia blitz complete, it is now time to focus on the impressions that the reinvisioned version of H. Upmann's The Banker left upon me the other afternoon. For this is one of those smokes that will take you back to the days when cash was called "greenbacks," and the Upmann brothers were still dabbling in the world of banking while trying to get their little cigar business off the ground.  

Alec Bradley Kintsugi

Macanudo Crü Royale

Saint Luis Rey Carenas

Initial Impressions

Milder than expected, with a mellow touch of tannin and roasted toffee, the start to this blend is subtle and very approachable. Yes, there are some spicy notes upon retrohale, but they are balanced by a sweet mixture of baking spices and roasted tree nuts. The cigar's innards add more tactile feel to the smoke than anything at this point, and beyond helping boost the body of the cigar to medium status, aid in the build-up of aromatics.

1st Half 

Dark European breads, a fat belt of cocoa, with a spiced mixture of cinnamon and clove flowing forth from the nose, the cigar quickly reaches its stride in the first third. Milky but not heavy, this dance between light and dark is downright delightful, and as the retrohales grow smoother and rounder body builds to an even medium.

Part of the reason for this roundness is the increase in milk chocolate being detected, and the creaminess that comes with it. Silky smooth and consistently backed by Spanish cedar, notes of roasted walnuts and toffee continue to make the rounds the deeper down you go.

2nd Half

Approaching the center of the barrel on The Banker (or the vault, as I like to call it), you will realize that all of the introductory mellowness and mild strength of the cigar flavor profile have only grown in modest amounts. A dash of earth and a touch of pepper spice are highlighted by hints of unsweetened coffee, and that dry cedar undertone that keeps things crisp. 

Dried fig fills in for a bit in the last major leg of the journey, but beyond this, there isn't much of a transition between the second and final third. I did note that the cedar notes grew stronger and sappier, as did the dark roasted notes of coca and chocolate. Retrohales and the medium-length finish were also a bit rounder and richer, but even they remained true to the overall smoothness that this blend is known for providing. 

Parting Puffs

A smack of dry apple wood and the tannin tastes and textures that come with it, a pinch of roasted chicory root, loads of mixed baking spices headlined by cinnamon, and a mid-grade peppercorn final push make parting puffs a true pleasure. It's smooth, enticing, and not nearly as dark as expected, giving you all the more reason to keep on puffing until your fingers burn.

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Although the ash did flake outward here and there, the majority of it tended to hold fast to the remainder of its recently combusted inner remnants, and neither splitting nor blooming was an issue. Combustion rates remained even and cool from first light to final parting puff, with a medium-length finish from the large volumes of smoke lingering upon the palate.

But unlike the first review I conducted a few years back, where knocking the ash off the cigar required some force, both of the cigars I smoked for this round had ash-drop issues. So, from a quality control perspective, I wonder if the blends have become slightly underfilled over time. This also might explain why the draw was so fluid, and why the spring that was detected pre-light felt a touch squishy. 

Regardless of these qualms, both cigars burned well, and I did not feel any anxiety over the combustion of either stick. Just remember to pace your puffs so that the slender 48 ring-gauge won't overheat on you. 

Final Thoughts

The Banker is both brilliantly balanced and benevolent upon the palate. Bold enough not to be boring, but mellow enough to be approachable by fans of milder premium cigar blends, there's equilibrium at every stage of this stick. Even toward the very end, when your money-hungry digits begin to singe, you feel the greed for more.

This "Currency" version by H. Upmann is also one of the more unique robusto cigars in the Klaro Collection. Outside of some ash drops, this is one hell of a great burner, and to this day, it remains extremely reliable stick-to-stick. Medium on all fronts, the flavor profiles, aromatics, strength levels, body, and finish are also consistent, making this a recommended blend option for anyone who is fine with moving beyond mild. As I mentioned on screen during the tail end of my review, this is a premium cigar blend that prefers to focus its energy on smoothness and consistency instead of complexity and continuous transitions. 

Will some smokers consider the blend to be a tad one-sided due to its subtleness and the continuity in flavor profiles throughout? Most definitely. But the blend that makes The Banker what it is offers such an elegant approach to smoking relaxation that it's impossible not to appreciate its refined ability to balance light and dark. It's one of those trusty EDC smokes that you can reach for when you aren't sure what to smoke, because you know that it's going to deliver every time.

After all these years, I must say that The Banker definitely remains a wise, if somewhat safe investment. You just might want to put your deposit down on a box now before there's a run on the Klaro bank vault.

Flavor, Aroma & Transitions

Depth & Complexity

Construction, Burn & Physical Appeal

Backstory & Branding

Overall Balance & Repeatability