The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Ohana Left Hand High Maka Maka - Toro (6 x 52) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-01-07

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

Referring to my intro, the first thing you might notice is the band with the two skeleton hands gesturing. The “High Maka Maka” isn’t a hand gesture; the hands are actually spelling out “LH” for Left Hand Cigars.  Gotta remember that the “High Maka Maka,” is a term about a bougie and stuck up person. 😉 But then the next thing you’ll notice is the gorgeous Maduro Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. Oily, heavily mottled, toothy, it’s just a gorgeous wrapper. It’s a gorgeous roll with tight seams and a super clean cap. It even has a modified pigtail with a fan and closed foot. The roll is super firm on this one, not a hint of give. The bands are a nice quality though I do wish they were the same color rather than one being copper and the other silver.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Average (2) / Poor (1)

The draw is tight until the foot has completely burned through, then it opens up nicely. The burn is uneven and dragging on one side, so I’ll see if it self-corrects or needs a correction. The ash is a medium gray with widely spaced striations that are quickly flaking off in big chunks. This could get messy. But my cigar starts canoeing badly so I dump and apply a heavy correction after just the first inch has burned. This isn’t off to a great start!

And this is why I’m not a huge fan of the closed foot; getting a really good toasted foot can be tough and lead to burn issues. After the relight, it’s still a very wavy and slightly uneven burn, but far better controlled for a moment. The burn is unfortunately a continual point of frustration. Uneven, wavy, multiple relights, and the draw is closing up. I think this one was rolled too tightly, and all of these burn issues are distracting from focusing on the blend.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

Immediate pepper blasts out the gate. As the closed foot burns off that spice pulls back into tolerable levels. Then earth, charred oak, coffee, raisin sweet, some rye bread, and light coffee all appear. It has a nice balance and level of complexity, but the pepper is numbing my tongue and back of the throat. What’s frustrating is the burn is so bad, it’s keeping me from really focusing on the blend, and I’m already getting to the halfway point. And this is a pretty good blend so far.

The second half keeps up with the heavy charred earth, and strong spice that’s dominant with pepper and supported by baking spice. There’s still a strong raisin-like fruitiness, coffee, and dark chocolate note that brings in some bitterness and light anise. It has a moderately creamy finish that’s a little musty and develops a buttery sweetness in the final third. But there’s no harshness, just that delightful peppery burn. Mild roasted peanut nuttiness appears in the final third, and the cigar is definitely finishing on a high note.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Good (3)

I’m hoping the burn issues on this cigar are a one-off. Because otherwise, it has a really nice, complex, and balanced profile that improved throughout the burn. It would’ve been a stunner if the final third was representative of the entire cigar, but the first two thirds were still great. I’ll be sure to revisit this cigar sooner than later to see if that’s the case because the shit burn really dragged this example down.

Review Base Rating (0-5):

3.50

Would I Buy It Again?

Signs point to yes (recommended)

Review Final Score (0-10):

7.50

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.