Today, we review the Powstanie War Bear 2025. This is the fifth installment of a limited edition series launched by Powstanie Cigars in 2019 known as Wojtek. Powstanie is a brand owned by Mike and Greg Szczepankiewicz, the owners of Cigar Hustler. Powstanie pays homage to the Polish roots of the Szczepankiewicz brothers. The name Powstanie means uprising and pays homage to the resistance movement in World War II Poland against German occupation of the country. As for the name Wojtek, it means “war bear” and refers to a Syrian Brown bear that was actually enlisted in the Polish army during World War II.
For 2025, the line is called “War Bear” instead of “Wojtek.” It comes in a 5 5/8 x 60 perfecto vitola. At the time of its release, it was Powstanie’s most expensive cigar, coming in at $25.00. The War Bear 2025 cigars were encased in a custom camo-sprayed metal sleeve with a cut-out Powstanie logo, designed to be a collectible piece.
Powstanie has recently announced it is bringing back the 5 5/8 x 60 perfecto size for 2026. While this is the same cigar as 2025, it carries a theme to commemorate the 250th birthday of the United States. If you are interested in this release, it carries a $31.25 price point.
SPECIFICATIONS
The 2025 War Bear cigar showcases two wrappers—Ecuadorian Habano and Mexican San Andrés—in what Powstanie describes as an “unbalanced barber pole design”. The binder is Indonesian, while the fillers are sourced from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The War Bear 2025 is packaged in eight-count boxes, with a total production of 1,000 boxes. The cigar is a perfecto measuring 5 5/8 x 60.
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano/Mexican San Andrés Barberpole
- Binder: Indonesian
- Filler: Nicaraguan
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: Fabricas de Nica Sueño
- Perfecto: 5 5/8 x 60
PERFORMANCE
The War Bear 2025 opened up with a decent dose of marshmallow sweetness. This wasn’t super-creamy, but it was reminiscent of the sweetness marshmallow delivers. Notes of coffee bean, cedar, and mixed pepper emerged. The mixed pepper was prominent on the retro-hale. As the cigar burned through the tapered part toward the tip, the coffee bean became the primary note. The cedar and pepper settled in the background. The marshmallow sweetness turned to natural tobacco, then the natural tobacco developed some bitter qualities toward the end of the first third.
In the second half, the pepper and cedar increased in intensity. The pepper closed in on the coffee bean notes that were still present in the forefront. By this point, the War Bear 2025 was quite unbalanced. The combination of coffee bean and bitter natural tobacco simply was not enjoyable. It wasn’t helped by the pepper and cedar.
The flavors delivered started out medium-bodied, but progressed to medium to full in the second third, and full for the final third. Meanwhile, the War Bear 2025 delivered medium strength in the first half and medium to full strength in the second half. The cigar had a very good draw as it had a touch of resistance to it – which is something that I like. The burn did require more touchups to maintain a straight burn path and straight burn line. The touchups did the trick, but more were required than I prefer.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
The Powstanie War Bear 2025 was a disappointment. I’ve seen this blend perform at exceptional levels for the 2019 and 2020 releases. In fact, the 2020 release placed #4 on the Cigar Coop Countdown in 2022, so I know this blend can work. However, size does matter and this perfecto simply doesn’t deliver in the 5 5/8 x 60 size. On top of it, the 2025 edition of the War Bear was almost twice the price as the 2020 release that netted the #4 ranking. This cigar is one I would pass on, but I am hopeful it will bounce back with the 2026 release.
Summary
- Key Flavors: Coffee Bean, Natural Tobacco, Cedar, Marshmallow, Pepper
- Burn: Very Good
- Draw: Excellent
- Complexity: Medium
- Strength: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
- Body: Medium (1st Third), Medium to Full (2nd Third), Full (Last Third)
- Finish: Fair
Rating
Value: Not Recommended
Score: 85
REFERENCES
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted
