General Cigar Co. and Napa Valley’s Flint Knoll Winery are back with the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll No. 2, a unique cigar blend aged in wine barrels. Retaining the blend of its debut release, this cigar features a Connecticut-seed wrapper from Ecuador and a Connecticut broadleaf binder, aged in the barrels used for Flint Knoll’s 2019 Royal Appointment Cabernet Sauvignon. The additional fill comprises Brazilian mata fina, Dominican olor, an undisclosed varietal from Nicaragua’s Jalapa region, and Dominican piloto cubano.
The 2019 growing season in Napa Valley marked exceptional conditions, fostering a wine noted for its complexity and spice. These characteristics have been infused into the tobacco through the barrel aging process, delivering a spicier smoking experience compared to the original release. The binder leaf’s aging in French Oak barrels has imparted flavors of creamy vanilla, toasted almonds, dark currants, and cedar to the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll No. 2.
Available in Toro (6 x 54) and Churchill (7 x 52) sizes, priced at $19.99 and $21.99 respectively, these cigars have been meticulously crafted to present an unmatched smoking experience. The Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll No. 2 is set to ship to stores on October 2. The total number of cigars available for this release, however, remains undisclosed.
Macanudo from General Cigars is known for offering blends in many styles and tastes using tobaccos from regions all over the world. Their new Inspirado Green released earlier this year is billed as a fuller flavored cigar featuring a Brazilian wrapper, Indonesian binder and Dominican fillers. This was the first chance I had to try this cigar and, smoking this cigar blind, the flavors offered a unique though less than harmonious profile. Read on.
Blend Specifics
Cigar Reviewed Macanudo Inspirado Green Toro
Wrapper: Brazilian
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Dominican
Size: 6” x 50 (Toro)
Appearance & Construction
The Macanudo Inspiratdo Green Toro sports a veiny maduro wrapper that is dry to the touch. As I squeeze the cigar, it is very firm and almost over-packed with tobacco. The roll is solid and the foot smells of white pepper and rustic notes.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
Using my Colibri V-Cutter I cut the cigar and with an airy cold draw some dark chocolate and pepper is evident. I bring flame to the foot and the initial puffs give earth, fruits and graphite. Despite the maduro wrapper, the cigar begins mild in body with stone and minerality on the finish. The retrohale delivers wood and smoky notes along with cedar. The body becomes more medium with coffee and earth on the palate, though the flavors are not very pronounced.
At midway, the burn line is straight, with a weak, flaky ash. The white pepper that I smelled on the foot comes on strong along with more earth and a medium finish. Another retrohale falls short on taste with just a bit of hay and a slightly sour note. The stony minerality is strong and unappealing absent any secondary flavors to balance it out. As the cigar burns at a steady pace, coffee and earth emerges which helps give a little more heft to the smoke on the mouthfeel. At this point the cigar maintains a solid medium body.
In the final third, the Macanudo Inspirado Green Toro starts to rally with spice and chocolate that delivers a longer finish than before. There’s an additional toast and black pepper note that intermingles with dried fruit and nuts. The body on the Macanudo Inspirado Green Toro is consistently medium with more wood, cocoa and earth in a subtle fashion. As I reach the final puffs of the smoke the wood and smoke linger to a surprising lengthy finish.
Conclusion
If the Macaudo Inspirado Green is indeed intended to be full bodied, it never came through in what I smoked. The cigar began mild and then maintained a medium body with stone, minerality and earth at its start. These flavors of earthiness and stone did not complement one another throughout most of the cigar. The Macanudo Inspirado Green Toro was at its best when it developed chocolate, dried fruit and toast. Unfortunately, it only happened in the final third, which is too long to smoke a cigar to garner pleasant flavors. Perhaps another size may yield better results which is what I’d recommend trying from this line.
Continuing our reviews of cigars released in 2018, today I’ll be reviewing the Macanudo Inspirado Red toro.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of Macanudo. Most of their older, more standard blends are (in my opinion) bland and uninteresting. But it can’t be denied that under the leadership of General Cigar Co., Macanudo has made some big strides in recent years, especially after releasing the Macanudo Inspirado Black, White, and Orange.
The Inspirado Red is the most recent addition to the line and leverages an interesting array of tobaccos (more on that below). So let’s get to the review.
After spending a bit more time with this cigar, I’ve decided that I really like the band. At first it looks like a straightforward red and silver band, but on closer inspection the secondary geometrical design elements are actually very cool. The outer wrapper leaf is a marbled brown color with two noticeable veins.
The cigar seems packed fairly well, though there is a significant softness when squeezed about halfway down the cigar, which I hope won’t cause tunneling or other burn issues. Off the foot, I pick up lots of red and black pepper as well as some earth and leather. The draw is just right, about a 6/10 in terms of restrictiveness.
Flavor and Smoke Characteristics
The Inspirado Red kicks off in a surprising way, and thankfully with great smoke production. The cigar is very bold on the palate, coming in aggressively with lots of strong spice, pepper, a bit of blackberry and chocolatey sweetness on the palate. On the nose, however, the smoke is rather gentle and nuanced, with classic macanudo aromas of floral, dried grass, and touches of white pepper. As other reviewers have noted, the retrohale is decently aggressive and heavy on red pepper. Overall, I’d put the cigar at medium to full flavor, medium body.
An inch in, a nice caramel note sneaks into the aroma. The burn is mostly even and the ash is still holding solidly. Then, as the cigar burns into the second third, the strength actually decreases slightly, which is welcome since the first third was at times a bit much. There’s little change to the flavors, with cocoa, coffee, and oak in the fore and a slight grassiness in the aroma. The burn is almost perfect, just some slight waviness. Smoke production stays excellent.
The final third is where some problems arise. The soft spot in the filler tobacco that I noticed before lighting loosens the draw considerably, and the flavor becomes dominated by red and white pepper with very little sweetness to balance it out. Thankfully, that only lasts a few minutes, and sweet cream and blackberry notes come back in to round the profile out.
Near the last inch, the smoke has turned very hot, providing a good opportunity to set the cigar down.
Conclusion
At roughly $7 a cigar, the Macanudo Inspirado Red is a stellar value. I like how the cigar presents a new take on the classic Macanudo profile while still retaining the best of the traditional Macanudo vibe.
As a side note, this cigar pairs remarkably well with Sherry-finished single malts. I’ve paired this cigar with Aberlour 16 Year with great results.
The Macanudo Cru Royale is rolled by General Cigars and Macanudo is one of their flagship brands. Rolled in the Dominican Republic, they are known for their consistent construction and smoking experience, aged wrappers and having a broad, widespread appeal to both novices and experienced smokers. For this review, 2 cigars were smoke and were generously provided by Famous Smoke based out of Pennsylvania.
Cigar: Macanudo Cru Royale
Blend Specifics:
Vitola: Poco Gordo 4”x60
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Dominican La Vega Especial
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican and Brazilian
Appearance and Construction: The Macanudo Cru Royale has a semi-dark chocolate wrapper. Minimal veins and tight invisible seams. Very smooth sating feel with a slight oily sheen. Dense, even packing and sports a nicely applied double cap.
Smoke and Flavor Characteristics:
Cold Aromas: The wrapper is bit of wood, faint farmyard, and a touch of spiciness. The foot presents chocolate, wood and leather. The cold draw has chocolate and wood with a touch of mineral grit, not unlike gravel.
First Third: The first few draws show a lot of leather, more of that mineral grit and a very easy, open draw. A dry wood also becomes present. The draw give off thick clouds of smoke, no spice is detectable at the moment. Though the leather hangs around in the nose and mouth for a good while. The aroma pouring off the foot is also of rich leather.
Burn line isn’t razor sharp but performance is just fine. The ash formation is a very pale gray, almost white, slightly flakey and absent of rings. There’s fair amount of cream that comes into play. I’m tapping the ash off at ¾ inch since it’s really flakey. The body is medium, the flavor is medium to full, and the strength is at medium.
Second Third: The second third picks right up where first left off, leather and wood with a decent does of cream. Performance is still excellent. A bit of chocolate comes in on the aroma. Removing the band takes little to no effort and is held together with self-adhesive glue. Body still at medium, the flavor is medium to full, and the strength is at a medium.
Final Third: The final third is holding true to form and still leads with the leather and wood combo. The aroma is still pleasantly woody, earthy, and leathery. Performance and burn are still doing well. Just toward the end, within the last inch or so, the heat started busting the wrapper in multiple areas, though the performance is still ok. Also, the wood ramped up has become the dominant characterizing note. This cigar finishes out at medium in body, medium to full in flavor and medium in strength.
Final Thoughts: The Macanudo Cru Royale features fine leaves, excellent and consistent construction and smoking experience. The profile is more on the drier and bitter side of the flavor spectrum with the leather providing a bit of savory respite. The aroma is calming and luxurious and the profile isn’t at all strong which makes it a good early morning / mid-afternoon smoke. For a small vitola cigar, it has a pretty long smoking time. The body and strength are a solid medium while the flavor is medium to full.
My life is a little crazy, crazy in a good way. This week I found myself in Las Vegas for a job. By some miracle of scheduling, I had a free evening – which never happens – and I decided to explore.
I was done with work at about 5pm, and I had to be ready for my ride to the airport at 9am the following day. Sixteen hours! Doable.
I had a couple of things I wanted to accomplish: I wanted to see a show. I wanted to see the fountain at the Bellagio. I wanted a great meal. I wanted to gamble a little. And, I wanted to smoke at least one great cigar.
Unfortunately I was staying in North Las Vegas, and I have to take a $60 cab ride to The Strip. First order of business: tickets to a show. I wanted a big, Vegas-style showgirls show, but I settled for a magic show with The Amazing Jonathan at Planet Hollywood. No complaints though, it was hysterical.
The Amazing Jonathan
Next order of business: food. I had heard the buffet at Harrah’s was amazing, and (why lie about it?) I really love an all-you-can-eat environment. I got all the way to the restaurant, but the line was too long; I was going to miss the show. So, I headed back toward Planet Hollywood, and it was getting so late, I had to grab burger at Wendy’s. Fail.
After the show, I just wanted to explore. I went to just about every casino. I got to see the Bellagio fountain. I saw the stupid, mini-Eiffel Tower at Paris and the stupid, mini-Empire State Building at New York, New York. Lot’s of stupid stuff, but the sum of it all is really awesome and fun. Clearly it’s not a place meant to be visited alone. When I get a chance to come back with a group of friends, I’m sure it’s going to be a ton of fun.
I had the impression that Vegas was a cigar city. I’m not sure where that came from, the movie Swingers maybe? When I arrived and started looking around, I didn’t see anyone smoking cigars. I saw a bunch of families, from all over the world, all having a great time. I didn’t want to be rude by firing up a cigar in the middle of a crowd.
That was early in the evening. After the show, I kept exploring, and the dynamic had completely changed. It was now groups of friends, bachelor parties, and rich and gorgeous people. Out came the cigars. (Of course there was still the gross element there: trashy people and sad slot machine addicts, but it’s easier to just look past them.)
I felt more than comfortable lighting up a cigar at this point. I sat down in the sports betting area at Caesar’s Palace, in the big comfy chairs, and I pulled out a cigar I had brought with me, a Gurkha Park Avenue Series 44 Torpedo (6.25×52). I was seated near three young guys smoking cigars. I tried to make conversation, but their English was pretty terrible. I think they were from Spain. They tried though; it was actually kind of funny.
I don’t often get to smoke indoors, unless I’m at a cigar bar. It was refreshing to be able to walk around, gamble a little and smoke. I am not a huge gambler, but I love Roulette. I played for a while, always better RED 33, and smoking this fantastic cigar. Oh, I should mention that at midnight, it became my 33rd birthday, that’s why I was betting 33. I mentioned that to the couple next to me, and I had a birthday toast with them. People were very friendly.
As a side note, I had never had a Gurkha before, and it was a fantastic smoke. Great taste. Very pure tasting. Simple but not bland. I will definitely give Gurkhas some thought next time I’m at the cigar store.
At that point in the night, it was just after midnight, and I still had a lot of exploring to do. So I headed south, and I was determined to see as much as I could before I passed out from exhaustion. Of course, the free drinks were taking their toll too. (Yeah, I was drinking alone. I believe in this rare scenario it is not a cry for help – it’s just what you do. Don’t judge me.)
Around 2am, I decided I wanted another cigar and searched for a cigar store in some casino. It seemed like most casinos has one if you looked hard enough. I found a little store in The Excelsior, and bought a Macanudo Café Crystal in a glass tube for $16. Maybe I was being cheap, but the cigars were so overpriced, that I wanted to save a little money with a Macanudo. Also, you always know what to expect with a Macanudo: simple, woody, reliable.
Long story short, I got in a cab at 3:30am and flew out in the morning after 3 hours of sleep and a hot shower.
What a great trip! I get the impression that you have to go to Vegas a few times to figure out how to do it right: Where to stay, where to gamble, where to eat, where to buy cigars. But for a couple of hours, I think I did a good job. And, I gambled for hours, and left only down $15. Success.
