Cigar Review: Freud Cigar Company Superego Lonsdale

I believe this cigar flew under the radar of many people attending PCA 2022 as well as those awaiting new releases. I was unaware of the company until David Garofalo mentioned it on our podcast and how he wanted to try it. Freud Cigar Company was founded by Luis Torres and David Stadnyk. Mr. Torres served as the GM for the Davidoff flagship store on Madison Ave in New York City. Mr. Stadnyk is a financier and philanthropist with more than 30 years of investment experience.

The blenders behind Freud Cigar Company are William Ventura and Eladio Diaz. Mr. Diaz is among the elite in tobacco blenders. He spent over 40 years at Davidoff of Geneva, most recently as Head of Production and Quality Control. Mr. Ventura was the Head of Production, Head of Quality Control, Chief of Factory, and a designated grandmaster in rolling cigars as a torcedor in his nearly 21 years at Davidoff of Geneva. During his tenure, he worked with luminaries such as Zino Davidoff and Eladio Diaz to help create and maintain some of the world’s finest blends and cigars.

Today we review the first release from Freud Cigar Company, Superego.

Cigar Review: Freud Cigar Company Superego
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Length: 6.5
Ring Gauge: 42
Size: Lonsdale

The Look: Packaged in 10 count boxes in a burgundy lacquered box, the smokes stand out when the box is open. Featuring an odd caricature Dr. Freud as he has hair and most people would not equate the image with him. It’s a colorful primary band, while the secondary band denotes the line; superego and a footboard denoting the size; Lonsdale. The features a pigtail cap and the thick, veiny wrapper is slightly coarse under the fingers. In the hand it is firm, with no voids of tobacco and a well packed foot.

The Notes: The cold draw has a hint of underlying sweetness like powdered sugar along with a touch of orange rind creating an enjoyable contrast. The aroma from the foot of the mimics the cold draw though there is a bit more sweetness present. Once the cigar is lit the initial notes are vanilla and oak.

As we smoke through the first third notes of powdered sugar, citrus and oak envelope the palate. Secondary notes of walnut, candied fruit and leather are also present but serve more as an afterthought. The retrohale serves up addition notes of caramel and lemongrass.

The second third sees notes of caramel become dominant with rye coming in a close second. Additionally the cigar sees continued notes of walnuts and oak with a subtle saltiness on the finish. As the second third comes to a close some leather creeps into the mix as well. The retrohale holds on to some sweetness along with growing nuances of white pepper.

The final third concluded oak, walnuts and leather with hints of salt and white pepper. It’s the most spicy part of the cigar with the spice picking up on the aroma of the cigar as well as the retrohale.

The Finish: The Freud Cigar Company Superego in the Lonsdale format is one of the best cigars I have smoked that were released at the 2022 PCA. It’s rich, complex and extremely enjoyable.It stands out above the Toro and Robusto Extra line scoring higher by at least 2 points. It has me looking forward to the next release from the company which will be agape (pronounced ah-gap-eee). The thick Dominican Republic Corojo wrapper is reason to store these at a lower humidity or perhaps even dry boxing them for a couple of days before smoking. If you don’t and you are OCD about touching up your cigar it might drive you bonkers. My advice is toss your lighter to the other side of the room and just enjoy these.

Score: 96
Price: $17.19 / $152.99 (Box of 10)