Macanudo Estate Reserve 2015 Robusto

This coming weekend on The Cigar Authority we are going to smoke some cigars from David’s personal collection; and one of those cigar is one of the original release Macanudo Jamaica which was produced on the island nation. Now 14 years after the production has left, General Cigar Company decided to release the Macanudo Estate Reserve to pay homage to that time.

In 2014, the Government of Jamaica launched a strategy that discourages the cultivation of tobacco in Jamaica however, some tobacco farms remain which plays into the limited production of the Estate Reserve. Available in three sizes; the cigars are limited to a total of 1,800 10-count boxes.

Cigar Review: Macanudo Estate Reserve
Size: 5 x 50 (No. 9)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: San Andres (Mexico)
Filler: Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Nicaragua
Source: General Cigar
Strength: Medium

The Look: The last two cigar I reviewed from General I really trashed the bands and presentation. The Macanudo Estate Reserve gets it right, and gets it wrong at the same time. The band looks like it belongs on a cigar that costs $16.00 with its black, silver and gold embossing. However, there is nothing to link the new Macanudo Estate Reserve to the original line it pays homage to. The dark wrapper of the cigar feels coarse under the fingers with a perfect roll. The cigar which feels light in the hand has no soft spots and a well packed foot.

The Notes: The notes off the cold draw is subtle with some pice and wood notes, while the aroma was just tobacco like without anything defined. Once the cigar is lit, the initial note is that of cloves with a touch of wood and sourdough.

Progressing into the first third of the cigar the notes of clove remain with some wood notes. The cigar has heavy notes of earth that dominate and there is some subtle spice on the palate and through the nose.

In the second third of the Macanudo Estate Reserve 2015, the dominant note remains earthy with continued wood notes. The finish is reminiscent of dry cocoa mix.

The last third sees the cocoa note become the dominant flavor profile with a slightly floral note and some remaining earth on the relatively short finish.

The Burn: The Broadleaf wrapper that adorns the Macanudo burns relatively even with a thin combustion line. I’ve noticed that people who have smoked them commented on the large burn line, however keep my personal humidor at a lower humidity rate for personal preference at 62%. The white ash holds firm for a third of the cigar at a time and the draw was perfect. The Estate Reserve remained lit from first light to last puff.

The Finish: For the upcoming weekend’s show Dave asked what I wanted to smoke from his humidor and the answer was Macanudo Jamaica. The original Jamaica was so good and so enjoyable that it something I look forward to and want to smoke. This Estate Reserve is not even close to anything of the original line and the fact that it “utilizes” tobacco from Jamaica comes across as purely a marketing scheme to me. I assume there aren’t many people who smoked the original line or remember the original line but I’ve had the privilege of lighting a couple of over the last year and this isn’t close. If you look at it as a stand along cigar; the flavor notes are enjoyable but not worthy of the $16.00 price tag.

Score: 86
Price: $16.00

 Bullet Points

• This is the second cigar this year that I smoked from General Cigar that was tied into a classic release. The first one was the Partagas 170. In both instances I felt as if the band and art direction was a fail.
• In my opinion this was not a good year for General Cigar.
• If I went into this cigar not associating with the Jamaica Reserve it probably would have scored a few points higher. The same could be said if it had a better price point. I’ll leave it up to you to judge wether that is fair or not.
• The samples were provided from General Cigar Company.
• Smoking time was 1 hour 45 mins.