Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro

By Tony Casas | December 13, 2022

Trying to crank out releases before the weather gets too cold here for the month and a half that we actually have a winter, I head out back today with a Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro paired with a bottle of Sierra Nevada’s Colonel E.H. Taylor Bourbon Barrel aged Bigfoot Barleywine beer.

The Good Stuff:

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Aganorsa Leaf’s Aniversario Madruo. In fact, they have released it multiple times over the past few years. The new iteration of the cigar is now a full-production release versus the limited runs in the past, and comes in three new box-pressed sizes: The Gran Robusto (5 x 54), Toro (6 1/4 x 52), and the Gran Toro (6 x 58). Each come packaged in boxes of 10 running between $13.50 and $15.50 per cigar. I purchased mine over from our friends at Cuenca cigars. The blend remains the same. Produced at the Agricola Ganadera Nortena S.A. factory the Aniversario Maduro carries a Nicaraguan shade grown Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers.

• Size: 5 x 54
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Shade Grown Maduro
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13.50
• Pairing: Sierra Nevada E.H. Taylor Barrel-Aged Bigfoot (Barleywine 15% ABV)

Prelight:

The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro starts out with an extremely deep, dark, consistent brown wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is slightly toothy with a decent amount of oils. The wrapper itself feels very dense and hard while the cigar as a whole is packed nicely with a few soft spots located around the foot. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself showcasing a few very minor veins leading through the cigar’s soft box-pressed body to its round, double-wrapped cap. A majority of the cigar is covered in an opaque white wrap with silver Aganorsa Leaf markings along with a a huge black and silver band and even a secondary band with some medallions embossed into the font.

The wrapper the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro gives off very little aroma outside of some earthy/natural tobacco scents while the foot of the cigar carries sweet spice and cedar. The cold draw produces notes of cedar, musk, and dark chocolate.

First Third:

The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro starts off with a quick blast of cayenne pepper that quickly fades allowing the flavor profile to transition into bold cedar and musk over dark chocolate, pecan, toffee and spice notes. As I smoke through the first third a dry red wine flavor really starts to become a force in the profile. The draw is perfect. Each puff kicks out a huge cloud of thick, white smoke which hangs around on my patio for a while before dissipating while the cigar just unleashes a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for almost an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro and the flavors are still popping off. The Musk and cedar still lead with charge over bold dark chocolate, raisin, and berry with lighter notes of red wine, pecan, and toffee. The retrohale pulls out a ton of spice that isn’t as present in the experience into the second third. I close out the second third with a minor nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro and the dark chocolate has really taken ahold of the flavor profile backed by the musk and cedar over notes of vanilla, raisin, and pecan. The red wine dropped out of the profile, however it did return in force into the final inch to say its goodbyes. It took me an hour and a half to smoke this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness nor any extended heat. I never once had to touchup or relight the cigar and it left me with only a very minor nicotine kick which surprised me due to how fast I smoked, and how flavorful it was.

Overview:

I have always been a huge fan of Aganorsa Leaf. I feel like each time they kick out a cigar I know what to expect, yet they are constantly raising their own bar. The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro is a great example of a beautifully blended, complex cigar that doesn’t kick your ass in strength. The flavors are bold, yet not too much to overload your palate. While it’s leaning on the pricier side, I think this cigar delivers enough of an experience to make it a box-worthy purchase and I am really glad they decided to keep this one around as an ongoing full-production line.

Pairing:

One of the most highly anticipated beer releases this year is Sierra Nevada’s Colonel E.H. Taylor Bourbon Barrel-Aged Bigfoot. Coming in at 15% ABV, Sierra Nevada aged its famous Bigfoot barleywine for 4-6 years in bourbon barrels before finishing it off for an additional year in Buffalo Trace’s Colonel E.H. Taylor bourbon barrels. The extra age in the bourbon barrels really tames the bitterness I normally expect from Bigfoot and replaces it with a bunch of sticky sweetness and a very complex experience. The beer leads with great earthy-hopping flavors that quickly transition into notes of caramel, vanilla, berry, and raisin with a shocking light and fizzy mouthfeel. The beer finishes with more of the raisin, berry and vanilla along with a good amount of woodsy flavors and a hell of an alcohol bite. The earthiness, raisin, berry and vanilla notes married up with the existing flavors in the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro while the cigar really assisted in pulling out some great tobacco flavors from the beer that I didn’t initially pickup. I think that most other Bigfoot offerings would easily overpower most cigars, but this one was made to pair with a great cigar.