Cubanacan Maduro

By Tony Casas | March 16, 2015

The Cubanacan Maduro has been on my agenda for quite sometime now, thanks to the great staff over there I can finally relax and wind down my weekend by lighting one up and reviewing it for you.

The Good Stuff:

Cubanacan is a company who has slowly crept their way into our humidors over the course of the last few years. In the recent year the company has really stepped their game up in terms of sales force and have been focusing on getting their cigars into the hands of smokers who haven’t been witness to the brand before in the past. I for one, would love to see more of these cigars in our very mass-market filled area. Cubanacan is responsible for four different brands. The core, Cubanacan lines, HR, Soneros, Mederos. and Here is a bit of history on the company taken from their website:

As long as there have been people, there have been stories. From the stories told in paintings on ancient caves to the family stories shared around the table, stories make up our history and guide our traditions. Cubanacan cigars embraces not only tradition, but strives to tell our story in every cigar.

Our tale begins in the rich tobacco history of Cuba. As the stories of tradition and quality were passed from generation to generation, that tradition was carried forward to the fertile soil of Esteli and Jalapa Nicaragua in 2006 where we started to grow our own tobacco. Shortly after we established our factory in Esteli with just five pairs of rollers set out to create cigars that will share our story with the world.

The name Cubanacan was chosen for it’s vibrant history and the story behind it’s meaning. Cubanacan means “where fertile land is abundant” and is derived from tobacco traditions that predate Cuba itself. The story of Cubanacan is not just one of our past, but one that is still being written.

Our goal is not just to be the storyteller, but to have each person that enjoys our cigar help write the next part of our tale. A story of tradition, pride in our quality, and an appreciation for those that carry our story forward.

The Cubanacan Maduro starts out with an Ecuadorian Oscuro wrapper over a Ecuadorian Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers from both the Jalapa and Esteli regions. The cigars all comes in boxes of 20 and are offered in six different formats: Chatos (4.5 x 42), Rothchilds (5 x 50), Piramide (6.12 x 52), Gordo (6 x 60), Churchills (7 x 50) and the Lonsdale (6.5 x 42) which range from $5.90 to $8.90 a stick. Nate McIntyre, the Eastern US Sales Manager for Cubanacan was kind enough to hook us up with a few of the Rothchilds for review.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Oscuro
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan from Jalapa and Esteli
Body: Full
Strength: Full
Price: $6.90
Pairing: Ballast Point Victory at Sea (Imperial Porter 10% ABV)

Prelight:

The Cubanacan Maduro carried ones of the most beautiful wrappers I have ever seen. It starts with a very rich, dark, consistent brown wrapper with some great almost-black webbing scattered throughout the leaf. The wrapper gleams of oils along it’s toothy, sandpaper-like texture. The wrapper itself is very thick, and very hard while the cigar has almost no give as I squeeze it between my fingers. There are a few softer areas around the foot of the cigar, but nothing concerning. The Cubanacan Maduro is polished off with a perfectly round double cap and a black, white, and copper label sporting the “Cubanacan” crest. Some of the past Maduro blends I have seen carry the standard white label, but all the rothchilde formats that I have seen carry the black. I’m not sure if this is a size differential or if Cubanacan will carry the black labels on the Maduro line going forward. Either way, both bands carry the wording “Maduro” just underneath the crest so you’ll know exactly what you’re smoking.

The wrapper on the Cubanacan Maduro unleashed a massively pungent mixture of deep wood and natural tobacco while the foot of the cigar has a much spicier/peppery character. The cap cut clean and easy using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a really musky mixture of strong tobacco, deep spice, and lots of oakiness.

First Third:

The Cubanacan Maduro starts out with a nice pepper splash which quickly quiets down revealing some deep oakiness, lots of spice, raisin, coffee, and some musky leather. The draw is perfect despite being extremely tightly packed. Each puff releases a massive cloud of thick, white smoke. The Cubanacan Maduro also unleashes tons of stationary smoke as you can actually see the cigar burning the oils off the wrapper as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor sharp and dead even leaving behind a trail of compacted medium gray ash which held on for a little over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Cubanacan Maduro and the flavors are still rocking away leading with some bold spice, musk, leather and coffee while some nice toffee has come into play with an oaky finish. The retrohale was a lot shaper than I was expecting as it coats my nasal passage with a sharp spice and tons of leather and oak. A Few larger waves have started to form towards the end of the second third, but nothing worth pulling my lighter out for. I venture into the final third with a nice little nicotine kick already present.

Finish:

The further I get into the Cubanacan Maduro the deeper and richer the flavors become. Into the final third the cigar pumps out deep musk and spice over dark chocolate, coffee, and caramel. The pepper has been trying to fight it’s way back into the mix too but it’s very subtle. I smoked this bad boy down to the very nub and experience no harshness at all. The burn line finished rather clean and sharp and despite a few waves I never once had to reach for my lighter. This is a bold, and powerful cigar that left me with a decent nicotine kick after the hour and a half it took to smoke it.

Overview:

I wasn’t expecting the Cubanacan Maduro to be as strong as it was, and it was a pleasant surprise. The cigar offers a great balance of bold flavors, and strength without going overboard in either direction. The flavors are just complex enough to keep me on my toes, but not overdone. The smoking experience is top-notch while the price point is well under what I’d shell out for the stick making it very box-worthy and a welcomed addition to my regular rotation. Now let’s get these in my local shops yeah?

Pairing:

Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea isn’t a stranger to Casas Fumando. It’s probably one of my favorite all-time porters, and one of my favorite beers in general to pair with cigars. The Victory at Sea is a 10% ABV Imperial Porter brewed with coffee and vanilla at the Ballast Point brewery in San Diego California. It’s a deep porter leading with some subtle tartness, spice, roasted malt, and very sweet coffee with a light mouthfeel finishing crisp and sweet with milk and vanilla and a coffee aftertaste. The spice, tart, coffee and malt paired wonderfully with the existing flavors in the Cubanacan Maduro while the sweetness added more greatness to an already great cigar.