Garo Habano Maduro Alto

By Daniel T. | March 10, 2010

Another notch in the Garo Habano belt today with the Maduro. You can read more about Garo Habano on their website (www.garohabano.com) and also take a look at the other reviews of this line on the site. The Maduro line comes in 4 Vitolas all in the 50+ Ring Gauge range and are all named after the various voices in a choir:

Baritone (4.5×52) – Tenor (5.5×52) – Alto (6×50) – Soprano (6.5×52)

Out of the Garo Habanos I’ve reviewed so far, this one had the most interesting flavor profile but was not the best in the burn department. I found that the description on their website was a little misleading, claiming the cigar to be full bodied when it never really passed the medium range for me. It also suggest a pairing with Cognac but I wouldn’t recommend that, check the pairing section at the bottom of the review. The notes mentioned on the site about the wonderful aroma and cocoa flavors are spot on. Read on to find out more about the cigar.

Cigar: Garo Habano Maduro
Drink: Mill Street Brewery Coffee Porter
Vitola: Alto (6 x 50)
Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Piloto Cubano
Price: $5.40 from the Garo Habano website
Burn Time: 2 hours

Construction:
• Very bumpy wrapper with two large veins
• A nice dark brown color but no oily sheen which I see on most Maduro’s
• Slightly messy triple cap
• Slightly springy and even firmness throughout
• Very open draw…

Burn:
• Very bad start, started to canoe, gave it an inch to fix itself but never did. Needed a major touch up
• After touch up, the burn was still wavy
• Another canoe at the halfway point but it fixed itself
• Big tunnel right at the band that caused the cigar to go out and needed a re-light
• More tunneling problems as I smoke through the last few inches, also having problems keeping it lit
• Needed another relight about 1.5 inches from the end
• Tunnels/Canoes seemed to affect both my samples, one of them had a hard time staying lit because of it

Smoke:
• Medium mouthful of smoke
• Good amount of resting smoke that gives off a nice aroma of smoky coffee

Ash:
• Very flaky
• The massive amount of flaking makes it very weak and little pieces of ash are falling off all over me
• Light grey in color

Tasting Notes:
• Dry aroma on the wrapper is sweet coca
• More sweet cocoa on the foot with an added hint of coffee
• Initial draws are strong notes of coffee and a hint of bitter cocoa
• The bitter cocoa flavors got stronger when I reached the band, leaving a nice finish on the palate
• The body started off mild and has approached the medium range near the end
• Retrohale throughout the cigar has been sweet tobacco with a small bite and short finish
• Harsh bitterness creeping in after the last relight

Final Thoughts:
The flavors on this cigar were quite enjoyable and the body and flavors kept getting better as the cigar burned. The burn issues were the main down side of this cigar and negatively affected the flavor. This was a good cigar and is comparative to some in the same price range. If it didn’t suffer from the burn issues I’d probably purchase a few more. I may give it another chance with the hopes that a different batch could have some better results.

Pairing Suggestions:
This cigar was a good pairing with the Mill Street coffee porter I had. It’s a light porter with mild flavors. I wouldn’t opt for anything strong or overly flavored since the cigar has plenty of flavors to offer. A good option would be a similarly light beer, a diet soda, water or a light red wine like Beaujolais. I would personally stay away from stronger drinks like scotch or cognac since this is a lighter cigar.