Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the Alec Bradley Trilogy Exotic Maduro has various shades of medium and dark brown with some dark lines from the veins and some dark spots. The seams are a bit raised while the caps are well applied. The band is orange, pale yellow and gold and denotes the company, line and subline. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of wood and earth while the foot brings the same anise biscotti note I got from the Authentic Corojo. The pre-light draw is very subtle and brings light amounts of cedar and anise.

First Third

The cigar begins with dark wood, earth and black pepper. At a quarter inch in, the dark wood becomes more defined as oak. At a half inch in, the oak gains a light toast. The retrohale is toasted oak, dry earth and mild black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is slightly ahead of the earth with black pepper a little further behind and now light chalkiness in the background. The strength was right at medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the toasted oak and dry earth are now even. At a half inch in, the chalkiness has departed and a light creaminess has joined in. The retrohale is now toasted oak, dry earth and a slightly zingy black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the black pepper morphs into baking spice. As the third comes to a close, the profile is toasted oak and dry earth even up front with baking spice a bit behind and light creaminess in the background. The strength remained at medium.

Final Third

The final third is a continuation of the second third. The retrohale is now musty, toasted oak and dry earth with mild baking spice. At an inch and a quarter, the toast level increases. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is heavily toasted oak and dry earth up front with light amounts of baking spice and creaminess in the background. The strength remained at medium.

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy at times and the cigar went out four times. Three times in quick succession at the start of the second third and once in the middle of the final third.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The cigar began with dark wood, earth and black pepper. The dark wood transitioned to oak fairly quickly and then gained a light toast. Some light chalkiness joined at the end of the third. The second third saw the chalkiness depart and a light creaminess join in and the pepper transition to baking spice. The final third saw the toast level become pretty heavy. The burn was a bit of a problem as it required four re-lights. The Alec Bradley Trilogy Exotic Maduro had an average flavor profile throughout. Very oak and dry earth dominant, but the baking spice addition, did help out a little bit. Quite a difference between this Maduro and the Corojo, and I wouldn’t see myself coming back to this iteration in the line.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.20

Cost/Point

$2.88

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Alec Bradley Trilogy Exotic Maduro