Pre-light Experience

The Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 Robusto comes in cellophane and did not have a UPC sticker. There is a primary Macanudo band, a secondary Vintage Maduro band, a cedar sleeve and a 2013 foot band. I weighed the cigar at 15.5 grams with the cedar sleeve, and 14.6 grams without. It’s worth noting that the secondary band and foot band also came off with the cedar sleeve when I weighed it. The humidity was 64.6% as measured by the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet tobacco and mild wood. From the foot, I could only pick out tobacco.

First Third

My first few puffs are flavors of tobacco, wood and mild spices. A mildly tannic wood settles into the post draw. As the cigar continues to settle in, sweet tobacco joins the front of the draw. Creamy, sweet tobacco and wood largely define the retrohale as the first third continues. Some light plus strength leather comes into the post draw some time later. Tannins on the post draw fall away as the cigar continues towards the halfway mark. Creamy, light plus strength spices and wood define the retrohale through the bottom half.

Second Third

Creamy, sweet tobacco starts the second third with spices and wood combining in the middle and a mildly tannic wood into the post draw. As the second third settles in, leather joins the post draw, at the same strength level as the first third. The profile continues to evolve with creamy wood leading and spices in the background as mildly tannic and dry wood finishes. Light plus earth moves into the center of the retrohale by the halfway point.

Final Third

Creamy leather gets the last third started with astringent wood in the center that lingers into the finish. Leather and mild earth also join the post draw as the last third settles in. The earth from the post draw moves up to medium minus strength as the cigar moves to the halfway point. Earth pushes into the center of the profile as the cigar continues in the bottom half.

Burn

The burn was razor straight through the review process with the ash holding on just over the one inch mark at times.

Draw

The draw was somewhat into the resistant spectrum, roughly 2-1/2 to 3 notches which puts it in the good scoring category for a draw.

Overall

The Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 Robusto had a promising start with balanced and restrained flavors in the first third. The second third almost reached the same level of complexity but unfortunately fell just short. I found the last third to be fairly flat compared to the rest of the cigar. The burn performance was perfect while the draw was somewhat into the resistant spectrum. Overall, I found the Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 Robusto to be quite pleasant to review, and despite the overall score I think it’s something I could see myself occasionally smoking. I think it was right on the cusp of moving up into the next scoring category. Total smoking time was a bit on the quick side for me at 1 hour and 33 minutes.

John McTavish

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$2.07

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 Robusto