Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada is light brown and has some prominently raised, knotty veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are three bands, all in a flat black and gold color combination. The primary is the common design across the lines that carries the company name. The secondary denotes the line name and just under that is a sleeve that runs down to the foot and denotes the company name. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of cedar, cereal and earth while the foot brings a mellow mix of cedar, breadiness and earth. The pre-light draw brings more of the cedar, bread and earth along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada is a nice looking cigar in hand. I love the coloring on the bands against the Colorado wrapper. The wrapper shows some light marbling, and it is more Colorado, but showing Colorado-Maduro aspects. It has that classic coloring for Aganorsa. There are medium sized veins present throughout, and the cigar has a leather texture. There is a rich aroma on the foot of cocoa, earth, raisins, tobacco and spices, and the wrapper gives off leather, tobacco and roasted nut flavors.
John: The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada comes in cellophane, has a UPC sticker with the cigar information and an integrated tear space so it remains intact when opened. The cigar is double banded along with an ornate paper sleeve covering about half the cigar. The primary band reads Aganorsa Leaf and the secondary band reads 25 Aniversario. Both the UPC sticker and the secondary band appear to be applied somewhat unevenly. I weighed the cigar at 18.3g with the paper sleeve sleeve on and 17.6g with the sleeve off. I measured the humidity with the CigarMedics HumidiMeter Pro at 60.7%. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet, mild bread with some mild damp wood underneath. Out of the foot, I picked up sweet tobacco, bread and wood.
Jiunn: The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada has a near Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. The wrapper feels of good quality, providing a nice oily sheen on my fingertips. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas tell of heavy barnyard, funky cheese and stank feet (basically all the good stuff).

Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with decently toasted cedar, bold black pepper and some earth. At a half inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit and a mild cereal note joins the profile. The retrohale is decently toasted cedar, lightly zingy black pepper, earth and some cereal. At an inch and a quarter, the black pepper picks back up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the decently toasted cedar is up front, with the black pepper a bit behind. Earth in the middle of the profile with some cereal in the back half of the profile. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with musty barnyard and rich earth notes. There is a tobacco sweetness present with the cigar, and I am getting touches of leather, coffee and sweet spices. It is a balanced cigar smoking at a level between medium and medium-full.
John: Through the first few puffs of the first third, I get grass and hay with dry wood on the finish. That dry wood lingers through the post draw. On the retrohale, a combination of cinnamon, pepper and dry wood all appear at medium strength, with the pepper intensifying through the post draw to medium-plus. Roughly 10 minutes in, the pepper recedes to medium-minus strength but lingers on the palate between puffs like hot sauce. Moments later, earth joins the finish at medium strength. Some creaminess begins working into the retrohale, accenting the wood. At roughly the one inch mark, the pepper suddenly falls away and is replaced by creamy dry wood. As the cigar progresses towards the halfway point of the first third, dry wood falls to a background note as creamy wood and mild earth drive the profile. Through the bottom half, toasted cedar and earth combine to define the post draw.
Jiunn: The first inch or so has the vibe of being subtle and balanced. Mineral is the primary component with biscuits, cedar and nutmeg surrounding it. Past that mark, leathery tannins come through. Retrohaling gives more of the minerals and introduces a mellow red pepper spice. The finish is medium/medium plus with lingering leather tannins and cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third, the black pepper mellows again. At a half inch in, the pepper mellows a bit more. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth with light amounts of black pepper and cereal. At an inch in, the earth picks up a bit. At an inch and a half in, the black pepper increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth a bit behind, black pepper in the middle of the profile and some cedar in the back half. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third shows a rise in the spice notes. Rich earth is still present with musty barnyard and seasoned wood notes. Leather, coffee and cocoa powder present. Sweet spices on the finish with some mineral and herbal qualities. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: The second third kicks off with creamy wood leading off, joined by sweet tobacco and accented by citrus sweetness, as dry wood defines the post draw. As the second third continues, some chocolate works its way into the retrohale, though it is pushed down by medium-strength dry wood. Light pepper returns to the finish and post draw as the second third moves on. Approaching the halfway point, the post draw gains earth, which increases in strength to medium and threatens to take over. Mild char on the post draw acts as an accent note to the earth in the bottom half.
Jiunn: There’s a tinny aspect to the minerals within the second third. This especially disrupts the softer flavors of biscuits but highlights more of the cedar wood. Strength and body remains medium.

Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the black pepper has moved into the back half of the profile with the cereal. At a half inch in, the earth is now right behind the toasted cedar. The retrohale is now just heavily toasted cedar and earth. At an inch in, the toast level becomes pretty heavy and some minerality joins the profile. As the cigar wraps up, the heavily toasted cedar is up front, with earth right behind and black pepper, cereal and minerality in the back half of the profile. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third is a continuation of the second third. Rich earth with musty barnyard and seasoned wood notes. Leather, coffee, nuts and cocoa powder present. Sweet spices with stronger mineral notes on the finish. Herbal qualities present as well. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: The last third gets going with creamy, dry wood as wood and earth combine at medium strength through the post draw. The profile remains largely unchanged to the halfway point. Through the bottom half, sweet tobacco mixes into the start of the puff.
Jiunn: The final third has the same tinny/metal like minerality as the second third. The minerals at this point taste a bit sharper, further devaluing the other flavors. Strength and body finish the same medium.

Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada

Burn

Aaron: The burn was wavy throughout and the cigar seemed to struggle to burn as smoke production was down on some draws. The cigar went out once in each third, requiring re-lights.
Seth: The burn was solid throughout. Not great, but not bad. Solid for Aganorsa.
John: The burn started out wavy in the first third, becoming increasingly uneven. In the second third, the cigar spontaneously went out, requiring a re-light. The burn stayed straight until the halfway point of the last third, where it stalled and went out, requiring another re-light. The burn continued to stall through the remainder of the last third but never fully went out again.
Jiunn: Burn performance was spot on. Even burn, tight ashes and cool burning temperatures.

Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was perfect from beginning to end.
John: I measured the draw to 50 inches of water with the CigarMedics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be 1.5 to 2 notches towards the resistant spectrum. As I smoked partly into the first third, the draw opened to one notch towards the resistant spectrum, which put it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: The draw was slightly snug for my taste. Not a big deal as it did not hinder the flavor delivery.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with decently toasted cedar, bold black pepper and some earth. Some cereal joined a bit later. The second third saw the pepper mellow and the earth pick up a bit. Later, the black pepper increased a bit. The final third saw the pepper mellow to the back half of the profile and the earth increased some more. Some minerality also joined the profile. The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada had a nice start, as the flavor profile was well rounded. It took a step down in the second third as the flavors lost their balance and remained that way for the rest of the smoking experience. The burn likely contributed to the degradation of the profile as three re-lights were required. Overall, not a great showing for this premium priced offering. The burn issues just shouldn’t be occurring in an offering of this stature and I’m curious to see what the other experienced.
Seth: The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada was a good cigar. It was nice to see the Aganorsa qualities return in this blend. It delivered a balanced flavor profile with bits of sweet tobacco, sweet spices, musty barnyard and rich earth qualities. This cigar is not worth $30.00, but it’s one of the better recently released Aganorsa blends. I am not sure if the company is on the rise to where they were years ago, but I would love to see that from them. I would come back to this cigar, but it would not be for smoking now. I would love to see how these cigars age.
John: The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada offered a mostly consistent but somewhat linear profile, with creamy wood, mild earth and moments of sweet tobacco and citrus accenting the experience. The retrohale provided occasional bursts of chocolate, baking spice and pepper, but these were often subdued by a persistent dry wood and earth combination, especially in the post draw. While the draw was excellent and ideal after opening up early on, the burn performance required two re-lights and detracted from the overall experience. Overall it was a forgettable experience for a limited release. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 37 minutes.
Jiunn: Let’s first get to the question I want answered the most. Is this Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada worthy of an anniversary? The answer is no, but it’s not a resounding no. While this blend does a good job of not being overtly sharp and tannic like what most Aganorsa Leaf has been the past few years, it hasn’t touched anywhere near the realm of the good old days. It is however a nice step forward as this profile showed decent composure in balance of flavors. At least there is promise now.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.70

Cost/Point

$5.26

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.87

Cost/Point

$4.37

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.35

Cost/Point

$5.61

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.95

Cost/Point

$5.04

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario 25 Edición Limitada