Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The rectangle pressed Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild has a wrapper that is medium brown with visible but well pressed veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, both with a white, black and gold color combination. The primary carries the company name while the secondary denotes the line. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of wood and carboard while the foot brings cedar and hay. The pre-light draw brings aged cedar and floral notes along with a mild spiciness on my lips and the tip of my tongue.
Seth: FInished with a rough looking Broadleaf, the Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild has a nice maduro coloring. Medium sized veins present throughout the pressed cigar, and it has a leather texture as well. Aromas of rich earth, leather, tobacco and spices. Firm in hand.
John: The Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild comes in cellophane and did not have a UPC sticker. There is a primary Black Label Trading Co. band in black, on white, on black along with a secondary Madonna Negra band. For artisanal complications the cigar is box pressed. I weighed the cigar in at 10.5 grams, and the humidity as measured by the HumidiMeter Pro was 61.6%. Aromas off the wrapper included barnyard, earth and tobacco. Out of the foot, there was hay and sweet barnyard.
Jiunn: The Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild has a Colorado Maduro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper provide deep dark chocolate, berry jam, molasses and even bbq sauce (very unique). Aromas from the foot are less exciting, primarily giving dark chocolate. Cold draw reveals similar vibes to the wrapper aromas.

Team Cigar Review: Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with dry, toasted cedar, light earth and a faint floral note. At a quarter inch in, the cedar loses the dryness. At a half inch in, a light black pepper joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, light earth and floral notes with a touch of black pepper at the end. At an inch in, the floral note has departed. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front with earth in the middle and light black pepper and returning floral notes in the background. The strength was mild-medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with a flavor profile of rich earth with some leather and cocoa qualities. There are some stone fruit and baking spice notes present as well. Mocha quality on the finish. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Creamy, sweet tobacco starts the first few puffs, with mild black pepper and earth on the finish. A delayed chili pepper lingers between puffs at medium-full and there is wood and nuts just under that flavor intensity. A floral sweetness develops in the center as it continues. Chocolate joins shortly after. By the halfway point, a graham cracker mixes with the floral center at medium-full strength.
Jiunn: The initial draws give a surprising bit of black pepper spice. Once the spice settles in, heaps of dark chocolate, animal musk and subtle baking spices cover the palate. Retrohale gives equal parts black pepper and dark chocolate. The finish shows chocolate and baking spices. Strength and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the toasted cedar picks up in fullness. At a third of an inch in, the black pepper and earth are now even in the middle of the profile. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth. At an inch in, the earth picks up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth right behind. The black pepper and floral notes are in the background, and there is now a light menthol note joining as well. The strength bumped up to slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver a flavor profile of rich earth and leather with cocoa qualities. There are some mocha, stone fruit and baking spice notes. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Creamy tobacco and earth lead off the second third, with a dark fruit center and wood on the finish with some subtle dryness. Chocolate returns to the middle of the profile and lingers into the finish by the halfway point.
Jiunn: The second third is somewhat similar to the first third. Still medium strength and body but flavor-wise, there’s less chocolate and more subtleties in baking spices and animal musk. It almost feels like I’m not smoking a BLTC.

Team Cigar Review: Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the menthol note is now very faint. The retrohale is now toasted cedar with very light earth. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth with light amounts of black pepper, floral notes and menthol in the background. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
Seth: The final third delivers a flavor profile of rich earth and leather with cocoa qualities. Some baking spice notes on the finish. Medium-full to full in strength and body.
John: Creamy tobacco and earth again leads off, as earth and some minerality combine into the post draw. The profile settles into sweet tobacco and earth as it continues to the halfway point.
Jiunn: Final third shows no changes from the second third. The flavors are still quite subtle, with baking spices and animal musk. I still miss the richness in dark chocolate. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Team Cigar Review: Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy throughout, and the cigar went out twice, requiring re-lights.
Seth: Solid burn throughout.
John: The burn was straight through the entire review with no intervention required at any point.
Jiunn: Burn performance was perfect. Even burn, ample smoke production, tight ashes and cool burning temperature.

Team Cigar Review: Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Good draw from start to finish.
John: The draw was slightly into the resistant spectrum, roughly 1-1/2 to 2 notches. On a smaller ring gauge cigar, I personally prefer the draw more towards the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: The draw was great, giving the best balance of air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with dry, toasted cedar, light earth and a faint floral note. A light black pepper joined in fairly quickly. The second third saw a menthol note join the profile. The Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild had a nice start, with an interesting flavor combination, but by the second third, it had lost it’s novelty and was average the rest of the way. This is a very different flavor delivery based on my experience with the brand and while I enjoyed how it started, it just didn’t build on the profile to maintain that level of enjoyment. I would be interested in trying another vitola, but based on this experience, I’m not sure I would come back to this particular vitola in the line.
Seth: I kept asking if this Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild would be a better cigar in a different vitola after smoking. I wasn’t sure if increasing the ring gauge and or length could help the cigar. I found the cigar enjoyable for two thirds, but not really memorable and lacking a strong finish. It’s a small cigar too, so you get to the end pretty quick. At the time of this review, I felt like we were in a rough patch of cigars, so that could play an impact.
John: The Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild was a delight to smoke with flavor intensity ranging from light-plus up to medium-full at times but never causing palate fatigue. The burn was perfect while the draw was slightly into the resistant spectrum. I thoroughly enjoyed the review and for an anniversary release cigar the price point is extremely attractive. I’m not sure the short vitola allowed the cigar to fully develop and I’d be interested in trying this in the Corona Gorda or the Robusto. Total smoking time was a brisk 1 hour and 19 minutes.
Jiunn: As I mentioned earlier, this Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild didn’t show the typical BLTC profile. It certainly wasn’t as strong, and the flavors were much more subtle than what the brand typically shows. These are no bad things by any means, but in this situation, it provided an average experience, as the flavors weren’t that full.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$1.90

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.95

Cost/Point

$1.85

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

7.02

Cost/Point

$1.57

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.80

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Black Label Trading Co. La Madonna Negra Rothschild