Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the La Riqueza SE 2024 is between light and medium brown and has some thick, raised veins along with some tooth. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is the traditional design for the brand and in a red, gold and white color combination. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of wood and earth, while the foot brings cardboard and light stone fruit sweetness. The pre-light draw brings dry cedar and dusty earth.
Seth: The La Riqueza SE 2024 is a good-looking cigar. The maduro wrapper is on the lighter side of the spectrum, and it has a light milk chocolate coloring. There are small to medium sized veins present throughout, and it is firm in hand. There is a leather-like texture with aromas of earth, tobacco, wood and spices.
John: The La Riqueza SE 2024 came in cellophane and had a retailer UPC sticker. I weighed the cigar at 11.3 grams. For aromas, I was picking up on musty wood and dry tobacco from the wrapper. Out of the foot, I was able to pick up hay and wood.
Jiunn: The La Riqueza SE 2024 has a Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are decently pressed, seams visible but pretty tight, bunch and roll slightly lumpy and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of cedar, star jasmine and nuts.

La Riqueza SE 2024

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with dry, toasted cedar and earth. At a half inch in, a mild black pepper joins the profile. At three quarters of an inch in, some leather joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth, leather and mild black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the dry toasted cedar and earth are even up front, leather in the middle of the profile and black pepper in the background. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third begins with some dry earth notes that are paired with some popcorn flavors. I am getting touches of wood as well, and it has a faint coffee bean finish. Soft spices are present as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: A meaty, dry wood opens the first third with wood and mild tobacco to finish. The retrohale is made up of sweet tobacco, mildly dry wood to follow and finish. As the first third settles in, the profile finds a balance between wood, sweet tobacco and musty tobacco. Mild cinnamon moves into the center of the retrohale as it approaches the halfway point.
Jiunn: The first third has a great amount of sweetness in roasted nuts, followed by hay and milk coffee. Retrohaling gives a nice break from the sweetness, providing sharp and bitter cedar. The finish shows lingering stale cedar. Strength and body is medium.

La Riqueza SE 2024

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, some wood bitterness joins the profile, even with the leather. At a half inch in, the wood bitterness mellows a bit, but has a long finish. The retrohale remains toasted cedar, earth, leather and mild black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the dry earth has taken a slight lead in the profile. At an inch and a half in, the wood bitterness morphs to more of a walnut shell bitterness and moves back to the middle of the profile. As the third comes to a close, the dry earth is a bit ahead of the dry, toasted cedar, with walnut bitterness and leather in the middle of the profile and light black pepper in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third is in line with the first. Popcorn and wood notes present with some dry earth, spices and coffee beans. It is still smoking at that medium level for strength and body.
John: Creamy tobacco starts the first third with wood, tobacco sweetness and light-plus bread in the center of the profile, as wood finishes and a delayed mossy earth comes through. As the second third settles in, earth joins the post draw. That profile remains consistent to the halfway point. I didn’t find any other changes through the bottom half.
Jiunn: The second third shifts the focus of the flavors to more stale cedar. The profile is still quite sweet and creamy, but the stale cedar is the prominent flavor. Strength and body remains medium.

La Riqueza SE 2024

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the walnut shell bitterness moves up to become even with the dry, toasted cedar. At a half inch in, the walnut shell bitterness mellows to the back half of the profile. The retrohale remains toasted cedar, earth, leather and mild black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the bitterness transitions back to wood and increases up to even with the toasted cedar again. As the cigar wraps up, the earth is a bit ahead of the dry, toasted cedar and wood bitterness, with leather in the middle of the profile and light black pepper in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third has a profile of wood, dry earth, spices and coffee beans. Softer popcorn notes in this third, and a touch of mineral qualities on the finish. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The last third begins with creamy tobacco and wood as mild, tannic wood and earth combine on the finish. Mustiness joins the wood in the center of the profile as the last third settles in. Mild bitterness is present on the finish through the bottom half, as the cigar starts to heat up.
Jiunn: The final third brings a hollow stone fruit but the main flavor is still stale cedar, followed by sweet and creamy roasted nuts. Strength and body remain medium.

La Riqueza SE 2024

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout, and the ash held on in one inch increments.
Seth: The burn was perfect from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the first third. Minor waviness appeared at times in the second third, but no intervention was required at any point.
Jiunn: Perfect burn performance providing an even burn, tight ashes and cool burning temperature.

La Riqueza SE 2024

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was perfect throughout.
John: The draw had some resistance to it, roughly 2-1/2 to 3 notches towards the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: The draw was also perfect, giving the best balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with dry, toasted cedar and earth. Some mild black pepper joined in fairly quickly and then some leather a bit later. The second third saw wood bitterness join in that later morphed to walnut shell bitterness. The earth then took a slight lead in the profile. The final third saw the walnut shell bitterness increase and then morph back to wood bitterness. Construction was absolutely perfect. The La Riqueza SE 2024 started pretty average as the profile was dry. From the second third on, when the bitterness joined in, the profile took a step down and remained that way. I can’t see this as the intended flavor profile for the cigar, so I’ll be curious what the others experienced to see if I had an outlier. As it sits now though, I won’t be returning to this cigar.
Seth: I am a fan of the Cazadores vitola, and have always enjoyed the Brown Label offering, but the La Riqueza SE 2024 did not impress. I felt the flavors lacking and one dimensional. The Broadleaf was not dominant enough, and you need a quality wrapper with a vitola of this nature. The popcorn flavors were some of the most dominant popcorn flavors I have experienced on a cigar, but there needed to be more. Draw and burn aside, this is not a cigar I would come back to and try. I’m not sure if we will smoke the Tuxtla offering, but given how Mexican wrappers are right now, I feel the outcome would be the same.
John: The La Riqueza SE 2024 had an engaging first third with flavors that reminded me of blends from decades past. I found the rest of the profile to be pleasant, but didn’t keep my interest in the same way with the flavors and combinations. The burn was perfect and the draw was somewhat into the resistant spectrum. I think Tatuaje puts out a lot of interesting cigars, and the La Riqueza SE 2024 just didn’t do enough for me to be something I’d return to. The price point is attractive for the market in 2025. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 57 minutes.
Jiunn: I’ve always felt like La Riqeuza is the step sibling of Tatuaje’s other core lines. This line typically has some nice and pleasant flavors, but it lacks cohesiveness of other broadleaf offerings from Tatuaje. For instance, I’ll always appreciate sweetness and creaminess of a cigar, but when the total package isn’t as focused and fuller in flavors, the La Riqueza SE 2024 is not something that I would want to come back to.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

4.68

Cost/Point

$2.35

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.91

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$1.90

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.91

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: La Riqueza SE 2024