Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Matilde Para José Seijas is light brown, with the raised veins carrying a darker color in some areas. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being white, blue, gold and red and denoting the line, who the cigar was made for, the blend number and the release year, which notes 2024. The foot band is blue and gold and denotes the line. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of cedar and earth, while the foot brings cedar, syrupy stone fruit sweetness, earth and some spiciness. The pre-light draw is cedar, dusty earth and floral notes with a mid-level spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Matilde Para José Seijas is a beautiful cigar that is finished with a Natural and Colorado colored wrapper. It has some antique brown with reddish hues throughout. There are small to medium sized veins present, and it has a nice oily texture. It is firm throughout, finished with a lovely cap, and has aromas of leather, tobacco, wood and earth on the foot. The wrapper has more spices, leather and tobacco.
John: The Matilde Para José Seijas comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker with cigar information, featuring an integrated tear space so it remains intact when opened. The cigar has a primary Para José Seijas band, along with a foot band reading Edición Limitada para José Seijas. I weighed the cigar at 20.3 grams and measured the humidity at 65.1% with the Cigar Medics Humidimeter Pro. For aromas, I was getting sweet bread and clover from the wrapper. From the foot, I picked up sweet tobacco, some raisin sweetness and mild wood.
Jiunn: The Matilde Para José Seijas has an even Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas consist of abundant notes of perfumey jasmine flowers and barnyard.

Matilde Para José Seijas

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with cedar, bread, earth and some black pepper. At a quarter inch in, some mustiness joins the profile as the black pepper becomes very mellow. The retrohale is lightly toasted cedar, mustiness and earth. At an inch in, the bread has mellowed a fair amount and the mustiness has increased. As the third comes to a close, the profile is musty cedar up front, with earth a bit behind, bread in the middle of the profile and a light amount of black pepper in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third begins with leather and oak notes. There are some baking spice notes present along with some earth and mocha qualities. Coffee beans and cocoa with touches of honey, mushrooms and musty wood. In terms of strength and body, I would classify the cigar as a solid medium.
John: The first third begins with mild sweet tobacco combining with wood. As it settles in, wood moves into the post draw and is joined by delayed mild pepper through the retrohale, with mild chocolate joining shortly after. Herbal earthiness enters the post draw as the third continues, later appearing on the retrohale. In the bottom half, creamy herbal tobacco leads off, with herbal, mildly dry wood through the finish.
Jiunn: The first third’s flavor profile is highly nuanced and complex. Vanilla wafers, honey, chestnuts, cedar, pencil lead minerality and even a hint of… bubble gum? Retrohaling introduces spice in the form of dried red pepper spice as well as further highlights the minerals. The finish is clean with lingering aged cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Matilde Para José Seijas

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the mustiness gains a heavy mushroom influence. At a quarter inch in, the cedar gains a bit of toast. At a half inch in, the earth and toast levels increase a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, mustiness, earth and some black pepper. At an inch in, the toasted cedar separates itself from the mustiness and takes a bit of a lead in the profile. At an inch and a half in, the mustiness mellows a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth and mushroom mustiness a bit behind, black pepper in the back half of the profile and some bread in the background. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver that musty wood and mushroom quality with touches of oak, leather, mocha and cream. Coffee beans and cocoa are present along with some baking spices and honey on the finish. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy herbal tobacco continues into the second third, with mild dryness in the center of the profile carrying through the finish and post draw. A delayed dry wood appears on the post draw. As the third settles in, light-plus strength earth moves into the post draw. Mild chocolate returns to the retrohale as the cigar reaches the halfway point. Through the bottom half, heavier earth settles on the palate.
Jiunn: The second third loses out on some complexities and nuances but retains a flavorful profile. A combination of vanilla wafers, minerals and chestnuts remains with added leather. Strength and body remains medium.

Matilde Para José Seijas

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the mustiness mellows some more. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and mustiness with some lightly zingy black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper increases a fair amount and has a long finish. At an inch and a half in a decent vegetal note joins the profile. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth and black pepper a bit behind, the vegetal note in the middle of the profile and some mustiness and bread in the back half. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third is in line with the second. Musty wood and mushroom qualities with touches of oak, leather, mocha and cream. Coffee beans and baking spices are present on the finish with touches of honey. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The final third opens with creamy earth, which intensifies to medium strength through the finish and defines the post draw. Acrid earth appears on the finish as the cigar goes out and, after a re-light, transitions into dry earth. Mildly bitter and acrid earth dominate the post draw through the bottom half.
Jiunn: The final third further reduces the complexities such that it’s now mainly minerals, chestnuts and leather. It’s nothing offensive in the flavors but does taste mundane. Strength and body finish the same medium.

Matilde Para José Seijas

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout, but the cigar did go out once in the final third, requiring a re-light. The ash held on in about two inch increments.
Seth: The burn was amazing from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight, though smoke production seemed to struggle early on. It remained straight through the second third but felt like it was stalling before going out, requiring a re-light. In the final third, the cigar went out again, requiring another re-light.
Jiunn: Excellent burn performance, providing an even burn, tight ashes and cool burning temperatures.

Matilde Para José Seijas

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: Draw was perfect throughout.
John: Measured at 46 inches of water with the Cigar Medics draw machine, the draw was ½ to one notch toward the resistant spectrum, putting it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: Excellent draw performance, giving the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with cedar, bread, earth and some black pepper. Some mustiness joined in pretty quickly and the pepper mellowed. The bread later mellowed and the mustiness increased. The second third saw the mustiness gain a heavy mushroom component and the cedar gained some toast. Later the earth and toast increased and the mustiness mellowed. The final third some the mustiness mellow some more and the black pepper increased a fair amount. Later a vegetal note joined the middle of the profile. The Matilde Para José Seijas had an average flavor profile throughout. There was a fair amount of transitions, but nothing that ever lead to a great profile. Some might find a profile they enjoy, but it just wasn’t a fit for me and I don’t really see myself coming back to this one.
Seth: The Matilde Para José Seijas is a lovely cigar and one that I would come back to in the future. The flavor profile was wonderful throughout and the construction and draw were perfect. I love that the blend is limited annually and also limited to one vitola. I believe it is a cigar that will age very well, and it was a balanced stick from beginning to end. It is approachable to many smokers, and when you take your time smoking the cigar you really pick up on all the flavors. Looking forward to future releases.
John: The Matilde Para José Seijas started out with an engaging mix of sweet tobacco, wood, chocolate and herbal components. The second third introduced more dryness and earth, with the profile losing some sweetness. The final third was dominated by acrid and bitter earth, which, along with multiple re-lights, brought the experience down. While the draw was excellent, the subpar burn and final third significantly impacted the overall enjoyment. I may pick up another one on my travels to see how the profile performs without any burn issues, but otherwise this isn’t something I’d return to. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Jiunn: This Matilde Para José Seijas is a great cigar to honor José Seijas. Matilde doesn’t release a lot of new cigars and for good reason, as the core offerings do a good job of varying ranges in flavor and body. So when a new cigar is released, I definitely take note and look forward to it. The Para José Seijas captures a plethora of nuanced and complex flavors in which I looked forward to each draw. This is well worth a look and I’ll gladly put it into rotation.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.50

Cost/Point

$3.27

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.17

Cost/Point

$2.51

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.35

Cost/Point

$3.36

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$2.64

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Matilde Para José Seijas