Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is a medium brown with a red hue to it. There are a couple of medium sized veins that run down a good length of the cigar while the seams are smooth and fairly well hidden. There appears to be two well applied caps with the top cap being finished off with a tightly wrapped pig tail. There are two bands, both carrying the same brown and gold color scheme. The primary band is the standard Mombacho band while the foot band identifies the cigar as the Aniversario offering. The wrapper aroma is primarily leather with some barnyard mixed in while the foot is a very full cedar. The cold draw is primarily cedar, but has a slight cherry sweetness to it and a delayed spicy tingle on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Mombacho 10th Anniversary Magnifico has an attractive slick and silky medium brown wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed and seams are tight. Bunch and roll feels well done as there are no soft spots or hard spots and a uniformed give persists throughout. The pigtail cap is finished off with a deep double cap. Nosing the wrapper tells cedar, white pepper and nuts. Nosing the foot gives deeper notes of the same cedar, white pepper and nuts. Cold draw tells cedar and slight lip tingling white pepper.

First Third

Initial draws bring aged cedar and cream. The retrohale adds a slight black pepper component. At a quarter inch in, the aged cedar, cream and black pepper are all creating a very nice mix. At a half inch in, a nuttiness joins in with the cedar, cream and pepper combination. At an inch in, the cedar loses the aged note and the nuttiness has left the profile, but the cream and mild black pepper still remain. The retrohale is a very creamy cedar. As the third comes to a close, the cedar becomes bright and young while some cream and pepper are faint in the background. The strength in this third was right at medium.

First Third

First third’s opening shows full and balanced flavors of cedar, creamed sweetness and nougat nuttiness. Retrohaling gives deeper but still balanced notes of cedar, black pepper and mixed nuts. The finish is lengthy with lingering notes of minerals, cedar and mixed nuts. Strength almost creeps to medium-full and body at a consistent medium.

Second Third

As this third begins, the cedar remains up front with a slight mustiness and bitterness present in the background. At a half inch in, the cedar gains a bit of spice while the mustiness and bitterness go away. At an inch in, some cream comes back to the profile and lessens the spice on the cedar a bit. The retrohale carries a smooth and creamy general wood note. As the second third comes to a close, the cedar and cream really pair up for a nice finish. The strength in this third third was slightly above medium.

Second Third

Second third is still full of flavors that are balanced and nuanced. The profile becomes slightly mineral forward while still maintaining the core flavors of cedar, creamed sweetness and nougat nuttiness. The retrohale remains unchanged still providing balanced and deeper notes of cedar, black pepper and mixed nuts. The finish is still long and lingering with sharper cedar, minerals and mixed nuts. Strength is still pushing towards medium-full while body stays at a consistent medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, some mustiness comes in to mix with the cedar and cream. At a half inch in, the cream really increases while the cedar has morphed to a general wood note and the mustiness remains. At an inch in, a fair amount of bitterness joins in with the profile of wood, cream and mustiness. At an inch and a quarter, the cigar begins to heat up while the bitterness actually drops some and the wood, cream and mustiness continue on. As the cigar comes to a close, the profile really smooths out as the heat dissipates and wood and cream create a really nice mix. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

A couple transitions are worth noting within the last third. For one, the cedar delivery becomes sharp. Secondly, halfway through the last third, the strength intensifies to a steady medium-full. Aside from these differences, the mouth draw flavors are still full of minerals, creamed sweetness and nougat nuttiness. Retrohaling is still centered around cedar, black pepper and mixed nuts. The sharp cedar is also picked up on the lengthy finish, in addition to mixed nuts and minerals. Body stays at a consistent medium.

Burn

The burn was very straight through the first half of the cigar and then the wrapper on one side stopped burning and required a large touch up. After that, it was slightly wavy the rest of the way. The ash held on in about one inch increments.

Burn

The only downside to the burn was the first third’s performance. Due to an uneven burn, two touch-ups were required. Past the first third, the burn line corrected itself. Ashes held on tight, averaging 1.5 inch self tapped increments. The cigar burned slow and cool the entire smoking time.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issue with the smoking experience.

Overall

The cigar started out with a great profile that had some nice transitions and then things dropped off a bit as each third progressed. Performance was really good throughout which is always a plus. Being an anniversary cigar, I feel it should be a special cigar for the brand and I think this cigar meets that criteria. It’s another good cigar in the portfolio. Even though price doesn’t factor into our score, it’s worth noting that this cigar carries a premium price tag, but the cigar does earn it. If you’re a fan of Mombacho, this is a no brainer pickup, but even if you haven’t smoked anything from the brand, this would be one that would be a great introduction if the flavor profile is something that fits in your wheelhouse.

Draw

Slightly tight even cutting to the very end of the cap, but not so tight it inhibited from enjoying the flavors.

Overall

The Mombacho 10th Anniversary Magnifico is a cigar well worthy of it’s commanding price tag of near $20. A well balanced, complex, nuanced, transitioning cigar that will leave your palate well pleased throughout the entire smoking experience. The only downside is the rough patches in burn within two samples I smoked. But that is just a minor bump in otherwise a great example of a truly well blended cigar.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.87

Cost/Point

$2.91

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

8.20

Cost/Point

$2.43

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Mombacho 10th Anniversary Magnifico