Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 is light brown, with some darker freckles and a couple of thick veins. The seams are a bit raised and the head is finished off with a bit of a pigtail. There are two bands, both with a gold and burgundy color combination. The primary denotes the brand and the secondary denotes the line and sub-line. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of wood and earth while the foot brings musty cedar and light earth. The pre-light draw brings a light musty mixture of cedar, hay and dusty earth.
Seth: The Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 is a solid looking cigar. Nice dark Natural, somewhat Colorado colored wrapper. Veins throughout. Leather like in texture. Firm throughout with aromas of soil, tobacco, wood, spices and mocha.
John: The Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker that tears in half when opened. There is a primary Saga band along with a secondary Golden Age Yamasá band. I weighed the cigar at 11.7 grams and the humidity as measured by the HumidiMeter Pro was 62.6%. Aromas from the wrapper included chocolate and bread, with mild wood underneath. From the foot, I was getting chocolate and mild, musty tobacco.
Jiunn: The Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 has an oily Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper provide bread, nuts and cedar. Aromas from the foot tell of black pepper spice and spicy cedar. Cold draws reveal aged cedar and subtle nuttiness.

Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At a half inch in, the black pepper picks up a bit and a light mustiness joins the profile. The retrohale is musty, toasted cedar and earth. At an inch and a quarter, the mustiness is now paired with the toasted cedar and earth. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, paired with the mustiness and the black pepper is a bit behind. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with this dry hay and leather profile that is paired with some grass, tobacco and mineral earth flavors. Some peppery spices present with some clay qualities. Medium in strength and body.
John: My initial flavor impressions are sweet tobacco, dry hay and dry wood with hay into the post draw. I find the retrohale comprised of mild earth, bread and toasted wood to finish. Some mild chocolate develops on the retrohale as the first third settles in. The profile remains consistent for the remainder of the third.
Jiunn: The first third has some nice qualities and mediocre ones. I enjoy the mixture of minerals and baking spices, but not a fan of the slight tinge of char to them. I also prefer the roasted nuts to shine a bit more, instead of being in the background. The finish can use some help as the char is there, but it gives character as opposed to displeasing. Strength and body is medium.

Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the black pepper mellows a bit. At a quarter inch in, the earth gains a dustiness to it. The retrohale remains musty, toasted cedar and earth. At an inch in, the toast level picks up a bit. At an inch and a quarter, some dry hay joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the musty combination of toasted cedar and dusty earth is up front, with black pepper in the middle and dry hay and now a pine note in the background. The strength remains at slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third was fairly in line with that of the first. Dryer flavor profile. Bits of grass, hay, tobacco, mineral earth, peppery spices and leather. Medium in strength and body.
John: Mild wood leads off the second third, with chocolate at light-plus to follow and then bread, sweet tobacco and wood to finish. Earth joins the finish as the second third settles in. Like the first third, the profile remains stable for the remainder of the third.
Jiunn: I feel overall the same within the second third as the first third. The only material change is the minerals becoming slightly tinny. Aside from that, all the other notes are still there. Strength and body remains medium.

Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the pine note builds up a bit. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar and earth with a light pine note. At a half inch in, the black pepper has mellowed a bit. At three quarters of an inch in, the pine now is just showing up on the finish. At an inch in, the pine is now back to the main profile and right behind the cedar and earth while the black pepper also picks up a bit. At an inch and a quarter, the pine note is now even with the cedar and earth up front. As the cigar wraps up, the musty, toasted cedar and dusty earth are even up front with the pine note. The black pepper is a bit behind and some dry hay remains in the background. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
Seth: The final third is very similar to that of the first and second. Dryer flavor profile of tobacco, cedar, hay, grass, peppery spices with some clay and mineral earth notes. Medium in strength and body.
John: The final third leads with an almost smoked doppelbock tobacco and bread combination as wood takes up the center. A mild chocolate returns to join the wood as the last third settles in. Earth at light-plus strength combines with wood to lead off as the last third continues. Earth joins the finish at medium strength by the halfway mark.
Jiunn: The flavor profile still tells the same story. Mineral and baking spices dominate without enough softer notes to ease it out. Strength and body is overall still medium.

Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit off throughout, as there were sections of the wrapper that just didn’t want to burn. One correction was needed for that and the cigar went out once at the beginning of the second third which required a re-light.
Seth: Great burn from start to finish.
John: The burn had some unevenness in the first third. By the second third, a canoe had formed, requiring a touch-up to correct. The burn was mostly straight for the remainder of the review.
Jiunn: Burn performance was perfect. Even burn, ample smoke production, tight ashes and cool burning temperature.

Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Perfect draw.
John: The draw was at most 1/2 a notch towards the open spectrum, putting it in the ideal range for an amazing draw.
Jiunn: Draw performance was on point, providing the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, earth and mild black pepper. A light mustiness joined in a bit later. The second third saw some dry hay and a pine note join in. The final third saw the pine move around, settling at the front of the profile. There were some burn issues, with a decent amount of offset and a re-light required. The Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 had an average flavor profile throughout. The cedar, earth, black pepper and mustiness were the core for the first two thirds and then the pine in the final third created quite an interesting combination, but not enough to increase the enjoyment level. This is a cool concept of a vintage wrapper project. I didn’t find this one to be a winner, but I’m interested to see how future iterations differ.
Seth: The Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 was a solid cigar with a fairly enjoyable flavor profile. Not overly complex, but balanced and available at a nice price. It’s not a blend that has me calling back for it, and I still think Davidoff has a superior Yamasá offering in some vitolas, but still a solid release. I would be interested in hearing the opinion of the team on this. The A-Team.
John: I thoroughly enjoyed the review of the Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023. The first and second thirds were subdued, subtle, rich and engaging in the flavor combinations. The final third had a more intense earth to it that threw the balance off, and while pleasant, it didn’t harmonize for me in the same way the rest of the cigar had. The draw was perfect while the burn required a single correction for a canoe. I would happily smoke another Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 again. Total smoking time was nice slow burning 2 hours and 8 minutes.
Jiunn: The Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023 had some nice qualities (minerals and baking spice) but I didn’t enjoy the mixture of char and tininess of the earthiness. These notes were not overwhelming, but it was enough to go from having character to it tasting unpleasant. I’ll continue to search for a Saga that I enjoy. I know I’ll find one at some point.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.45

Cost/Point

$2.57

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$2.33

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.72

Cost/Point

$2.08

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.43

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Saga Golden Age Yamasá Limited Edition 2023