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Macanduo Maduro Vintage 1997

KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
So a buddy of mine just emailed me about this new cigar coming out. I know MACs don't have a huge fan base on here, but I am a fan of Maduros, so I had to do a little bit of research, and this is what I've found:


Macanudo Vintage cigars have been around since the 1970s, but brand owner General Cigar Co. has just completed a version with an entirely new twist.

The Macanudo Maduro Vintage 1997 is the first Macanudo Vintage made with a maduro wrapper. The key component in the cigar is Connecticut broadleaf that is 13 years old. Combined with a spicy blend of internal tobaccos, the result is a cigar that’s far more flavorful and intense than other Macanudo maduros.

“It’s the first ever maduro under the Macanudo Vintage line,” said Debo Mukherjee, vice president of marketing for General Cigar. “It really is a celebration of Macanudo, our flagship brand.”

The wrapper used to make these cigars is part of
General’s special tobacco inventory, or library. Beginning in 1984, the company began saving tobacco from certain harvests, 50 bales of each chosen tobacco crop. The broadleaf used for these cigars was harvested in 1997, and since 2003, when General began fermenting and processing the tobacco, has been checked repeatedly.

The cigar is the brainchild of Edmundo Garcia, tobacco operations manager for General Cigar Dominicana in Santiago, Dominican Republic. “We fermented, then sorted the tobacco, and selected the best,” said Garcia, who has been with General since 1996, the year before the wrapper was harvested.

The Macanudo Vintage Maduro 1997 has a blend that is very different from regular Macanudo Maduros. While the two share a similar wrapper leaf, the traditional Macanudo Maduro is made with a Connecticut Habano binder and a blend of Dominican and Mexican filler tobacco. The Macanudo Maduro Vintage 1997 cigars are made with a binder leaf from Talanga, Honduras, (on a farm once owned by UST, but now owned by the Plasencia family) and a three-nation filler blend consisting of Brazilian Mata Fina, Nicaraguan ligero and two types of piloto Cubano from the Dominican Republic.
The first release of the Macanudo Vintage Maduros will be uniquely packaged. The cigars will have metal bands near the head. The thick, beveled, silver and gold bands look a bit like fancy napkin rings (see photo), and have considerable heft. The cigars will have a second band made of paper near the foot. General has dubbed the metal band Reserva Dorado, for gold reserve.

The band has a hint of golden color, but is mostly silver in hue. In addition to dressing up the packaging, the eye-grabbing rings have some practical uses as well. “The leaf, once it’s aged so much, it becomes delicate,” said Mukherjee.

The big, fat and curved ring allows one to hold the cigar without touching the band. It also serves as a gauge—the band stays snug to the cigar at proper humidity, but grows loose should the cigar become a bit dry, and if over humidified the cigarwill plump up against the band like a sausage.

I was gonna ask if anyone has tried these...but since they don't come out till September, guess no one hasn't. Anyways...if someone has a chance to smoke one, let me know what they think under this thread. Thanks!

"Long ashes my friends."

Comments

  • VulchorVulchor Posts: 4,848 ✭✭✭✭
    Just smoked my first.....What a beautiful looking stick, appearance looks like a 20 dollar beauty. Dark to the point of being black and a well shaped stick with a great draw. The first notes are rather one dimensional like meat and charcoal---but the stick gets much better with about 10 minutes. New flavors develop as the cigar mellows out to a medium bodied stick with great flavors but nothing overpowering. The draw remained great and the burn was perfect throughout. Hints of sweet as well as a tad of pepper and wood were noted. I would love to try this again and its a great looking cigar if your trying to impress some buddies who arent big BOTLs. I imagine some age would be even nicer to these as well...great potential here.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the review, as soon as I find one of these I might give it a try. Sounds like something I might like.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • t_evan50t_evan50 Posts: 1,725
    Just ordered 5 of these from Ccom. Can't wait to try these beauties.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    good deal, I believe this is the first vintage maduro that they came out with. let me know what u think of them.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • t_evan50t_evan50 Posts: 1,725
    Will do. Probably let them rest for at least 2 weeks tho.
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