Video review HERE.
This is the newest cigar from the good folks at Arandoza Cigars. This cigar is made in the La Zona factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. The wrapper is San Adreas Mexican maduro while the binder and filler are Nicaraguan. These will debut at this year's IPCPR in Las Vegas. This is a pre-release review.
The cigar is very well made and a beautiful shade of dark brown. It has an obvious oily wrapper and nice density.
The test draw after cutting the cap was very good with just a touch of firmness. Basically it was perfect.
The initial flavors at light up were strong coffee, black pepper rated at an 8 1/2, sweet grapefruit citrus, and graham cracker notes. Nice start.
About 3/4 inch in the cigar is already showing full bodied status. There are still plenty of sweet grapefruit citrus notes and now there are nutmeg notes to go along with it. The graham cracker notes are subtle and third in intensity. The nutmeg is quite heavy and noticeable. The finish is one of sweet cream with citrus notes. There is very little lingering black pepper at this point.
About 30 minutes in the burn is laser perfect. The sweet grapefruit citrus is the main flavor and the nutmeg notes are secondary. The graham cracker notes are now light cocoa notes. The coffee is not as strong as it started at the beginning of the cigar. The black pepper has ticked down just a touch. There is now more lingering pepper on the finish. The cigar is still full bodied and you can feel the ligero.
About 50 minutes in the citrus notes are still prominent but now there are a lot of earth tones and the coffee notes are still in play. The cocoa and nutmeg notes have gone away. The earth notes took their place. The finish is still mainly sweet cream with subtle citrus notes. The black pepper is lingering nicely on the palate.
76 minutes in the flavor notes are about like they were in the last segment but you now also have charred oak notes. The cigar is very full bodied with plenty of ligero. The finish now has more of the citrus notes on sweet cream and lingering black pepper.
The cigar ended at 88 minutes. The flavor notes are unchanged. This cigar has plenty of ligero for you power lovers. The cigar has been very enjoyable and this is, by far, the best Arandoza Cigar I've ever had. Look for these shortly after the IPCPR anywhere that carries Arandoza Cigars. Although the cigar made a major transformation at the midpoint the cigar continued to be very, very good. I really enjoyed this cigar and urge you to try them. You will not be disappointed.
Score: 92
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