Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)
Just prior to the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show came word of a new limited edition cigar by Casa Cuevas Cigars known as La Mandarria. It was earlier this year when Casa Cuevas Cigars was the victim of a major robbery to their Miami, Florida warehouse that wiped out a good chunk of their inventory. The warehouse was broken into using a sledgehammer (La Mandarria in Spanish). La Mandarria pays homage to how Casa Cuevas overcame this adversity.
Casa Cuevas Cigars is a family run company highlighted by the father and son team of Luis Cuevas Sr. and Luis Cuevas Jr. The Cuevas family for many years has operated Tabacalera Las Lavas S.R.L. in the Dominican Republic. This factory has produced cigars for many leading manufacturers such as Toraño, Leccia Tobacco, and Gurkha. In 2016 the company decided to bring its own brand to market, Casa Cuevas Cigars with cigars coming out of their factory. Luis Jr. handles the company’s distribution operations in the U.S. and also worked with his father at the Las Lavas factory.
The cigar is finished with a coiled pigtail cap.
And an unfinished foot.
The cigar has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the pigtail cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were tangy and sweet; citrus/cedar, brown sugar, cinnamon, earthy nutmeg, and black coffee. At this point I'm tasting only the filler and binder. The wrapper will not come into play for a few minutes. There was a nice amount of black pepper rated at 7 1/2.
7 1/2 minutes after light up I reached the wrapper. Once there I had leather notes to add to the other flavors.
At the first third (38 minutes) the citrus/cedar notes have moved slightly back to allow the darker notes to move up. The leather and (now) pasty nutmeg are more detectable. There are still plenty of sweeter notes on the front end but now the darker notes shine also. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is pasty nutmeg, hints of cedar/citrus, leather, and a nice amount of lingering black pepper. I found the cigar quite interesting at this point. I rated the first third 94.
As I moved through the second third (1 hour 8 minutes) the sweet notes are now a cedar. There are still brown sugar and cinnamon notes. The pasty nutmeg, leather, and black coffee have risen. The cigar is a low grade medium to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. The cigar turned a little darker. I rated the second third 92.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 32 minutes. In the final third I had dry cedar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, decreased leather, and black coffee. The cigar is medium to full bodied. With a name like The Sledgehammer I expected it to be very full bodied but it's not. The finish is dry cedar, nutmeg, touch of brown sugar, and a nice amount of lingering black pepper. The cigar changed a little in the final third but not enough to change the score. I held the score of 92 for the final third. This is a cigar well worth trying. Another nice addition to the Casa Cuevas lineup.
Overall Score: 92.67
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