JC Newman

June 25, 2022

Perla del Mar Maduro Toro (6 1/4 x 54)





Video review HERE.


(Description taken from jcnewman.com website)

Perla del Mar is a historic cigar brand that traces its roots to Cuba.  In 1905, four Cuban brothers started hand rolling cigars using tobacco grown on their family’s farm in Cuba.  They named their company Perfecto Garcia Brothers and called their cigars “Perla del Mar” because of the beautiful Caribbean waters that surround Cuba.  As the popularity and demand for their cigars grew, the brothers built a large cigar factory next to J.C. Newman’s El Reloj factory in Ybor City, Florida.  Perla del Mar was one of the leading premium cigar brands in the early 1900s.  J.C. Newman’s new Perla del Mar cigars honor the brand’s historic legacy. 

Perla del Mar features special, hand-selected, aged binder and long filler tobaccos from four distinct regions in the lush mountains of Nicaragua: Pueblo Nuevo, La Reina, Condega, and Jalapa. The maduro version uses a Connecticut Broadleaf (Maduro) wrapper.

Lastly, Perla del Mar cigars feature a Tampa-style press to help the natural flavors of its unique tobaccos to marry together and deliver an extremely satisfying smoke. 


Blend:

WRAPPER: Connecticut Broadleaf (Maduro)

BINDER: Nicaraguan

FILLER: Nicaraguan

FACTORY: J.C. Newman PENSA


Vitolas:

Toro: 6 1/4″ x 54 (REVIEWED TODAY)

Double Toro: 6″ x 60

Corona Gorda: 5 1/2″ x 46

Robusto: 4 3/4″ x 52


The cigar is dark and well made. It is box pressed. JC Newman calls this a "Tampa press". It has a nice feel in the hand.



The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were chocolate, citrus, citrus peel, brown sugar, nutmeg, and black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7 to 7 1/2. Nice dark start with sweetness.



At the first third (32 minutes) the burn is just a little off. I had light citrus and citrus peel, light brown sugar, light nutmeg, quite a bit of unsweetened chocolate and black coffee. There is still sweetness but there is more chocolate and black coffee. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is light citrus (very light) and chocolate with good lingering black pepper. The cigar is nice and a good basic maduro. It doesn't have a lot of sweetness but the chocolate notes are quite good. I rated the first third 92.




Moving through the second third (1 hour 8 minutes) the chocolate has changed over to a dark chocolate and it's still unsweetened. There is also plenty of black coffee. There is some light sweetness with a citrus/cedar type mix, a touch of citrus peel, and very little brown sugar. But the dark chocolate notes are quite nice and there is just enough sweetness to keep the cigar enjoyable. The cigar is still medium bodied. The finish is dark chocolate and nutmeg with good lingering black pepper. Eventhough the cigar changed from chocolate to dark chocolate it's still just as enjoyable. I held the score of 92.




The cigar lasted 1 hour 37 minutes. A very good burn time. The sweetness that was already rather low actually dropped allowing the unsweetened dark chocolate and black coffee to shine even more. The cigar is now medium to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. The lingering black pepper is very good. The black pepper has increased on the front end and is now at least 7 1/2. The cigar lost a little but it's still not bad. I rated the final third 90. I still think this is a good basic maduro cigar.




Overall Score: 91.33

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