Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)
In 2016, Warped Cigars added a second size to its Corto line: a small 4 1/2 x 46 petite corona called the X46. A decade later, the company released a second X46, this time with a darker wrapper and a stronger blend.
The Corto Maduro X46 keeps the 4 1/2 x 46 box-pressed Rothschild shape, but the tobaccos are not identical. When Warped introduced Corto, it said it was the company’s first full-bodied blend, one made entirely of Nicaraguan tobacco. For Corto Maduro, the most notable change is that it uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper. While the filler blend is all-Nicaraguan, the Corto Maduro gets some added medio tiempo tobacco, designed to make the cigar stronger.
Medio tiempo is a priming, not a seed. In the field, tobacco plants used for handmade cigars are typically divided into four sections, from bottom to top: volado, seco, viso and ligero. As you move up the plant, the leaves get physically smaller and, in theory, stronger as they receive more sunlight than the lower leaves. For most plants, ligero is the top section of the plant and considered the strongest leaves of an individual plant. That said, some plants—I typically am told less than 10 percent of them—grow extra leaves up top, something referred to as medio tiempo.
While tobacco growers have known about medio tiempo for a while, the rest of the cigar world was largely in the dark until 2010. That year, Habanos S.A.—the company that sells Cuban cigars—introduced the Cohiba Behike BHK, which uses medio tiempo leaves, the first Cuban cigar to be explicitly marketed that way. Since then, some non-Cuban companies have marketed their own use of medio tiempo leaves, perhaps none more so than Warped.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Nicaragua American Cigars S.A.
Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Length: 4 1/2 Inches
Ring Gauge: 46
Shape: Pressed
MSRP: $12.95 (Box of 20, $259)
Release Date: April 2025
Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
The cigar is a dark brown and short. It is nicely made. It has a light feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good with a touch of firmness. The initial flavors at light up were a citrus/apple, a little brown sugar, chocolate, and light black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 8. Nice start.
At the first third (16 minutes) the ash was still intact and it looked firm. There is some tartness in the cigar coming from some citrus peel notes. The other notes of citrus, apple, and brown sugar are still there but you can get the citrus peel tartness coming through. There is the nice chocolate and black coffee at the base. The cigar is a sneaky medium to full bodied. The finish is chocolate with a little citrus influence and very good lingering black pepper. I rated the first third 94.
As I moved through the second third (34 minutes) the front end notes of citrus, apple, citrus peel, and brown sugar (which is close to a toffee) are working very well together. The mix is nice and a little more intense. The chocolate is still quite nice and the black coffee base. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. The cigar got a little better. I rated the second third 95.
The cigar lasted 50 minutes. The black coffee rose a little in the final third. It affected the intensity of the sweet notes. The cigar is very close to full bodied. The finish is unchanged. I rated the final third 94. This is another good cigar from Warped. They rarely disappoint.
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