I know what you are all thinking...the Czar smoked a Macanudo!?!? I did my friends, I did. In order to keep you up to speed on what I am thinking I will leave no cigar unsmoked. I noticed these a week or so ago, but only got around to smoking it today. It is kind of like the milk in the fridge that is approaching it's use by date, you look at it and you say I have a couple of days left. Then all of a sudden you are out of time and milk gets put on everything for that day so you don't waste it. This cigar is kind of like that, it has been sitting there at my B&M and I have looked at it and looked at it, but always kept saying I have some time. Well today I decided the time was running out, and in the interest of keeping my reviews fresh and pertinent to new cigars in the industry I had to smoke and review it before someone else got to it.
The cigar itself is kind of rough looking, the wrapper is toothy and veiny and the head has an oddly rounded shape. An inspection shows me nothing out of the ordinary and I am relieved because many Macs of recent vintage have been rolled way too tight and have been nearly impossible to smoke. The pre light aroma has all of the barnyard qualities that only a cigar smoker can appreciate. The pre light draw is a little sour, but shows some coffee flavors.
The cigar opens with a profile that is not particularly deep or complex, but it does have some nice blasts of coffee and earth in the opening moments. At the back of the palate there is a bit of a chemical/metallic taste that is slight, but not what I am looking for. The draw is a dream, at least by recent Mac standards. The burn is even and a nice white ash is forming as it draws down.
The first half of the smoke shows little development. The main profile still has some coffee flavors, but they are becoming charred. There is still an earthy tone here that holds the weak profile together as well as it can. At the back of the palate some of the metallic notes have gone away, and a somewhat bland papery quality has come forward that is accompanied by inconsistent blasts of pepper. The draw continues to be above average and the burn is still strong.
The final half of the cigar is better, but still middling. The profile continues to have some coffee flavors, but there are thin presentations of earth and dark wood here as well. At the back of the palate there are still some papery flavors and pepper, but there is no cohesion to this area of the smoke. The draw and burn remained strong throughout.
The finish had a resurgence of metallic flavors, but there were some coffee remnants here as well. This cigar was by no means impressive, but it was not awful. Perhaps some aging would be beneficial. What I can say is, it appears that General may have solved some of their recent quality issues in terms of construction.
Appearance- 87 a rough looking smoke
Taste- 82 a below average taste experience
Construction- 91 this cigar smoked very well
Strength- 86 a middling medium that could use some more power
Overall- 86.5 slightly above average based on construction
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