Stogie Reviews: Mederos Fifty 1 — Robusto

Mederos Cigars is a new outfit that debuted at the 2009 IPCPR Trade Show in New Orleans. Named for Cuban-born Carlos Mederos, the cigars are rolled in Estelí, Nicaragua, using tobacco from Mederos’ Estelí farm.

Mederos’ story reads like the history of so many cigar makers of Cuban descent. In Cuba, Carlos worked alongside his father and grandfather in a cigar factory but eventually left the island in 1983 to make a better life for his family in the United States. Never forgetting his cigar roots, he ended up purchasing his own farm in Estelí in 2006.

The result of his journey is a Nicaraguan puro that comes in four sizes, all with a ring gauge of 50: Fifty 1 (robusto), Fifty 2 (toro), Fifty 3 (torpedo), and Fifty 4 (double corona). For this review I smoked a few samples of the five-inch robusto size.

It features a corojo wraper from Jalapa, Nicaragua, that is slightly dry in appearance with many small veins. The robusto feels firm to the touch and well-constructed.

Once lit, I find a medium-bodied smoke with distinct sweet cedar flavors and a cinnamon spice. While it”s not overly complex, it does have a sweet-and-spicy characteristic commonly found in a Cameroon-wrapped smoke.

With the exception of the defining flavors growing slightly stronger as the cigar progresses, there is little variation from start to finish. Fortunately, construction is excellent with a stable gray ash and  an easy draw.

Available for around $6, there’s a lot to like about the straight-forward flavors of the Mederos Fifty 1. No, you won’t be blown away by complexity, but you will appreciate its pleasant and balanced profile.

Mr. Mederos should be proud of his first creation, which earns a most respectable rating of three and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys