Cigar Review: Quesada Oktoberfest Bavarian

I happened upon this stick at a local shop and couldn’t resist the dark, oily wrapper, the considerable heft, and a price tag around $7.25 a stick. I chose the smaller of the two sizes, a 52-ring gauge smoke that’s 5.5 inches long.

The limited edition did not disappoint. It’s a Dominican puro, but like so many cigars from the Dominican Republic these days, the Oktoberfest has little in common with what many of us think of as the light, toasty, typical smoke from that country.

The flavors are dark, rich, and full. Strength is medium to full, though light on nicotine punch.

From the first, the cigar produces smoke like a three-alarm fire. Quesada—which cleverly incorporated the German flag’s colors in the band along with its trademark tobacco leaf Q—promotes it as a cigar to pair with Oktoberfest-style beer. I’m not much of a beer drinker, so I can’t comment on that. I have smoked mine with coffee, and I can say that is a great match.

The Bavarian is a complex experience with flavors of dark cherry, burnt coffee, and an occasional bitter bite that sets them off well. The last third injects some tobacco sweetness into the mix.

The only negative was the burn. As you might expect, the wrapper didn’t burn as easily as the filler and binder and several touch-ups were necessary along the way.

This cigar strikes me as a good candidate for aging. A few years in the humidor could lead to an even smoother smoke.

If you see the Bavarian, or the larger Uber, and, like me, can’t resist, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It earns four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: @WMThorne