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Cigar Review: Quesada Oktoberfest Dunkel

2 Oct 2013

Arturo Fuente’s Solaris. Tatuaje’s Anarchy and Apocalypse. My Father’s El Hijo. Padrón’s 1964 Anniversary SI-15. Room 101’s Big Delicious. What do these have in common?

Quesada OktoberfestThey’re all part of the Microblend Series that’s soldby Smoke Inn, a Florida-based cigar retailer. The Microblend Series is inspired by the growing popularity of U.S. microbreweries, harnessing how “limited production quantities allow for a greater emphasis to be placed on quality and consistency,” according to the Smoke Inn website.

With that inspiration, it was only a matter of time before Smoke Inn partnered with Manuel Quesada to put new twist on one of Quesada’s most popular lines: Oktoberfest. Just in time for the German festival, Smoke Inn is now shipping the Oktoberfest Dunkel, named for the German word for “dark” that’s typically used to describe a dark lager.

“In the spirit of Oktoberfest, the Dunkel uses the same binders and fillers of the regular Oktoberfest release, with the exception of the wrapper,” reads a Smoke Inn press release. “A very select broadleaf maduro wrapper envelops this rich cigar with a slight underlying Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper at the foot, thus giving the appearance of a dark, rich Dunkel beer with a savory, foamy head.”

Dunkel is sold in one size (6 x 54) at a cost of $8.95 per single, or $134.25 per box of 15. It’s obviously a unique-looking cigar, which may be why Quesada chose to keep the band exactly the same as the regular Oktoberfest blend. Aside from the different wrapper at the foot, Dunkel’s other aesthetic properties include a tremendously oily exterior, pungent pre-light notes of earth and cocoa, and a dense, firm feel.

The initial profile is reminiscent of the original Quesada Oktoberfest with dark cherry, burnt coffee, and an occasional bitter bite. Sweet notes are more apparent on the aftertaste than each individual puff. But during the outset of the smoke—the one covered in the Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper—the texture is very creamy.

Spice and leather take center stage once the cigar passes into the broadleaf maduro phase. Here the Dunkel becomes more full-bodied with a little more nicotine kick. Perhaps not surprisingly, though, the creaminess prevails, rendering Dunkel one of those flavorful smokes with ample spice and complexity yet a creamy undertone.

All of the Quesada Oktoberfest Dunkels I smoked for this review exhibited admirable physical properties, and all were, quite frankly, a joy to smoke. While I’m no fan of pairing beer with cigars—as I’ve written before—the quality of this smoke is undeniable regardless of pairing. That earns it a solid rating of four stogies out of five.

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

Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

One Response to “Cigar Review: Quesada Oktoberfest Dunkel”

  1. Andy Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 12:34 pm #

    Seeing them all listed in the same graf… Smoke Inn's micro series has some great sticks. This one sounds like a winner, too.