Cigar Review: Macanudo Estate Reserve Series 2015 No. 9

At this point it is pretty cliche to point out that Macanudo has a reputation as a beginner’s cigar brand. Despite the knock, Macanudo has a lot a going for it: It’s easy to find, has reliably excellent construction, and features consistent flavors from cigar to cigar.

And yet General Cigar, which owns the Macanudo brand, seems to have been introducing new fuller-bodied Macanudo blends aimed at the more seasoned cigar smoker for at least as long as I’ve been writing about cigars. But the ubiquitous green and white Cafe line, a blend whose popularity is the reason Macanudo can lay claim to the title of best-selling handmade cigar in the U.S., is still what most people think of first.

At this year’s industry convention, General Cigar showed off a new updated logo for Macanudo to go along with some new packaging. Also new is the third edition of Macanudo Estate Reserve, which comes handsomely presented in individual coffins in a box featuring the black, yellow, and green of the Jamaican flag.

The Jamaican link is no coincidence. Macanudo was made in Jamaica for many years utilizing Jamaican tobacco until about 2000. For this blend, like last year’s Estate Reserve, Jamaican filler is used.

But the star of the show is a 10-year-old Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, which has a nice sheen and is nearly jet black in color. It surrounds a Mexican binder and filler from Nicaragua, the Dominican, and a a special low-yield strain of Jamaican filler (which General Cigar calls Silver Tongue).

The resulting blend features a rich chalkiness with cocoa, earth, and a little charred oak. It’s medium-bodied and leaves a pleasant, dark chocolate finish that lingers. Towards the final third there’s a little woody spice.

I sampled three of the robusto-sized No. 9  vitola (5×50), which I received from General for this review. (The blend is also available in a belicoso (6 x 57) and a Churchill (7 x 50).) Each burned flawlessly, with the excellent construction I’ve come to expect from Macanudo.

At $16 each, the Macanudo Estate Reserve Series 2015 No. 9 isn’t inexpensive. But it is a well-executed, flavorful, medium-bodied maduro that would go equally well with a bourbon or a coffee. That earns the Macanudo Estate Reserve Series 2015 No. 9 a rating of four stogies out of five.

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

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys