Quick Smoke: Macanudo Estate Reserve No. III

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

Macanudo launched Estate Reserve in 2013 to challenge the perception that the best-selling brand in the U.S. is only for rookie cigar fans who haven’t yet graduated to fuller-bodied, more complex smokes. At the time, it was a very pricey ($16-18) three-vitola line, but now you can find it for considerably less if you poke around. I recently decided to fire up a No. III (5 x 50) that had been aging in my humidor for a couple years. The blend of Dominican tobaccos surrounded by a golden Connecticut Shade wrapper yielded mild flavors of almond, cream, dry cedar, and a little sweetness. It was not indifferent from how the cigar smoked when I first got it. This is no doubt an interesting mild cigar, but it’s hard to justify a full recommendation given the price, even if you can find the robusto-sized smoke for under $10.

Verdict = Hold.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys