Vitola: Corona Gorda- 6” x 44 ring gauge
- $9.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
Aganorsa Leaf unveiled it’s Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection at the 2018 IPCPR show. This project was shepherded by company owner, Eduardo Fernandez, and his son, Max, and is a Nicaraguan puro using the Aganorsa tobaccos the company grows.
The wrapper is a Rosado Claro Corojo 99 from Jalapa, the binder and filler use Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 from Jalapa and Esteli, as well as half a leaf of Medio Tiempo, a rare high priming tobacco used very seldom in cigars.
There are 4 sizes available, each of which ships in boxes of 25. These are a “regular but limited” production item, with only 500 boxes per size being made for 2018. The 2019 production started shipping of late, with a few boxes making their way to the store where I work.
Both of Leaf Enthusiast’s sponsor stores—Cigar and Pipes and Small Batch Cigar—carry Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection. I got information for the background section of this review from Cigar-Coop’s news story about the cigar’s release.
Prelight
The Signature Selection uses two bands, both white with gold and gray accents, while the word “Aganorsa” appears in solid black on the main band. The rest of the cigar below the secondary band is wrapped in gold foil. I like the look and it is very different from everything else that Aganorsa does, but I wonder if it would have looked better with something besides the gray. It’s a minor thing, but someone else suggested it to me and now I can’t un-see it.
The wrapper leaf has a reddish brown color a slight bit of mottling. The cap is finished in a neat flag-tail. The wrapper of the cigar had an aroma of cedar and hay, while the foot had an earthier note with a sweet element to it.
After clipping, the cold draw was good. The prelight draw had wood and sweet hay flavors predominantly, although there was a fruity note in there, too.
Flavor
Firing up the Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection, I got earth and wood right up front, along with floral overtones and a sweetness that was hard to pin down. There was a slight pepper note on the palate, but it grew after subsequent puffs, until there was a heat note on the finish. The retrohale featured a wasabi heat that reminds me almost of Cameroon leaf, but also some wood and nuttiness. As I puffed through the first third, I got a lot of cedar flavor, along with more of the sweet floral and vegetal notes. Although I can call the floral “sweet” it still seemed there was something more to the sweetness than that.
The second third saw the pepper mellowing out considerably on both palate and nose, while the floral notes took the lead and the cedar flavor took a step back. There was still a nice sweetness to the mix.
In the final third, the Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection had more floral notes and a slight cinnamon note emerged mixed in with the cedar. Pepper was still subdued at this point.
Construction
I had a vey good draw, solid ash and even burn line for the entire cigar.
Value
Cigars with Medio Tiempo tend to be more expensive, but since Aganorsa owns the farms as well as the rolling, this line is quite reasonable.
Conclusions
The Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection as a very good cigar displaying a very enjoyable level of complexity in its Nicaraguan leaf. It started off as medium-plus before settling into a more medium-bodied groove when the Medio Tiempo tobacco really shone. As noted before, these are limited production so get them while you can…then be prepared to wait a while until they come back around again.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
