Cigar Review: Casa Fernandez Aganorsa Leaf Maduro

Vitola: Deliré (Toro)
Size: 5” x 48 ring gauge
MSRP ~$9.00
Samples provided by Casa Fernandez

Background

Casa Fernandez made some changes to their Aganorsa Leaf Maduro line-up recently, reducing some prices and adding a vitola. The new size is a Toro (or maybe a Short Churchill, if you want to call it that), and is being offered for the very reasonable suggested retail price of just under $9 per stick. The Aganorsa Leaf Maduro uses 100% Nicaraguan fillers and binders, grown by Casa Fernandez on their own farms (thus the “Aganorsa Leaf” in the name…a description they’ve came up with), along with a San Andres Mexican Maduro wrapper. They are made in Miami, which is unusual in the cigar world these days, and sort of amazing when you consider the price tag.

The company was kind enough to provide a couple samples of this new stick for my review purposes. This review is on the second one I smoked. Some of the information in the above “background” was gleaned from halfwheel.com in their news story on the new vitola.

Prelight

The banding for the Aganorsa Leaf Maduro is attractive and not ostentatious. I noticed in halfwheel’s review that Charlie noted something about the confusing nature of their marketing, and when I think about it, I have to agree. Several of their cigars use the same or similar banding, with minor variations in design, or the addition of a secondary band. If you’re not a company employee or a mega-fan of the brand, keeping them all straight can be a challenge. But still…it does look nice when viewed all by itself. The wrapper leaf under the band was a dark chocolate shade of brown with an oily feel to it and a rough toothiness under the fingers. It had a sweet earth and strong coffee aroma to it, while the foot had more of a ripe earthiness. The cold draw was very good and had the flavor of dark chocolate covered espresso beans.

Flavor

A stiff autumn breeze conspired to prevent me from getting this cigar lit…or at least, “lit quickly.” Much like ocean waves, the breeze ebbed every 30 to 45 second and after I timed it right, I was able to get the stogie going. I immediately got a bitter earthiness that I associate with Mexican wrapper leaf. It’s not something I’ve noticed every time I smoke one of these, which is odd, because all Casa Fernandez Maduros use Mexican leaf; I’ve come to realize through repeated trial and error that the characteristic flavor that I’m getting can be blended and balanced well or poorly, and the difference will make or break the cigar for my palate (I’ve also discovered that some people are aging Mexican leaf a lot longer than they used to, to the point where the characteristic flavors are almost gone). After a few minutes, I was getting plenty of earth, but also some semi-sweet chocolate notes and dark coffee notes, as well as a touch of red pepper on the palate and a bigger hit of pepper on the nose.

Sweet, spicy and earthy continued to be the name of the game for the second third, with the pepper actually increasing as I went through the cigar. The sweetness took on a bit of a raisin note with a hint of anise mixed in. I got mostly the same in the last third.

Construction

San Andres wrapper has the tendency to burn wavy and such was the case here, although nothing out of the ordinary. The draw was great and the ash was solid.

Value

For a high-quality smoking experience, the price here is excellent, especially considering it was made in Miami.

Conclusions

I’ve enjoyed many Casa Fernandez cigars over the years since I tried my first and this latest vitola in the Aganorsa Leaf Maduro line is another fine one. It was mostly full-bodied with a good amount of complexity and the blend balanced the more bitter notes of Mexican leaf very well. I would say it’s similar in some ways to Padron’s 1964 Anniversary series or Crowned Heads’ Jericho Hill, two other cigars that very effectively use Nicaraguan filler and binder leaf with Mexican wrapper. Of course, they aren’t all three “the same” but there are enough similarities that if you like one, you’ll probably enjoy them all to some degree.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10