Vitola: Toro- 5.5” x 54 ring gauge
- MSRP $7.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
I took a look at the Macanudo Inspirado White the other day and I would invite you to read that review to get my full thoughts on the background of that release and the Inspirado Black. The bottom line is that these new Inspirado releases are the latest in a series of attempts to update the long-standing brand name…and might end up being the most successful.
Macanudo Inspirado Black is described as a “balance of art and science.” They are claiming to use a “new, innovative process” for the Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers, allowing the leaf “to ripen on the stalk.” That’s all they said about it, so it leaves me to wonder how it differs from the regular practice of stalk-cutting Broadleaf tobacco, then hanging the entire plant upside down in to cure in the barn. The rest of the cigar is made up of proprietary Nicaraguan Estelí fillers and an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder.
I’ve smoked several of these Inspirado Blacks, both in Robusto and Toro size. I’ve found that under regular humidor conditions, the Robusto tended to have a tight draw, so I chose the Toro for this review. It seems General Cigar took a page from Padron’s book with the exact size of this Toro…it’s both too short and too fat to be a traditional Toro size. I bought my review sample at Burns Tobacconist.
Prelight
The packaging for this release is pretty much the same as the Inspirado White…just in Black instead…naturally. The White looks good, but in the Black motif it does look extra-sharp. The wrapper of this cigar was also almost black…definitely among the darker Broadleaf wrappers that I’ve seen lately. It had a slightly fine sandpaper feel under my fingertips…a texture caused by the toothiness I could see only under certain lighting. The overwhelming aroma from the wrapper was anise, with lighter notes of leather and wood. The foot’s aromas had a better balance of anise and leather, along with a little earth in the mix.
I clipped the head with my Xikar Xi cutter and got a good draw from the cigar. The prelight flavors were of anise, earth, espresso beans, and leather.
Flavor
The Macanudo Inspirado Black took some patience to get fully lit, but once I got it there, the smoke production was almost Liga-Privada-esque. It was a full-bodied, oily smoke full of flavors of espresso bean and anise up front, leather and earth in the middle and a slight peppery burn on the finish. The retrohale was woody with just a touch of pepper. You might have seen me reference the spice “anise” a few times above…I won’t apologize for it…if you don’t like the flavor of anise (or black licorice), I’m going to recommend that you just stay away from this cigar.
The flavors of anise and leather continued to dominate the profile of the Macanudo Inspirado Black on into the second third. I picked up a subtle chocolatey sweetness in the mix, but not as much as I normally get with Connecticut Broadleaf. The peppery notes in the mix had died off pretty much completely.
It was the last third before anise notes were not right at the forefront. During the ending portion of the cigar, there was more leather and earth, along with a resurgence of cedar and espresso, along with a little more cocoa powder and generally sweet flavor.
Construction
As I mentioned before, the couple of Robustos I’ve smoked in this blend were both a little tight in the draw. The couple of Toros I’ve had both had an excellent draw, solid ash and even burn line.
Value
The price tag on these is great and the experience is good…so good value.
Conclusions
I will be right up front in saying that I didn’t enjoy the Inspirado Black as much as the Inspirado White, but it definitely does represent a vast departure from Macanudo products of old. While the brand was built on the mild Cafe line and in my experience never went beyond a medium or medium-plus bodied stick, even with the 1968, this Inspirado Black is as full-bodied as most people will ever want and has a very solid flavor profile full of coffee, leather and—yes—anise notes. These two releases definitely redefine what the Macanudo brand can be and are something I would encourage you to try…because surprises are always a good thing.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
