Vitola: Robusto- 5” x 52 ring gauge
- $6.90
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
The venerable Macanudo brand has been around longer than I have…1968, to be exact, and I was born in 1970. They have established a reputation for consistency in their mild Café line and expanded on that with the Maduro, Vintage, and 1968 lines over the years, but change really came for the brand a few years back when the Inspirado line was introduced. After a halting start where B&M and online vendors had different cigars to sell in the line, they streamlined it and have produced Black, White, Orange, Red, and Palladium up through now. This year those were joined by the Macanudo Inspirado Green.
This blend combines Dominican Piloto Cubano and Colombian Carmen Cubita leaves in the filler, an Indonesian binder, and a Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper. It is available in 3 sizes, each in boxes of 20 and all for prices that are quite reasonable.
I bought a couple of these cigars at my local brick and mortar shop; this is the second one I’ve smoked. If your local shop doesn’t carry them, you can find them at our sponsor, Small Batch Cigar.
Prelight
The design of the box and band stay true to the rest of the Inspirado sub-brand, which I think is is a good look that held it stand apart from the old-school Macanudos on store shelves. The green and silver foil go together quite well, overall.
The wrapper leaf was a medium-dark brown color with a bit of mottling and more roughness than I would have expected, while still being oily to the touch. It smelled of cedar with touches of earth and natural tobacco, while the foot had notes of bread and milk chocolate.
I clipped the head and got a good draw that featured flavors of semi-sweet chocolate, earth, and nuts.
Flavor
The Macanudo Inspirado Green fired up fairly quickly and quickly delivered notes of cedar and baking spice, along with a background sweet and spicy mix, while the retrohale had black pepper, clove, and roasted peanuts. The first third continued through with an odd and intriguing mix off spice and cedar and cocoa powder.
As I got into the second third, there was a stronger baking spice influence and slightly less pepper spice, with a continued semi-sweet chocolate presence behind it all. The cedar and nuttier notes had faded a bit.
The last third was very much a continuation of the second, although the cigar did start burning pretty fast and a little hot toward the end.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
As with other colors of the Macanudo Inspirado line, the price is fantastic on these, so if you like it (and I did) it’s a great value.
Conclusions
I enjoyed this cigar and found it to be a very nice addition to the Macanudo Inspirado lineup. This sub-brand of one of the most famous cigar brands in the world didn’t get a lot of attention at the very beginning, but I think it has earned the right for leaf enthusiasts, both novice and experienced, to pay attention to new releases that come out on an almost annual basis. There is some really nice blend innovation going on at some really reasonable prices and while Green wasn’t my absolute favorite of them, it was different enough and good enough to justify a place alongside Red, Orange, Black, White, and Palladium.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
