Vitola: Lonsdale- 6.75” x 43 ring gauge
- MSRP $8.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
The Macanudo Inspirado collection began to be released around the summer of 2015, with the Orange in brick and mortars and the Black for online-only. A couple years went by and they discontinued the online Black, re-using the name when they produced Inspirado White and Inspirado Black blends for everything in 2017. Inspirado Red came next and now they are putting a cap—or halo—on the line with the Macanudo Inspirado Palladium.
I joked that when “gold, silver and platinum just aren’t rare enough, reach for palladium.” Someone else responded, “when gold, silver, and platinum are all being legally used already…”…so there’s that. This Palladium is a “five-country blend that harnesses the time-honored technique of tercios to deliver a truly exquisite smoking experience.”
The tercio process was used during the golden age of Cuban cigars to age tobacco in optimal conditions, yet is rarely used today due to the considerable time and labor required to build and wrap the bales.
Only an elite group of Macanudo’s artisans are skilled in the tercio process which eschews burlap and instead envelopes the tobacco bales in the bark of the majestic Royal Palm tree. The bark forms a tighter seal, trapping in moisture and retaining the tobacco’s natural taste characteristics.
It features fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Mexico, a Habano binder grown in Connecticut, and a Connecticut Shade wrapper grown in Ecuador. They are producing 3 different vitolas, but only a total of 3,000 boxes of 20 sticks “due to the complexity of the process and considerable time associated with tercio aging.”
I have smoked one each of Robusto and Lonsdale sizes before this review sample. I purchased all of them at Burns Tobacconist where I work.
Prelight
I liked where General went with the Macanudo Inspirado line design-wise with the White and Black releases. The Orange used a difficult contrast color scheme, but working with higher contrast colors, the look is sharp and unexpectedly elegant. In this instance the silver foil and black type of the main band are very reminiscent (in a good way) of Zino Platinum bands. It’s a good look.
The wrapper leaf is dark for Connecticut Shade; so much so that I wouldn’t have pegged it as a Conny when I first saw it. It was almost a medium-brown, peanut butter color. It had a touch of oils to it and an aroma of hay and cedar. The foot had a mix of wood, earth and vegetal notes.
After clipping the head, I got a good draw when I tested it cold. The cold flavor was of hay, creamy coffee, and cedar.
Flavor
The Macanudo Inspirado Palladium starts off with plentiful grassy hay flavor, backed up by wood and the odd light-roast coffee note. There was some vegetal flavor as a secondary note and a small amount of white pepper heat on the finish. I’ve found that this blend is one of those you need to retrohale to “get it.” The retro on this one had roasted nuts, more cedar, and a much stronger pepper heat, along with a bit of a sweet finish.
As I got into the second third, sweet and zesty citrus flavors were introduced, while the pepper on the palate bumped up considerably. Hay and wood and coffee notes backed off to secondary and tertiary notes.
The final third of the Palladium had more citrus and a building pepper burn, along with a new sweetness best described as caramel-like. There was some hay and cedar in the background still.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash for half an inch or longer.
Value
I felt like this cigar really outperformed its price tag by quite a bit.
Conclusions
When you think of a Connecticut Shade covered Macanudo, the tendency is always to think of very mild cigars that are great for beginners. The Inspirado Palladium starts off mild and graduates rapidly to a medium-body, full-flavored cigar with a nice complexity, plenty of pepper, and a welcome sweetness. The band is reminiscent of Zino Platinum and honestly the smoking experience overall is on par with that brand, as well, at half the price. I wish they could find a way to make these a regular release, even if it’s only a limited number per year. Very, very nice cigar.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
