Cigar Review: Matilde Renacer

Cigar: Matilde Renacer
Size: 5.25 x 54 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Ecuadoran Habano
Binder: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Price: Purchased for $8.49 at Burns Tobacco

When I met David at Burns Tobacco, he was kind enough to give me the full tour of the facility (and if you are ever in Chattanooga, I would highly advise visiting it). We started with the humidor which was recently renovated. As he walked me through, he pointed out where each companies offerings were located and pointed out several to try. On my last day at the Tweet Up, I visited the humidor to make my final purchases, almost all made up of cigars I have not tried. The Tatuaje Havana VI Artistas was one, as was the Matilde Renacer, which I am reviewing today.

Taking the Matilde Renacer out of the plastic, I couldn’t help think that cigar felt tighter packed than most others that I reviewed. I also noticed a tiny chip in the wrapper along the foot of the cigar. After a couple minutes, I couldn’t point out any pre-light notes. After the light and a really tight draw, I was greeted with notes of heavy leather, wood and spice on the back end of the palette. The leather and wood notes prominent at the beginning of the cigar toned down after 15 minutes of smoking, mellowing the cigar’s strength until after the halfway point. This mellowness also brought a touch of sweetness to the flavors and made for an enjoyable pairing of the spice notes at the onset. At 52 minutes, the strength of the cigar increased to just over medium bodied and brought about heavier woody flavors. The strength and flavor profile stayed consistent to the end of the cigar, which lasted 1:35.

While I enjoyed the flavor profile of the Matilde Renacer, I encountered a bunch of issues while smoking this cigar. Already noted was my assumption that the cigar was overly packed and the tight draw. It took nearly 30 minutes of regular smoking and massaging around the punched opening to finally get it to open up. This is on top of the uneven burn that thankfully evened out after 20 minutes. And to top it off, the wrapper started to crack and break at the 40 minute mark, leaving with a smokeable but messy cigar (ash and bits of partially-smoked wrapper all over my shirt).

By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 1/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10

To recap the Matilde Renacer:

• I enjoyed the medium bodied, woody and leather notes of the cigar. This is one that new and seasoned smokers can enjoy.
• I did not enjoy the multitude of issues in actually smoking this cigar. I likely got what accounts to a ‘dud’ cigar.
• Not taking into account of the issues listed above, I would put the price point of the Matilde Renacer in the $8–10 range, so the $8.49 that I paid was right on.
• If I see them at one of my local shops in the future, I will pick a couple up to give this one a second look.

As always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.