I am reviewing the Charles Spurgeon maduro box press. In appearance it is beautifully pressed with a very oily wrapper. The construction and seems are flawless. It has a Well done cap and foot. The cigar has 3 bands. One with the likeness of Charles Spurgeon, one underneath it which is the green and gold Maduro notation and the last band with the reformed cigars logo at the foot.
Initial smell of the cigar Gives off a very oakie and woody aroma. I cut the cigar with a double blade guillotine Cutter. The pre light draw on the cigar is easy and reveals notes of cedar and sweet tobacco. I like the cigar with a good wooden match as I would with any tasting. The initial draw on the cigar produces A great amount of smoke. As I hold the cigar perpendicular I can see the smoke coming through the top of the cigar which shows that the air flow is excellent.
The taste of the initial draw Produces A heavy taste of cedar and a very sweet note from the Maduro wrapper. The smoke is cool and flavorful but not hot. For a Maduro, The taste in the smoke is surprisingly light. My 1st retrohale came at about 1⁄2" into the cigar. Much more of the tobacco sweetness was present as was some bread some notes.
For a packed cigar, it is surprisingly light in hand feel. Also the mouth feel on this vitola is very comfortable. I did have to re-light or touch up the cigar in the first inch. There was also some work in keeping it lit. That being said, this cigar hols the ash quite well. As I removed the bands, they came away easy and did not pull or tear the wrapper. A third of the way in, the flavor profile changes again to more of the baking spices and became more nutty in taste. Flavors of roasted almond and maduro sweetness are at the top notes. The ash continued to be a beautiful white/gray. The problem with keeping it lit becomes apparent almost half way in. After ashing, there is a hole in the middle but does not appear to go full through the smoke.
The aroma from the smoke continues to build in sweetness and is very pleasant. It's enough so that I would ask someone what they were smoking. While I find it a bit of a dry smoke, the smoke leaves a sweet flavor on the tongue. I had it with a bourbon but it would go very well with a dark porter or even a sweet Coke. I smoked this to a nub and it was delicious. The burn was even and consistent once I got past the half way point. This would be an excellent smoke to introduce a new Maduro smoker to the leaf.
I would absolutely smoke this again and could see this as a smoke that would be regular stick in my humidor. I would love this with a coffee as well. Do yourself a flavor... Grab a few of these for yourself. Hand them out to your best friends to impress!
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