What is the point of Maduro releases?


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When buying yogurt, I really enjoy new flavors appearing. I'll try them all so when seeing a maduro wrapper on a Partagas, I get quite excited. Am I wrong to think that way? From a purist standpoint, Of Course I'm wrong.

But............

When it comes to Cuban cigars I simply want to taste them ALL !!!

There are no wrongs or rights. Just opinions ok.gif

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Most cigars currently come in lots of different shades.

At the factory, the shade could be written or stamped on the bottom of the box, as it once was.

I think the difference here is that with the Cohiba and Partagas Maduros, they are touting the maduro process versus wrapper shade. They must have their reasons. On a side note, if one feels wrapper imparts little to flavor, why bother........

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I love cuban cigars... I tried all 3 Cohiba maduros (marketing ploy?) Worked for me...

HSA thinking outside the box (variety is the spice of life?) Sounds good, but I doubt it...

Appealing to the NC/US smokers (is that why they chose Cohiba?) Possibly, but weak follow through...

Sustainability (did it work with Cohiba?) Obviously not, maybe that's why they chose Partagas...

Do I really care? (I like to think not) But, I did purchase a box of the Partagas...

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I 100% agree Rob. Bring back one of the discontinued post-revolution brands such as Cifuentes, La Corona or La Escepcion (probably the best choice due to the 2011 Italian Regional Edition re-release). I would love to see Maduro wrapper cigars come out under the Don Candido brand, but I imagine there would be issues with Dunhill. Or, to avoid legal complications over trademarks, bringing these out under a new marca altogether would be a great idea.

If only they'd rerelease the LE Cazadores Miramar.......
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I tend to agree with Pres, why not make a new all maduro marca? I think that there is room in the HSA lineup for maduro wrapped cigars - as others have cited, they are very popular in the NC market. However, many NC cigars come in a natural and maduro version within the same brand... like every Padron. So I guess it depends on what HSA is trying to do with these releases. Is the maduro Partagas simply the Partagas blend wrapped in a maduro leaf? or is this an entirely new cigar/blend that they are throwing a "Partagas" band on? If it isn't in someway consistent with the marca to which it is associated, what is the point?

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...Is the maduro Partagas simply the Partagas blend wrapped in a maduro leaf? or is this an entirely new cigar/blend that they are throwing a "Partagas" band on? If it isn't in someway consistent with the marca to which it is associated, what is the point?...

I think you've hit it. Nobody knows what's going on with these cigars. There is no point other than experimentation/gimmick/possible unloading of otherwise unusable tobacco. That Partagas band on that cigar doesn't necessarily mean a thing.

If HSA just wanted to offer maduro wrappers for those who preferred them why not just wrap some regular production with them and call it a maduro version? P2 Maduro, D4 Maduro, etc. They could probably still get a slight premium for it.

I truly believe that HSA works backwards on most of their special releases, meaning they get the idea first, then come up with a blend and the tobacco for it post hoc that may or may not share any DNA with the marca that ends up on the band. Ideally, one would think that any new releases would emanate from a new blend that has been vetted and tested and that tobacco set aside specifically for it, months or years ahead of time. The introduction of an original idea with something to offer. Or even the same blend as the respective marca but in a new vitola.

But alas, the vast majority of these releases have been pretty mediocre, unoriginal and many share very little DNA with their marcas. Complaints of "muddled" and indistinguishable flavors. Or they smoke poorly fresh, great in 5 years but then die quickly thereafter. The only conclusion I've ever been able to come to after 15 years of LEs, REs, LCDHs, Anejados and now Maduros is that, in general, HSA isn't putting their best tobacco in these. In fact, I believe much of the tobacco that goes into these releases is tobacco they can't fit into reg. production for some reason. Either poor quality, odd flavor profile, experiments gone wrong or mistakes. Occasionally, there is a special release right on the money and fantastic. Cohiba 1966 for example. But I will always believe--until I see a large shift--that any special release is probably inferior until proven otherwise.

Sounds like the same song and dance with this Partagas Maduro. General consensus thus far is nothing to write home about. Precisely why I don't get excited about most of these releases apart from collectibility. I know now to wait for the reviews to come in on any and all HSA special releases and then decide to try anything since chances are it'll be mediocre AND overpriced to boot.

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I think a lot of people on this thread are confusing a wrapper colour with a type of wrapper. A maduro wrapper is not maduro cause of its colour.

Can you elaborate on your statement? I always understood maduro to be exactly that, a color (which is associated with the way thicker leaves ferment and end up being darker...)
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Can you elaborate on your statement? I always understood maduro to be exactly that, a color (which is associated with the way thicker leaves ferment and end up being darker...)

It's the way they are fermented, the process is different. Rather than them fermenting different. But this does not stop other leaf which has not had this process done being just as dark. Don't know what Cubans do to it but would suspect a higher temperature during fermenting or a extra fermentation period

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I think a lot of people on this thread are confusing a wrapper colour with a type of wrapper. A maduro wrapper is not maduro cause of its colour.

It's often considered both a color and a process - Cuba has used maduro as a color grade for a long time. The process, as you mentioned, is typically higher temp / longer fermentation / multiple fermentations, etc. I also do not know how it's done in Cuba (or anywhere, really), but I've read here and there that ligero is used as it holds up better under the "strain".

As an aside, the maduro "process" does not always equate to a very dark wrapper, and in most cases results in a "sweeter" versus stonger cigar. If one believes wrapper imparts flavor.

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Yet people have jumped on The Ramon Allones Club Allones LE with its maduro/oscuro wrapper

None of the boxes I have seen had even close to a maduro color wrapper - and I have seen a LOT.

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Yet people have jumped on The Ramon Allones Club Allones LE with its maduro/oscuro wrapper

None of the boxes I have seen had even close to a maduro color wrapper - and I have seen a LOT.

Agreed. All I have seen have been (like most Cubans) between Colorado claro and Colorado maduro. Have not seen maduro, and have NEVER seen an oscuro Cuban.

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I've been systematically trying some non Cuban brands over the last 6 months. I've smoked a lot of different maduros. It's generally hard to make a bad maduro cigar. You can pretty much count on them being sweet, with mocha and maybe graham cracker crust flavors. I tend to think that they can cover up a multitude of sins in a cigar--take a dull cigar and the maduro alone makes it pleasant.

It's like putting lots of chocolate sauce on ice cream. Put enough on and store brand and Ben and Jerry's aren't too distinguishable.

American cigar companies cater to a market where new versions are valued. Put an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper on an Oliva and you have Cigar Afficionado's Cigar of the Year.

I haven't tried the Partagas maduro and won't seek it out. But in my experience with non Cuban maduros, I don't like the combination of a peppery cigar and maduro. A Montecristo maduro, that might be fitting. The Cohiba maduro doesn't taste like a Cohiba but maduro does complement the flavors that usually comprise a Cohiba.

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It sells... just like REs and ELs. The point? It's purely profit driven... same as all their other decisions and marketing strategies. The cigar world is hanging by a thread, for the small group of true smokers. HSA strives to attract a large group of new smokers, not satisfy a small group of loyal customers.

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