maduro ........are you sold or not.

[Ceephus Banks]

I've tried a few Maddy's, and genuinely wanted to like them. Had a few Cohiba, Partagas and Padrons. As much as I tried to savor and enjoy them, they always leave a weird taste/vibe in the back of my mouth. Guess I'm just a natural guy.?

[Puros Y Vino]

The Genios are a nice stick from time to time.  The OR ones I consider "dead" smokes. I think these don't have the aging legs.  The Magicos was bland and the Secretos? I call them "secretions" nuff said.  I did enjoy the Partagas No 1 Maduro, but I wouldn't fork out the cash for a whole box.   I'm still on the fence when it comes to darker wrappers.  I've bought my share of dark and light wrapper cigars from here and IMO, the lighter ones tend to smoke better even though they are not as appealing cosmetically.  I have found the CC Maduros to be more palatable than the NC's ones though.  I would consider Maduro long and skinnies though.

[TBird55]

Give me a light wrapper, that's shiny and oily.... few and far between these days. 

[SigmundChurchill]

I have never been a Maduro guy.  I am currently waiting for a box of PSP Genios from a 24:24 because they looked too oily and good to not jump on them.  This will have been the first box I actually bought.

[Guest Nekhyludov]

I've never had much interest in maduro CCs, although I've always loved Padron Anniversario maduros. Those were my favorite cigars from when I first started back in the '90s, so nostalgia probably has something to do with that. But I've been unimpressed with the few Cuban maduros I've tried (Magicos, Parti Maduro No. 1). They don't seem to taste like much of anything to me and don't have any particular distinguishing characteristics. 

Nor do I spend much effort chasing dark and oily wrappers. The perfect wrappers to me are either the toothy, dark cinnamon-colored wrappers you find on the best Upmanns, or the rich rosado-tinted wrappers on some Punch. The one caveat to that being a Monte PE that I picked up in a trade recently. Its wrapper was the epitome of "dark and oily" and that wrapper really suited that cigar perfectly. 

[cigcars]

     *While I generally do enjoy Maduro wrappered cigars - I did NOT enjoy ANY of the Cohiba Magicos, Genios, etc. maduro releases...they just had NO flavor or essence to themselves at all for me. I prefer the good old fashioned colorado and shade grown wrappers of the originals.

[Philc2001]

Fatties vs Skinnies, Maddies vs Light, it's all a matter of preference so you'll find fans in both camps. I think the maduro rush is one that started in NC markets and caught the attention of the ISOM. I'm not a fan.

My personal experience is not complimentary of maduros, I haven't found any that I actually liked enough to even consider buying in box quantity. Most of what I smoke is 33-46 ring, and occasionally a robusto 50 ring or hermosos #4 48 ring. I've tried a few of the bigger rings, only ones that were gifted, but honestly can't imagine buying any as they feel awkward to hold and even more awkward to smoke. I hope this trend does not bring an end to the english market shades and under 46 rings, that would really be shame.

[Hookmaker]

I managed to taste and smoke quite a few Maduro 5 Magicos in Cuba this last summer. I love it. And the Partagas Maduro 1 I cant stay away from. Just hit the button on a box of Genios off CUNTINT last week, and as a bonus found two cases of Magicos at rediculously low price at Copenhagen airport. Success for me, certainly.

[Toast & Taste]

Dark and Oily rules.

Though a shiny Colorado is on the same level. But as mentioned above, not too many around these days.

Big Al

[El Presidente]

9 hours ago, RijkdeGooier said:

Sorry but to me the maduros are not a match for the NC lines of Padron and Fuentes. 

...well ...they are the same price  

A great Genio or PM 1 is a match for either. 

The shame of it is that you have to find great examples. Quality consistency is not an issue with Padron or AF.

 

[luv2fly]

I have tried the Party Mad.  Still have 3 left as I was not that impressed but it was good.  Maybe that is why I have passed over the remaining ones for several years.

Used to love the Padron Anniv. Mad.  Not so much anymore.  As far as the Cohiba Mad, I enjoyed the Secretos but never bought a box because it just was not blowing my skirt up.

There was a richness to Maduros that I really enjoyed back in the day but tastes change.  Smoked a Patron Anniv Mad not to0 long ago that a friend had and it was not the same.  

So to sum it up, I am not sold.  If people enjoy them then that is all that matters.  I personally will not seek any out including new releases.

[alloy]

I say no. Have bought boxes of both the Magicos and the Party Maddy and was not impressed with either of them. Dark maduro wrappers does not make a good cigar.

[mwaller]

Among non-cuban cigars, I've had far better luck with maduros.  A lot of the lighter colored NC sticks taste like burning cardboard to me.  Having a few maduros in the lineup may help attract new customers to the Habanos brand.  Just a thought.  

[PuffDaddie]

The padron 1964 is a very good maduro

[Fugu]

It's interesting to notice how the Party Maduro No. 1 seems to be a true hate-love cigar. They were doing just nothing for me (the two specimen that I tried), plain sweet woodiness. While not lacking in intensity and body, a complete fail on the fronts of complexity and evolution. I won't attribute that to the wrapper alone (as I am not a the-taste-is-in-the-wrapper camper), but the blending is just off. For those who like that 'monochrome' taste, I can see how that might be appealing, and perhaps for them it's just perfect that the smoke doesn't change much. As someone else said in this thread, lacking any finesse. (But granted, perhaps not everybody is (always) looking for finesse - ... me included.)

Not sold. And I just come to realize, in all their full decade of existence I've never got to try, never felt the urge to try one of the Cohiba Maduro line. To me - justified or not - they've always had the appeal of brummagem.

[blank]

No more Maduro's or LE's please HSA!

Seems to me only flavour HSA is able to bring to the market these days is

Chocolate Chocolate & more Chocolate!

Boring!

[HDGSN]

19 hours ago, El Presidente said:

To be fair, generally there are 10 fatties for every skinny on offer through 24:24.  

Through the carts day to day is probably a fairer representation. Skinnies just move far slower. 

 

 

Maybe they need to be priced to move in the carts 

[HDGSN]

Despite having a great 2013 box of Genios, I think HSA should drop all maduros.  I think it overpowers the characteristics of more classic Habanos profiles.

[Jimmy_jack]

Is there a longer wait for Maduro wrapper to ferment? Could HSA be sitting on a shit ton of the leaf and just needs to get it out? No better way than these kinds of releases.

[El Presidente]

1 minute ago, Jimmy_jack said:

Is there a longer wait for Maduro wrapper to ferment? Could HSA be sitting on a shit ton of the leaf and just needs to get it out? No better way than these kinds of releases.

Nope, this has been planned.  The next 5 years of maduro releases have been planned. 

[FatPete]

My first Secretos tasted of vanilla ice cream, and I've been chasing that taste to no avail in the many Secretos since. Not tried the other Cohiba maduros, but I do like the chocolate of the PARTAGAS Maduro 1 and agree with fugu that they lack any evolution but if it's chocolate I'm after they deliver. Bit too expensive to be in regular rotation though. 

[cookj1]

I love cigars.  I love variety.  I love variety of cigars.  Maduro or not, I like to change up what I’m smoking.  Like wine, there’s a place and a time for each cigar.  I support any additions and disapprove of any deletions, in true cigar whore spirit!  

[5thStarChicago]

The cigar that got me into cigars many moons ago was the NC HdM Excalibur No.3 maduro, followed by the Ashton Aged Maduro (40's and 10's).  The Ashton immediately dispelled the notion that maduro = strong.  I've been lucky with consistently great Party 1 Mads I really enjoy them, to the point that I'll smoke a great one over a D4 any chance I get (to answer the posed question).  Today I gravitate towards lighter wrappers overall but still love good maduro and sun grown wrappers.

I think the U.S. market has huge influence over HSA's planning (Altadis is annoying but not dumb, as someone earlier pointed out) so more and more maduros and large ring gauges are crossing into Cuban production (it hurt my soul the first time I saw a Cuban made 56 ring gauge cigar).  I have no real idea the percentage of CC's made that are purchased by Americans but I'm sure it's high and here, dark cigars and big ring gauges are extremely popular even though shade wrappers still dominate overall sales (strong as balls cigars get all the press, mild smooth and balanced actually sells the best).  With more and more Americans buying Cubans cigars both illegally and legally, HSA is creating familiar looking products (both darker & big ring gauges) to appeal to a wider array of consumers.  It doesn't hurt that filler tobacco is cheap so they can make fatter cigars for higher prices and fatter margins.  Since the average American cigar smoker (and the completely cigar ignorant tourist) is mostly ignorant to Cuban cigars, their flavor ranges and prices , they'll pay the high prices and the inconsistency isn't noticed or a concern since they aren't on the shelves here and aren't bought regularly.  It's also why so many counterfeit cigars are still bought.  FOH is clearly made of up above average cigar smokers so our personal perspectives are totally different.  HSA isn't nearly as concerned about us as they are the masses of the ill informed.

Me and my staff all love skinny smokes and love educating customers on why they matter and why they should be smoked.  That seems to need to be taught to people, though, as the stereotypical image of a cigar isn't a 6 x 38 or a 4 x 42.  Unfortunately.

Keep the maduros coming as I'll never object to variety.  Just bring more reasonable pricing along with them.

[mnmlst]

Before getting into CCs, Padron and Fuente were my favorites but I never liked their maduros. A while back I bought a quarter box of Magicos (som jun 16) and at about a year of age I tried one. I liked it more than the NC maduros that I've smoked but overall it was just ok. Then I smoked one just last week, so just shy of 2 years of age, and it was incredibly enjoyable. Now I don't know whether to smoke them all as they are hitting my sweet spot, or give them even more time to see if they get even better (I seem to remember an old video of Ken and company, sans Rob, enjoying a Genios with 5 or so years on it). I'll probably pick up some boxes in the near future to put down.

[NSXCIGAR]

16 hours ago, PrairieSmoke said:

Never smoked a Cuban Maduro, but I’ve smoked loads of NC Maduro.

 

15 hours ago, zeedubbya said:

On the subject of Cuban Maduros vs NC Maduros in my opinion they aren’t achieving the same ends. I like Padrón Maduros over the Natural, by a long shot. To my taste Maduro NC’s are sweeter and more refined. I never understood people saying Maduro cigars were stronger—I don’t find this to be true at all. Quite the opposite.

Not that we know for certain the extent to which the wrapper affects flavor but it's important to keep in mind that for most NC producers "maduro" leaf can mean nothing more than a dark color--even dyed dark. For CCs, it means specifically upper tapado leaf that undergoes an additional fermentation. In the case of Cohiba Maduro 5 that leaf is then aged for an additional 5 years. These leaves are generally dark in color but I've seen EL wrappers that are darker than some of the Party Maduro No. 1s. The Cohiba Maduros tend to be quite dark though.

An NC maduro wrapper usually means nothing whereas a Cuban maduro wrapper is a totally different product from regular production wrapper or even EL wrapper which is simply darker, generally thicker/rougher leaf that can come from any part of the plant and aged for 2 years with no additional fermentation. 

Dyeing of leaf is still common NC practice although it is becoming less and less common.

It's impossible to know what impact the maduro wrapper alone has on the Cuban maduros but I think the Party Maduro No. 1 and Cohiba Maduro 5 lines are both definitely quality cigars. I'm not sure the Partagas is worth the premium but the Cohibas are pretty much priced in line with the rest of the Cohiba lineup and those can be outstanding cigars with enough age on them and seem to be pretty consistent over the last 10 years in delivering the goods. Every one I've had I thought was very good and they were all young at the time.