So it was a Tuesday and with nothing really going on so Ben and I decided to stop at SoHo Cigars to find something new to smoke while doing the review at the shop. After chatting with Scott he recommended I try the El Tiante Corojo but for some reason I thought I needed something a little stronger after a long day at the office and grabbed the Maduro. So before I even get into the review let me just say you can add me to the 50% who are not fans of the Maduro. I found out a little later that El Tiante is working to update the Maduro blend due to a 50/50 love/hate of the blend. To be fair Scott hooked me up with a Corojo which he said was much better and I will be trying it out in the next week or so (Thanks Scott!).
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The entire El Tiante brand was pretty interesting. At SoHo Cigars they are presented a nice glass case in the center of the walk in humidor. They have fairly nice packaging and their boxes are pretty similar to Graycliffs. Every time I’ve been in SoHo Cigars I always seemed to check them out but I was always a little unsure if they were worth a try. The one thing that did stand out to me was that the Natural, Corojo and Madura all have red hues which is kind of odd to me for a cigar.
El Tiante Maduro Belicoso Review
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Label Shot
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Foot Shot
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Cap Shot
- Acquired: Purchased @ B&M
- Store: SoHo Cigar – Tampa
- Price: $7.50
- Brand: El Tiante
- Series: Maduro
- Shape: Belicoso
- Wrapper: Habano Nicaragua
- Binder: Sumatra Mexico
- Filler: Habano Nicaragua and San Andres Mexico
- Length: 6″
- Ring Gauge: 54
- Body: Medium-to-Full
Starting with the usual inspection the wrapper consisted of dark brown with a red hue and there is almost no sheen to it at all. The wrapper was a little veiny which is no big deal and construction was firm with small areas of sponginess in the center of the stick. The pre-light aroma was a touch scary with notes of grass, horse and bitterness. I cut it with my V-Guillotine and used one of the stores AB Burners to toast it until it was lit. The draw was nearly perfect and the smoke volume was pretty good as well. Right off I got strong notes of bitterness which in the past I have had with a few other decent cigars only for the first quarter inch so I decided to try and power through it.
El Tiante Maduro Belicoso – Notes / Flavors:
- The first third started with a strong bitterness but consisted of grass, musty hay and really faint undertones of pepper. The nicotine levels were so high I could feel my heart racing.
- The beginning of second third just seemed add more and more bitterness and I started feeling nauseous which pretty much forced me to just let it burn out.
El Tiante Maduro Belicoso – Ash Info:
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- The ash was a light gray with yellow and a few dark gray spots and seemed to flower a little. It also had a a pretty uneven burn.
- First ash fell off at 1 .5″
I can say while the construction of this cigar was pretty good it is a cigar I will never recommend due to the flavors.
El Tiante Maduro Belicoso – Additional Info:
- Smoked: Indoors @ SoHo Cigars
- Temperature: 72 degrees
- Start Time: 6:00 PM
- End Time: ? (Didn’t Finish)
- Relights: 0
- Nicotine Levels: Very Noticeable
- Impurity Buildup: High
- Aftertaste: Harsh
- Buzz: Pretty Much Nothing
- Value: Not Worth It!
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After putting it out I went a head and purchased a Cain Habano so that I could have something decent to smoke that night.
For the Cain I will add the review sometime this week.