Cigar Review: Sindicato Maduro

Vitola: Magnum
Size: 6″ x60 ring gauge
Price ~$14.00 MSRP
Obtained From Sindicato Cigars as a review sample

Background

Since this is my first post of the new year, I want to wish everyone a happy new year!  The cigar I’m going to be looking at today is the latest from the Sindicato Cigar company simply called the Maduro.  Which pretty much tells you what it is.  This is a follow up to their natural cigar from earlier last year.  You can check out my review on that one here.  The Maduro is comprised of Nicaraguan fillers from Esteli and Jalapa, a double binder fom Esteli and a San Andres Morron wrapper that was grown by the Turrent family in Mexico.  The cigar comes packed in boxes of 16 and ranges in price from $11.50-$14.  All 4 sizes; 6″x54 toro, 7″x52 Churchill, 5″x54 robusto, and the subject of this review 6″x60 magnum, are all box pressed.  It is billed as a three-quarter strength cigar as well.  This was the third one of this blend I tried.

Prelight

The band on this cigar is very similar to the natural but is easily distinguishable from it because of the use of silver instead of gold.  On the back of the band it clearly states the size name, size and has a barcode which makes it very easy to know what you’re smoking and to ring up on a POS system.  The wrapper on the cigar was a nice even dark chocolate brown with lots of tooth and a good amount of oils.  The box press on it wasn’t super sharp but was very well done, sort of like what you see on a Padron Anniversario.  When I gave it a squeeze there was a slight amount of give with no soft spots.  When I put my nose to the wrapper I could detect the light aroma of leather with barnyard coming from the closed foot.  When I clipped it and took a cold draw on it I could taste a slight amount of cinnamon with a good draw.

Flavor

The cigar took a little bit of work to get lit with my single flame Allume, which I don’t remember having to do with the other ones.  I have noticed that this sometimes happens with a closed footed cigar.  When I did get it lit I could taste chocolate and red pepper, with a slight burning on the retrohale.  After a few puffs I started to taste some leather and cream as well.  The cigar was firmly in the medium range as it started off.  As I moved into the send third the flavors changed slightly to coffee, leather, hints of chocolate and cream with a fairly sweet finish.  The flavor didn’t really change as I moved into the final third of the cigar.  The spice did start to come back during this third but it never really moved out of the medium strength range.

Construction

The draw was great throughout the cigar.  The burn was quite a bit uneven and the touch-ups with my lighter didn’t seem to help.

Value

I’d have a difficult time paying $14 for this cigar as I’d be able to pick up a 1964 Anniversario Maduro for that price and it is a much more complex and interesting cigar.

Conclusions

By the end of the cigar I was a little bored with it since it didn’t seem to hold my interest.  It could have been just the day or because the cigar is a 60 ring gauge.  I can’t remember the size of the other ones I smoked (yeah I didn’t see the labeling until this cigar) but if I remember correctly they were more flavorful and more enjoyable.  However the price point puts it at a place where I would probably not purchase it.  I know they are a fairly small company but that price point puts them firmly in competition with some established companies and makes standing out important.  So all that to say I can’t not recommend it or can’t exactly recommend it.  As always if this sounds interesting to you give it a try and see how your experience compares to mine, but I’d recommend one of the smaller ring gauge ones.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7.5/10