Vitola: Robusto- 5.625” x 50 ring gauge
- ~$10.50
- Purchased at Maxamar Ultimate Cigars
Background
What had I bought? I knew it was called La Madrina and that I picked it up in California, but I couldn’t remember who made it. I actually had someone ask me about this very company less than a week ago and I didn’t realize that I had something from Dapper Cigars in my humidor for review until I took this cigar out and had to look it up online to figure out who made it.
Dapper was founded in 2013 “with the goal of making just one great cigar,” according to Ian Reith. Reith officially just made cigars for himself and friends, until the business started to pick up locally and he went ahead and expanded business. La Madrina came about because of his fascination with Day of the Dead and Santa Muerte artwork. After Crowned Heads released Las Calaveras, he decided he wanted to one-up them:
In my opinion, Sante Muerte really highlights life & death in beautiful imagery. Conveying death in a beautiful manner isn’t probably the best approach for cigars, but I believe we conveyed this beauty in the presentation. This cigar’s a personal reminder to me to live life to the fullest extent knowing at any time death can be right around the corner.
Blenders Intent: La Madrina is meant for the seasoned cigar smoker who craves intensity and complexity all at once.
La Madrina is described as a full-bodied, full-strength cigar, made in the NACSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua—the same factory that makes Steve Saka’s Mi Querida, one of my favorite sticks of the last 3 or 4 years. They haven’t been afraid to list their exact leaves used: an Ecuadorian La Luchita Cuban-seed Habano wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and fillers from Nicaragua (Estelí Guadalupe and Jalapa Cofradia Relleno), Dominican Republic (Habano 92), and the U.S. (Pennsylvania Broadleaf). “Madrina” is Spanish for “godmother.”
I bought this cigar at Maxamar in Orange, California. The shop’s online arm, Small Batch Cigar, has it available as well.
Prelight
After doing some research, I must admit I’m impressed and intrigued by the Dapper Cigar Company. I am less than impressed, though, by the fact that this solitary cigar has no indication of the company that makes it on the band or barcode label on the cellophane. I’m sure there is indication on the box, but some people are going to be lazy—they’ll smoke it, say “hey, that was good…what was it?” They won’t find a good indication on the band or cellophane and will forget to look elsewhere. It presents a good chance of a lost opportunity.
That all being said, the band is a very nice piece of artwork. It features a black background with ornate gold foil filigree. The centerpiece of the band is a skeleton hand holding a red rose. “LA MADRINO” is rendered in so-small-as-to-be-invisible type on the arms of the band. The wrapper leaf was a peanut butter brown color that was shiny under the lights at my desk and had a nice oily feel to it.
Giving the wrapper a good sniff, I surprisingly picked up a strong peanut note from it, something I can’t remember getting a whiff of on a wrapper leaf before, at least not that strongly. There was also a little wood and chocolate in the mix, but really very little. The foot of the cigar was a stronger chocolatey note with lesser notes of orange, earth and wood.
After clipping, La Madrina had a good draw that tasted of chocolate, roasted nuts, cedar and earth.
Flavor
The prelight aromas and tastes did not lead to disappointment once the cigar was fired up. I got a sweet citrus note up front, with semi-sweet chocolate following close behind. Roasted nuts and earth were evident next, just before the pepper spice tingled across my lips for 15 to 20 seconds after taking a puff. The retrohale was even more nutty and peppery; I also picked up some hay notes on the nose.
Burning through the second third, the peanut note stayed very strong. There was sweetness, but more nondescript as the citrus and chocolate faded away. Cedar flavors grew while earth and pepper notes stayed steady on the palate.
During the final third, woody notes grew to prominence with the peanut notes finally taking a back seat in the profile. There was a little sweetness left, as well as a decent amount of pepper, but mostly wood, then nuts, then earth.
Construction
Great draw and solid ash. The burn line needed a little maintenance along the way, but nothing horrible.
Value
The price point is reasonable for a “boutique” brand with such a rich flavor profile.
Conclusions
La Madrina was an excellent cigar that I need to get more of. I thoroughly enjoyed this one from beginning to end, finding it full-bodied and about medium-to-full in strength. It was complex with many flavors coming through at any one time and a constant change-up in the positioning of those flavors in prominence. Really a great cigar that makes me want to explore the Dapper portfolio in greater depth.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
