Nicaraguan Cigar Co. Condega Maduro Robusto
I did a review of the Nicaraguan Cigar Co. Condega Serie F Petite Robusto a while back and today I am going to be taking a tasting of their Condega Maduro Robusto. From what I remember, the Serie F was fairly pleasant flavor wise, so lets see how the Maduro stacks up to the Serie F.
The Details:
Size: 5×52
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Mexican Maduro
Binder:Â Aganorsa
Filler:Â Aganorsa
Cost: $5.98ea (box price via Cigarstix.com)
Source: Sample from Nica Cigar Company
First Looks: A slightly oily Mexican Maduro wrapper covers the cigar. It has a few veins and has a few soft spots here and there, but nothing too major to cause any alarm. The wrapper has a sweet tobacco aroma. The foot has a nutmeg and slight cinnamon aroma to it. The prelight draw has an easy draw to it with a taste of light tobacco. A simplistic black & gold (Who Dat!) band covers the top portion of the cigar. But we don’t smoke the band, so lets toast it up and see what happens.
 
Construction: Toasted up nice and evenly with my Xikar Tech lighter. Right off the start, the cigar produced a fair amount of idle smoke that had a somewhat pleasant room note to it. The slightly easy draw made for a huge amount of thick drawn smoke. The burn had a bit of an off burn at first, but evened off around halfway. Never needed any touch ups or relights even with the high amount of humidity in the air. Each of the off white and gray ashes held for about an inch, thenI rolled it off into the ashtray before they fell into my lap
 
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Flavor: First few draws had a earthy flavor that had a very slight hit of spice. There was almost a nutty taste to the smoke associated with the earth notes. A bit into the first third, the nut flavor had a slight sense of creaminess to it. The creaminess didn’t take away much from the nut  and earth tones.
Getting into the middle portion of the cigar, I got a tad bit more spice on the tip of my tongue, but minute to the amount I was thinking it would have. The nut flavors were still there with some darkly toasted bread flavors, which lasted a bit.
Around the final third I got a slight hint of a light sweetness that threw me for a loop. I was not expecting this one bit at all. But, the sweetness was short lived and had me wanting some more. But, the sweetness turned into a small hint of chocolate undertone, which was “ok” for my tastes. The bit of spice from the prior portions has disappeared all together. Through the last inch or so, the chocolate got a bit more announced, yet slightly chalky and the nut and earth tones eased off some.
 
Final Thoughts: Over all, not a bad cigar, but I prefer the Condega F I had in the fall of 2012. It was a fairly complex cigar that offered a handful of flavors. This was a slightly more than medium bodied cigar with a medium to full strength flavor strength. I was hoping for a slightly more spicier smoke. Which is odd, I don’t like an overly spicy smoke, but for some reason I was expecting (and wanting) more spice. Its interesting to have a Nicaraguan cigar that is not too full bodied or too spicy, like many Nicaraguan cigars you come across.
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I enjoy this one; I think it’s pretty good for the price. I’d also have preferred if the sweeter notes had been longer lived, but liked it anyway.