The latest introduction by Macanudo is a limited-edition cigar named the Inspirado Jamao. The new cigar is composed of especially rare tobaccos and the company notes that “smoking Inspirado Jamao yields an elegant experience reflective of its esteemed profile.”
Jhonys Diaz, General Cigar’s senior vice president of leaf operations noted in a press release:
“For this limited-edition expression of Macanudo Inspirado, we acclimated a Habano seed varietal from Jamastran, Honduras to Mao, Dominican Republic, and ultimately produced a beautiful wrapper. We named the release ‘Jamao’ which represents the blending of Jamastran and Mao.”
Inspirado Jamao (hah-mau) is the product of incredible tobaccos grown in a near-perfect terroir. In the hills of the Mao region of the Dominican lies a small cluster of fields with ideal growing conditions for superb tobacco.
The blend of the Macanudo Inspirado Jamao is described as:
- Wrapper – Jamao Dominican
- Binder – Honduran
- Filler – Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican
It is offered in 2 vitolas, each packaged in 20-count boxes with a limited production of 2,300 boxes.
- Toro (5.75 x 52) – MSRP $10.49
- Churchill (7 x 49) – MSRP $10.59
For this review I sampled 3 of the Toros, which I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The Macanudo Inspirado Jamao a fine looking cigar with a slightly gritty and mildly oily dark tan wrapper with a slight reddish tinge. There is also a bit of marbling in the wrapper leaf. The wrapper was pretty much devoid of veins and the seams were tight and almost invisible. It felt firm to the touch and a simple cap finished the presentation.
Unlike the regular production Inspirados that are branded with a specific color band, the Jamao is adorned with an artfully designed band that is outlined in gold and boldly displays the Macanudo logo in the center and the name “Inspirado” on the bottom in red script.
Running the cigar along the nose, I picked up a sweet baking spice aroma along the barrel while the foot was light in aromatic sensation.
I used my Baller Cutter by CigarMedics to open the cap and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that offered a spicy pepper note on the lips and eventually the palate. The draw was a tad more open than I prefer.
Using my double flame torch, I warmed the foot gently to n even orange glow and drew in the first puffs of peppery smoke. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Peppery start with a bit of harshness on the front end
- Morphs into a baking spice note
- White ash forms on top of a medium thick wavy char line
- Smoke volume is full
- Touch of pear fruit enters and a pleasant nutty aroma
- A layer of natural sweetness joins the early profile
- There has been a slight harshness through the first inch
- Ash fell revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Cream starts to smooth out the profile toning down the early harshness
- Continued cream and baking spice into the second third
- Barrel gets a tad squishy
- A hint of earthiness enters
- Cinnamon spice evolves deep in the second third
- Cocoa notes join the cinnamon down to the end
- Mild to Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 30 minutes
Final Analysis
The Macanudo Inspirado Jamao was an interesting cigar that started with a shot of pepper and a touch of harshness that lasted thorough a good inch of burn to start. That was eventually smoothed out with a delightful sweet cream note and baking spice though the most of the second third when a the spice morphed into cinnamon notes underlaid by sweetness. It did have a mild jag in the burn and the barrel got a tad squishy moving into the second third. The pleasant cinnamon and cocoa notes in the final were a highlight. I would say you may want to grab a fiver of these, and they would be a good start or end of the day cigar. I rate this an 89.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild Jag In Burn; (-1) Squishy Barrel in the second third; (-1) Harshness in the first inch of burn; (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-1) Slightly open draw
