Today I would like to talk about the second of three new Sancho Panza offerings – the Double Maduro. Back in July, General Cigar announced that the entire Sancho Panza line has been modernized and the brand’s three updated collections have begun shipping. The revamping of the line was a collaboration between Matt Booth, Justin Andrews, and the HATSA blending team – each unified by a bedrock of stellar blend composition and backed by an aesthetic personality to capture the smoker’s attention. I did a review of the Sancho Panza Original last month.
The Sancho Panza Double Maduro is described as a hearty smoke with a blend described as:
- Wrapper – Sungrown Ecuadorian Sumatra
- Binder – Nicaraguan Estelí
- Filler – Dominican and Nicaraguan
The company notes:
“This blend expertly balances strength and complexity, opening with notes of espresso and progressing to decadent hints of dark chocolate. Sancho Panza Double Maduro is a medium to medium-plus smoke.”
The Sancho Panza Double Maduro is expressed in 3 vitolas, each packaged in 20-count wooden boxes:
- Robusto (5” x 50) – MSRP per cigar $7.49
- Toro (6” x 52) – MSRP per cigar $8.49
- Gigante (6” x 60) – MSRP per cigar $9.49
For this review I sampled three of the Sancho Panza Double Maduro robustos, which I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The Sancho Panza Double Maduro sports a dark brown and marbled wrapper that exhibits a decent oily sheen. The cigar is solid to the touch with no soft spots and is finished with a decent cap.
Two bands adorn the cigar. Similar to the Original, the Double Maduro has a primary band that presents the new new logo design in the center along with Hecho A Mano Honduras across the top and bottom, indicating this is a hand made Honduran product. Where the original uses a blue background the Double Maduro uses a black background along with gold and white lettering. A secondary gold and white band is placed just below the primary and identifies this as “Double Maduro”.
Running the cigar along the nose I did not pick up much aroma along the barrel but the foot offered a pleasing combination of cocoa and nut aromas.
Using my CigarMedics Baller cutter, I opened the cap perfectly and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that I found to be spot on with restriction an presented notes of mild pepper and cream.
Using my single flame torch, I warmed the foot to an even orange glow and drew in the first puffs of cedar and pepper laden smoke to start the journey. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Initial mild pepper notes greet the palate
- Cedar notes quickly join the pepper
- White ash forms on top on a medium thick and slightly wavy char line
- A pleasant citrus component start blending with the cedar after about an inch of burn
- Ash drops in a nice chunk revealing a centered but flat burn cone
- Sweet cream notes enter wrapping the citrus notes to offer a tasty blend
- A slight woody nuance adds to the profile near midway
- Savory spice down to final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 30 minutes
Final Analysis
The Sancho Panza Double Maduro was decent cigar that had an error free burn with just a mild wave during the journey. I found the cigar to be mild in complexity but still had some pleasant flavor notes. It was cedar and citrus forward for a good part of the burn. The second half saw a shift in flavor notes but they were more nuanced. I would like to have had those flavors a bit more bolder. I would still say this is worth grabbing a fiver and see for yourself. I rate this a 91.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild wave in Burn; (-1) Not Overly Complex; (-1) Flat but centered burn cone
