DCC Maduro
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009The fine people at Duque Cigars sent me a sampler awhile back. The DCC line is exclusive to Duque, and I couldn’t find a lot of specifics about the blend. To find out more or to order some, visit Duque Cigars website. As always, I paired up with water and got to reviewing.
Blend: ???
Size: Toro 6 x ?
Price: $24.95 for a five pack
Pre-smoke & Construction:
The dark wrapper looked great, with minimal veins or flaws. Sniffing the wrapper and foot revealed a sweet earthy and natural tobacco odor. When squeezing the cigar from head to foot, I found the head to feel a little tight. I clipped the head and as I suspected, the draw was a bit tight. The draw wasn’t extreme, and had a simple earthy taste.
The burn required about 3 corrections, and the ash held firm for over an inch. The tight draw loosened up quickly and I forgot all about it. As I got into the last third, the wrapper started to split, but it held together to the end.
Flavor:
The first third began with a very simple, easy earthy flavor. A slight spice could be detected when passing through the sinus. As this third came to an end, I started to pick up coffee and woody notes.
Time for the second third. Again, like the first third, there was not a lot of complexities. In fact, it was almost exactly the same the first. The only change was a slight increase in body.
On to the last third… The body increased a bit more into the medium body range. The earthy flavors decreased into the background. This prompted the coffee and woody notes to become more pronounced. I picked up a slight increase in peppery spice when passing through the sinus. Mocha notes entered the picture with about two inches to go. The smoke feel became thicker and almost creamy. It was the last third that encouraged me to finish the cigar.
Conclusion:
This was a decent medium bodied cigar. The flavor profile didn’t meet what I usually look for in a cigar. But when I am in the mood for a simple, easy cigar, I could see this one fitting the bill. My complaint is that the flavors took too long to build. I could see a finicky smoker not having the patience to stick it out. In fact, if it weren’t for the last third, I would have had to give this cigar a bad review. Luckily the flavors built to a level that I enjoy. They just came a bit too late. I wish they started earlier. If a simple flavor profile in a cigar is something up your ally, I say give the DCC Maduro a chance.