AJ Fernandez Last Call Maduro Corticas

Raised in Cuba, Abdel “A.J.” Fernandez has produced many iconic and award-winning cigars for other cigar makers such as Padilla, Gurkha, Rocky Patel, and Graycliff, just to name a few. Every now and then, A.J. decides to issue cigars under his own name, and this is one of them. The Last Call was originally crafted as his own personal final cigar of the night, which A.J. then decided to release to market a few years back, and with great praise. The Last Call Maduro features the same blend as the original Last Call, with a Nicaraguan binder and fillers, but this version is topped with a silky smooth Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro wrapper. Light it up and find full-bodied notes of espresso, dark chocolate, and black pepper with molasses-like sweetness in the background. Our panel recommends pairing it with a Café Cubano.

The Nicaraguan cigar industry originated when Cuban cigar makers escaped the revolution and re-established their livelihood in Nicaragua with Cuban-seed tobacco. Blessed with dark, rich soil, their new home was ideal for tobacco cultivation and Nicaragua quickly became known for cigars that rivaled Cuban quality. Unfortunately, revolution and war came to Nicaragua in the 1980s and devastated the industry, but it’s rebounded dramatically and is once again producing tobacco considered by many to be the finest in the world.

The Esteli Valley is in many ways the heart of Nicaraguan production and is known for its very powerful and spicy tobacco. The Jalapa Valley produces arguably the finest tobacco in the country: somewhat sweeter and less intense than Esteli, but extremely complex. The tobacco of the Condega Valley is often described as a blend of the other two regions.