Latitude Zero Excursion Maduro Robusto

Latitude Zero cigars is a fairly new boutique brand that hails from one of the largest tobacco growers in the world, which is also the creator and original grower of the Habano Ecuador wrappers: Oliva Tobacco Company. What makes this high-end brand unique is that all of their cigars are crafted using the top 1% of their tobaccos. Taking its name from Oliva’s major growing areas and the origin of the Habano Ecuador wrapper, Latitude Zero’s massive band features an old world style map with a secondary band featuring a small slit to show the real latitude zero on the map.

The Latitude Zero Excursion Maduro has been hailed by some cigar experts as one of the best maduros out there if not one of the best cigars in general to be released in recent years. This medium to full-bodied handmade has an elegant blend of handpicked Honduran and Nicaraguan long-fillers secured with a flavorful Nicaraguan binder. The star of the show is the chocolate brown oily Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper which has been specially fermented and left to age twice as long as industry standards. This extra time gives this stogie some serious flavor. Light it up and you’ll find rich nuances of chocolate and earth with a nice bitter espresso finish. Our panel loved this cigar with a dark rum after dinner but also said that it’s good for any warm afternoon!

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.