Macanudo Vintage Maduro 1997 Toro

Macanudo cigars are produced by the General Cigar Company. Since 1848, General has been producing fine cigars such as Bolivar, Cifuentas, Cohiba, Partagas, and Punch, among others. Their Macanudo line is known for its smoothness and consistency. "Macanudo" in Spanish means "best of the best," or "first-rate." The Vintage Maduro 1997 is the first cigar from their highly regarded Vintage series that hails from the Dominican Republic. Starting from the inside, you’ll find a mix of carefully selected Nicaraguan, Brazilian, and Dominican long-fillers that are secured by a Honduran binder and topped with a hand-selected, extra fermented, dark and oily Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper. Medium in body, once you toast the foot, you can expect classic maduro notes, roasted coffee, cedar, cream, and light spice, with a smooth, sweet aftertaste. Accompany it with a tawny port.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.