Macanudo Ecudorian Shade

Cigar Reviewed: Macanudo Ecuadorian Shade

Smoked at: Indianapolis

Wrapper: Ecuadorian shade

Filler: Dominican piloto, Nicaraguan dondega, Dominican olor, Nicaraguan esteli

Binder: U. S. Broadleaf

Size Boxpress robusto 5x50

First Impressions

The overall appearance is very nice. The box press is well constructed there are no visible seams or gaps. The wrap is tight enough, not too loose or too tight. The nice tan color is inviting there's very little veins, the coloration is consistent with no occlusions or dark spots to be seen. It is a nice and smooth wrapper. Little to no oil present, it feels very smooth.

Pre-Light sniff test:

I am getting hints of light cocoa on the main body, it actually smells more like a milk chocolate, it's very faint, but it's present. On the foot the chocolate notes are present here as well as a slight Ritz cracker aroma. Slightly salty, little sweet, woodsy, with a faint chocolate dusting is the best way to describe it.

Pre-Light draw:

There's a slight grassy note coming through as well as the cracker aroma from before that is hitting the palette. I am also detecting a hint of white pepper as it dances on the lips.

First 3rd

Once the cigar fully ignited and the ember set, I let it rest for a second to let the temps could settle before really diving into the cigar.

There's a very nice sweet graham cracker aroma emitting from the cigar. The smoke output is light and wood-laden accompanied by thin wispy trails. Mouthfeel is light but prominent. It's pretty standard for this category of cigar.

On the palate I detect very light roasted coffee notes with a light creamy mouthfeel. There's also a slight straw quality mingling in with the coffee. The white pepper tingle is mostly gone already.

Now, this might be very specific and maybe many people don't know what this tastes like, but I'm getting a note of a purple clover flower. It's a pink-ish purple cone shape flower that you can pick the head off of and eat / suck. Its often sweet and lightly floral with notes of berry and honey. I used to pick these wild flowers in my youth and the flavor note that I'm getting from the cigar is exactly this same flavor. It reawakened a dormant flavor memory. This is quite surprising.

Retrohale:

Light cherry coming through along with a slight tingle of barnyard at the tail end.

Second 3rd

Things have mostly stayed the same. There's a little more barnyard on the retrohale now. The cherry has disappeared and switched with a faint cinnamon and oak wood. Smoke output is the same. The coffee note comes and goes between puffs. I am not getting any creaminess or honey / graham cracker or the floral notes like before either.

The prominent flavor right now is oak wood and light roasted coffee.

Final 3rd

Ramping up to the final 3rd, some of the sweeter graham cracker notes have come back to into the fold. The coffee is still present bit not as strong as it was before. The wood notes from before are still there as well. Cherry poked it's head in a couple of times while blasting through the retrohale but it didn't stick around for too long.

The barnyard aroma switched to more of a grassy hay aroma and there were a few times where I could distinctly detect some cocoa notes as well but they did not last for long either.

The nub:

Toward the very end things started to heat up and it got a little harsh, but that's pretty normal when you get down to the very nub.

Conclusion

Overall I liked the cigar, it's quite mild and there's not a lot of bold flavor transitions going on but for what it's worth, I would say it's pretty decent. There are some notable flavor and aromas to be had, albeit, they are light flavors, but that's not always a bad thing. The Macanudo Ecuadorian Shade would make for a good morning cigar to have with coffee or tea. Might even be good while mowing the grass too!

I am interested to see how the flavors will develop if they have some time to rest in the humidor.

If there's any criticism that I have, it would be with the bottom band. I feel like it should be a little thinner or maybe dressed up a little bit more to match the top band. The top band with the Macanudo logo is very nice. It has a little filigree and a neat pattern to it. The bottom band is just shiny and kind of bland in comparison. The two bands side by side don't feel like they are from the same cigar. Other than that I think the colors contrast well with shade of the cigar and they are easy to spot and identify, I just wish part of the design carried over to the bottom band a little better.

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