Several weeks ago a gentleman named Manuel Mavroleon, the founder of Mavros Cigars in Mexico, contacted me and wanted to send me a sample of his cigar. I was intrigued, considering when I started smoking cigars back in the mid-90s, it was Te-Amos that were the cigars I started with. Don’t laugh, at the time, I really enjoyed the maduro Te-Amos, they were readily available, and my father-in-law, who was one of my early cigar mentors, was a fan of them. LIttle did I know that one day the wrapper one these much maligned cigars would be one of the most sought after wrappers. Te-Amos were Mexican puros, which may have been part of the problem amongst aficionados, they were extremely earthy and one dimensional. At the time Mexican cigar makers couldn’t import other tobaccos, so it was puros or nothing. Te-Amos were very popular, by the way. Anyway, I was intrigued by this, and I received one sample in the mail, from Mexico, presented in a small cardboard box. The cigar is called the Mavros Revolucionario Especial, a 6 ½” x 40, with a fairly unattractive natural wrapper. I received the following information from Manuel:
I have sent you a Revolucionario especial. This cigar is one of my favourite Mavros vitolas, as it was crafted to recreate the cigars smoked by Mexican revolutionary generals – both in size, ring gauge and flavour.
The Revolucionario especial has been compared to a Trinidad Fundadores by aficionados, in that it has a smooth draw while maintaining a unique and strong flavour palate, with coffee and chocolate aromas throughout the cigar, and with some spice. The final 1/3 of the cigar has a distinct flavour, with the spice picking up and the introduction of a bitter almond aroma that is unique to Mavros.
The first two thirds aren’t bad, but it was distinctly unMexican. It wasn’t at all like I remember the natural wrapper Mexican puros tasting. It had some sweet woody flavor. I fail to see the comparison the the Trinidad Fundadores in flavor and size, but it has been many years since I’ve smoked that cigar. When I got close to the band it got really interesting. A sweet, floral flavor kicks in, really interesting. That sweet floral flavor intensified and almost became cloying. It’s a good thing that this flavor waited until the end, it might get tiring after a while. The flavor is like nothing I’ve encountered in a cigar, I don’t know quite how do describe it except for floral. I’ve heard that the proposed price for this is on the high side, and I’m not sure I’d pick this up based on the presentation. The band and the cello, which was wrapped much like a machine made cigar, don’t sell the cigar to me. Smoking it, maybe it is special enough to get that price, I don’t think I’ve smoked a cigar with such a unique and interesting flavor before, and I can’t find fault in the construction. It really was a fun cigar to smoke.
That’s all for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
