It used to be that the only claim to a Cuban Maduro cigar came from infamous online shops claiming to sell pre-embargo Cuban cigars. To me, the entire claim was ludicrous on the surface, if only because until now, there has never been a genuine Cuban “Maduro”, and if may say so, I never expected it.
So you can guess how surprised I was to see that, after all these years, during this past Habanos festival Cuba unveiled their Cohiba Maduro 5; yes, they are actually labeling these cigars “Maduro” right on the label and bands!
I’m still a little intrigued as to why they would do it now. After all, Cuban wrappers are so uniquely different on their own that I had just grown to accept the proverbial Maduro as uniquely a non-Cuban thing.
Nevertheless, Habanos S.A. is introducing the cigar as the “heir of the best tradition of Cuban dark wrapper cigars”. At first I said: A tradition of Maduro cigars? But they define their Maduro 5 wrappers as the upper leaves of the plant bearing a characteristic range of dark colors and textures brought on through their long, complex process of full natural fermentation, which, I suppose, is meant to say that they’ve not really done anything new, but just taken their fermentation process to the edge to come up with a very dark and rich wrapper, darker than they have until now. Reportedly, it takes five years of natural fermentation to produce the new wrapper, free of any chemical or temperature manipulation of any kind.
In case you haven’t guessed it just yet, these cigars are expensive, prohibitively so in most cases, costing up to $ 650.00 a box depending on the format: Genios, Magicos, or Secretos. Hmmm… I see a review forthcoming.
Cigar Inspector
September 29, 2007 at 5:12 am
Glad you’re updating this blog again. Let us know when you have tried all of these. I prefer the Magicos.
Benoît Wagner
October 5, 2007 at 10:47 am
I’ve just bought the Magicos. Got to try it this week-end. But God, Cohibas are soooooo expensive !
Mike
November 16, 2007 at 10:02 am
I just got back from Cancun and smoked several of these Madauros. They were some of the best cigars I’ve ever smoked. A bit costly, but i would do it again in a heart beat.
Shane Gibson
December 9, 2007 at 1:36 am
Over the past week I have enjoyed the Maduro Genios and the Piramides. I love them both for different reasons. They are a bit expensive compared to other brands but for a Cohiba I think they’re actually pretty reasonable.
Demetrios
December 14, 2007 at 7:46 pm
First things first. Very roughly speaking, we have 3 cigars that come close to a corona minor, a robusto and a robusto extra. The wrapper of these cigars are not that dark as one might expect. Draw is excellent, burn is somehow inconsistent, complex and full flavors of leather, cocoa and nuts. The one thing that an experienced smoker would note is that they need at least 2 years in a humidor. i have tried all all keep a box of each in my collection. Additionally (and hopefully not be misunderstood), i would prefer an esplendido,a siglo vi or a rubusto for the moment. Im surprised to notice that montecristos no2 are more potent in fragrance , darker wrapper and better oils on the wrappers. Many thanks.
Cohiba Maduro No. 5 | The Velvet Cigar
April 23, 2008 at 11:19 pm
[...] For a little more info on this gem go to Humiblog [...]
David
April 29, 2008 at 5:09 am
Hi EZ!
I’ve just smoked and really enjoyed the Secretos and Genios. I think the Genios offers greater complexity and just nudges the Secretos!
jasmine
May 15, 2009 at 4:34 am
which is better the partagas or romeo n julietta ranges
also which cuban cigars has a longer burning time
ofund this web sitge very useful
john
June 23, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Just back from Cuba with Maduros 5 Genios and Esplendidos. Must say the Maduros are the nicest so far. But who was it said the cigars have suffered from Soicalism? At least in Cuba it is the small people who benefit, I hope, and not the big corps…? Will it stay the same?
Daniel James
August 3, 2009 at 9:50 am
The Cohiba Maduro 5 simply say ” Smoke me”. It is darker in color than most of the Cuban cigars because of 5 years of natural fermentation. It is very rich.The draw is never too tight but the burn line is not always 100% straight.The flavor are very rich and profound.The price is bit too high. I can’t afford more than 3-5 a year.Power and elegance at the same time,Cohiba Maduro 5 is truly seducing.Its a must try cigar.
Cflandesa Hall
August 18, 2009 at 1:05 am
Cohiba Maduro 5 is of 140mm length with a ring gauge of 52.Because only the upper leaves of the plants are used it is darker in colour.It is oily and immediately indicates the potentials of the cigar. The pre-draw is woody.The draw has a slight variations. Same thing about burn as well. No correction required but it is not 100% straight. It is full bodied from the very beginning.It slowly gives heavy flavors of dark wood and fallen leaves with entertaining pepper shots.The price is quite prohibitive. at the same time i don’t feel the need to smoke this kind of cigar daily.
tagman
September 25, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Just purchased my 3rd box of Magicos.
A great smoke and it seems the price has come down a little.
Joe
October 11, 2009 at 1:10 am
I was in Grand Cayman this past weekend and I picked one of the magicos, what an unbelievable smoke. I found it to be much more medium bodied than I had anticipated. Burned nicely, full thick body, bright white ash. Earthy tones, leather, nutty. got better as it went. I liked it so much I picked up a total of 6 sticks… “I smoked them all” before I got back… Guess my humidor and I are the only ones who will ever know the truth… Because I doubt I will share these with anyone!!!
Joe
October 11, 2009 at 1:11 am
I was in Grand Cayman this past weekend and I picked one of the magicos, what an unbelievable smoke. I found it to be much more medium bodied than I had anticipated. Burned nicely, full thick body, bright white ash. Earthy tones, leather, nutty. got better as it went. I liked it so much I picked up a total of 6 sticks… “I smoked them all” before I got back… Guess my humidor and I are the only ones who will ever know the truth… Because I doubt I would ever share these with anyone!!!
carl
December 3, 2009 at 11:57 pm
99 out of 100 is what the Cohiba Maduro 5 Genios gets. Anyone who says anything different is kidding themselves. This is as close to perfect as perfect can be. Just bought a 10 count box from Switzerland ( $190 US ) and been smoking them non stop for three days. Everyday I pull a couple more Genios from the humidor and each one I smoke seems to be better than the last!!! Awesome cigar and best part is you can buy them now, next week, next year, whenever you want because it’s made everyday and not just for one year.
Jon
February 16, 2010 at 5:43 pm
I’m not a huge Cohiba fan but picked up a box of these in DR on a vendors recommendation and they are really nice. They put Monty #2 torps to shame in my book. I smoked them side by side a day apart.
I have a new favorite!
bryan
May 19, 2010 at 5:31 pm
cohiba is the champaine of cigars & PARTAGAS factory behind the CAPITOLIO is the place to check out.
just returned from cuba.purchased cohiba madur (10 cigars in a black box) for $64 cuc/about $72.96 CAN & they had in-house specials for $42 cuc/about $47.88 CAN (7 misc. sizes – lanceros,exquisitos,robustos,and 4-siglo,sizes I,II,III,IV ) in the old fort- EL MORO while on an overnight tour of havana.
also purchased a box of ROMEO Y JULIETA/25 sport largos in VERADERO at probably the best shop 5 min from the HOTEL INTERNATIONAL for about $51.25 CUC/about $58.39 CAN.
GUANTANAMERA were $5 CUC for a 5 pack …all no tax
Xenophon
May 27, 2010 at 5:35 am
Thanks for the review. I tried the Cohiba ‘Maduro’ 5 a couple of times now. I agree that it’s a very nice cigar although for the life of me, I don’t see why they call it a maduro. The fly in the ointment is the price/quality ratio, which is absurd for most Cohiba cigars and this is no exception. I regularly smoke premium cigars such as Padrón 1926, Ashton VSG etc. There I feel I get value for money, not so with the Cohiba.