This El Original Maduro is a complex blend of tobaccos from six countries: Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Peru, Mexico and Ecuador.

The El Original is crafted in a small factory in the Little Havana section of Miami, Florida. The Master Blender who oversees the production of the El Original is Santiago Cabana, who worked as a roller and Master Blender in Cuba’s cigar industry before arriving in the U.S. in 1995.

The wrapper leaf on this maduro is nothing to write home about. It is mottled, lumpy and bumpy. It’s fairly rough with a tortoise-shell texture. However, the nose on this cigar is another matter entirely. One whiff will make you a believer. This 6 1/4 x 54 torpedo has an irresistible musky aroma that is full of barnyard and chickencoop.

The wrapper leaf is from a small-batch farm in Mexico and is naturally aged. This is one of those cigars that I could just as easily eat, than smoke. But, I do intend to smoke it...

The feel on the cigar is more than supple, it’s a bit soft, but we’ll see how that affects the performance.

After clipping, I took a few pre-light draws, which seemed perfect so I fired up this stick. As in my last two reviews, the cigar started medium to full in body and flavor and exhibited some wood and pepper spice notes, especially on the retrohale.

Though the cigar has over a year of age on it, I am still surprised at the fullness of body and flavor that it exhibits. However, the flavors are more blended now and not as distinct as before.

The draw and burn of this stick are nearly ideal and the medium gray ash forms a perfectly formed bunch that I roll off at 1.5-inch intervals that are neatly packed in my ashtray.

The halfway mark brings flavors of dark espresso beans and more cedar flavors.

This stick continues to display fine construction and the medium to full body and flavor profile makes it a great choice for those who like maduros. I like this stogie a lot, but the flavors are more muddled than before and lack the fine distinctions as in the past two reviews.

You can purchase a 4-cigar El Original Maduro sampler for $19.95, while a box of 25 will run you $149.95. This is an excellent maduro that I believe you should try.

~Doc