Robusto, 5" x 54 ring gauge, $6.80
Seems like only yesterday that the Casa Magna Colorado was honored as Cigar Aficionado's Cigar of the Year. It has actually been over a year and the reputation of the Casa Magna has been hit hard (at least from people I have talked to) as the quality of subsequent releases of the Colorado suffered and smokers in general lost interest. In the highly competitive cigar market it is hard to stay in people's minds without new offerings at least once a year, but it took Casa Magna over a year to release their second stick: the Oscuro. Like the original Colorado, this cigar is the brainchild of Manuel Quesada and Nestor Plascencia. While the Colorado was a Nicaraguan puro, the Oscuro is almost entirely Honduran, with some Nicaraguan filler used as well.
The wrapper of this cigar was almost black with a little bit of mottling and medium-sized veins. The red, whit, blue and silver band was very striking set against the ultra dark background. The aroma from the body was compost and cocoa, while the foot had a richer dark chocolate aroma mixed with barnyard. The wrapper did not look very oily, but was quite oily to the touch. The cold draw flowed well and featured rich, thick flavors of chocolate and coffee; it was no nice that I did not want to light up for a while. If the lit stick held up to the promise that it made cold, this could be quite the wonderful cigar.
After lighting, I initially got flavors of leather and earth along with a little coffee and just a touch of ammonia--a flavor I knew all too well from the Casa Magna Colorados I had smoked. This one was not too heavy on ammonia, though, and I hoped it would pass quickly. In this case, my hope was realized. The rest of the first third was a thick, full-bodied combination of earth, coffee, cocoa powder, and black pepper. The earthniess was fairly heavy, muting the other flavors to some extent, but it was still a very flavorful cigar. The body was very full right from the beginning with a thick, oily smoke that left a long finish with a tang of licorice. It was not quite what I was expecting, but I was enjoying it.
There was not much change to report in the second third except for a building of the spice so that my mouth was left tingling throughout the long finish. The draw remained great and the burn line was very even. From time to time I heard cracking that I would normally associate with a wrapper splitting, but this was a tough, hardy wrapper that showed no signs of damage thus far.
The last third was predominantly earth and coffee still while the spice faded as the cigar smoked down to the nub. Overall, this was a very good cigar that I really enjoyed. It had a nice full body with plenty of flavor while not packing much of a nicotine punch. The only thing that would have made it better would have been less earthiness which tended to mute and muddy the other flavors, although this was not as much of a problem as some other cigars I have had. The price is very good, too, and while I wouldn't go so far as to buy a box, it will definitely get a repeat visit in my humidor.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
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