Cigar Review: The Maldonado Dynasty The Mogul

Toro, 6" x 50 ring gauge / $11 MSRP

Today I will be reviewing The Maldonado Dynasty cigar called The Mogul. Paul Maldonado approached me and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing his cigars, and of course I was happy to oblige. You can find Paul on Twitter at @MaldonadoDynsty. This cigar is comprised of Dominican, Peruvian and Columbian fillers, with a Dominican binder all covered in a Arapiraca oscuro wrapper. They are one of the few cigar companies that are headquartered in California, and I believe the only one in Beverly Hills, which is why they refer to themselves as The Beverly Hills Cigar Brand. From what I can tell the production is very limited as they are only offered on their website, www.MaldonadoDynasty.com, or at Kramer's Pipe and Tobacco shop in Beverly Hills, and for the time being they are sold out on their website. I'd like to thank Paul for the two cigars he provided to me for this review.

Taking it out of the cellophane the first thing I noticed was the wrapper. It was a nice dark brown in color with a slightly reddish hue with some darker mottling to it. It was also glistening with oils and I was looking forward to lighting it up. The veins that were present would be classified as either medium or fine, but none of them detracted from the look of the cigar. The cigar was fairly firm when I gave it a squeeze and I wasn't able to detect any soft spots. I thought the band while quite ornate, was good looking but wasn't over the top. Putting my nose to the wrapper I got aromas of hay and leather with a very intense barnyard aroma coming from the foot. After clipping it with my Xikar MTX and taking a cold draw on it I got a sweet leather taste with an ok draw.

While this is not something I normally write about, but the aroma while toasting this cigar reminded me of grilling meats. That is something I'm not used to getting so early in a cigar. Once I lit the cigar up I got a fairly intense black pepper blast on my tongue that was definitely present on the retrohale. Taking a few more puffs I was able to get tastes of chocolate and leather with a slightly sweet finish. As I progressed through the first third I got hints of curry and a herbal note as well. The cigar was in the middle of the medium range as far as body and strength. The draw was ok, but not as free as I prefer. The almost white ash held on for about an inch before needing to be tapped off. The burn was uneven but I didn't touch it up to see how it would perform.

As I moved on into the second third the flavors were of leather, earth, chocolate, wood, and curry with a hint of sweetness. I also noted a slight saltiness on the edges of my tongue that started up once I got into this third as well. The draw opened up slightly as well. The spice toned down a lot and almost went away. The burn started to get a bit more uneven but I still wanted to see how it'd perform.

Moving into the final third of the cigar didn't see much change in the flavors, except for the grilled meat flavors I got at the very end. The spice did return although it was no where as strong as in the first third. I would still classify this cigar in the medium range as I finished it. The burn did almost even out without me touching it up.

Overall this was an enjoyable cigar. The construction on this one was better than the first one I had, it's draw was way too tight. Although this one still wasn't where I prefer. I do think that this cigar would be ok for almost any smoker out there, provided that you like the darker flavors that I described. I didn't get any nicotine hit so you shouldn't have to worry about that. The price is a little high in my opinion, but with California taxes and the small runs you expect the prices to be a bit higher. While this isn't something that I would smoke a lot it would be something I'd like to have a few of in my humidor to have every once in a while.

Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 6/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10

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