Rosalila Inframundo Maduro by Oscar Valladares Tobacco and Company

The Rosalila Inframundo Maduro is one of four blends in the Rosalila line launched by Oscar Valladares Tobacco and Company. Valladares’ name may be familiar to cigar enthusiasts as he collaborated with Pittsburgh retailer Jim Robinson on the Leaf by Oscar line. Rosalila, along with Leaf by Oscar is being produced by Valladares’ company and distributed in the U.S. by Puros de Ballard. With the case of the Rosalila, Valladares has put together a series of four distinct Honduran puros – each with a different wrapper.  I think the name Oscar Valladares is someone to keep on the radar when it comes to making cigars. I found this maduro release, the Rosalila Inframundo Maduro to be an excellent offering.

The line was developed by Valladares and his master blender Bayron Duarte at Valladares’ new factory located in Danli, Honduras.  The name “Rosalila” comes from an actual Mayan temple in the Copan region of Honduras. The product’s packaging matches the color schemes of this temple. Valladares wanted to demonstrate his pride for his Honduran heritage, and thus reflected this in the packaging and the fact that the cigars are Honduran puros.

In addition to the Rosalila Inframundo Maduro, the company is producing a Connecticut Shade (Celestrial Connecticut), a Corojo (Mundo Presente Corojo), and a special cigar called Chicha. The Chicha is packaged as a bonus cigar in boxes of the other three Rosalila blends, it is a cigar that is infused with Chicha – a Mayan corn-based liquor.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Mundo Inframundo Maduro and see what this cigar brings to the table.  As a disclaimer this cigar assessment is based on a single cigar smoking experience:

Blend Profile

As mentioned, the Rosalila line consists of Honduran puros. The tobaccos for the blends in the Rosalila line come from five tobacco farms specifically chosen by Valladares from provinces throughout Honduras and feature some tobaccos many connoisseurs may not have previously sampled.

Wrapper: Honduran Maduro
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran

Vitolas Available

Currently, each of the blends in the Rosalila line are available in one size – a 6 x 50 Toro. The cigars are packaged 20 to a box and include the bonus Chicha cigar.

Appearance

The Rosalila Inframundo Maduro contains a dark roasted coffee colored wrapper.  I didn’t find this to be a very thick wrapper. The wrapper itself had an oily complexion.  The visible veins and visible wrapper seams gave this wrapper a bit of a rugged look, but this was also offset by the oils of the wrapper – giving the wrapper some level of smoothness.

The band to the cigar has a Mayan styled look to it. The color scheme has a mix of green, yellow, red, gold, and a touch of black. The lower part of the band is mostly gold. On that gold background is the text “ROSALILA” in large red font with a thin black trim. Below that text is the tex “HONDURAN CIGARS” in a small, think black font. To the far right is the gold and black Oscar Valladares logo.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I went with my choice of a straight cut to start things off.  Once the cap was clipped I moved on to the pre-light draw.  The dry draw produced some classic maduro chocolate and cocoa notes.  There was also a nice floral spice that I picked up as well.  Overall, I considered the pre-light draw of the Rosalila Inframundo Maduro to be very good.  At this point I was ready to light up this cigar and see what the overall smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Rosalila Inframundo Mundo continued where the pre-light draw left off.  I was treated to notes of cocoa, chocolate, floral spice, and nut.  While I had more of a floral spice on the tongue, the retro-hale provide more of classic pepper spice.  Early on the cocoa, chocolate, and nut flavors were primary while the spice was secondary.  The cocoa and chocolate provided some sweetness early on.

Later in the first third, the chocolate and cocoa notes became more of a bittersweet chocolate.  I found this change gave this cigar more of a classic Honduran feel.  The floral spice also transitioned to more of a pepper spice – similar to what was on the retro-hale.

By the midway point, the Rosalila Inframundo Maduro now took on some earthy qualities int he forefront – again exhibiting a nice Honduran feel.  The chocolate and pepper notes were secondary while the nut flavors were more a distant tertiary note.

In the last third, the Inframundo Maduro had more of an earthy and spicy quality to it.  At times I could still pick up some floral qualities in the spice.  The end of the cigar was flavorful with no harsh qualities.  The resulting nub was outstanding – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

From a burn perspective, the Rosalila Inframundo Maduro started out nicely.  I did find as the cigar made it toward the middle the burn line got more jagged and required multiple touch-ups.  While the Inframundo Maduro was never in danger of canoeing or tunneling, I found this cigar needed more touch-ups than I preferred.  The resulting ash had a salt and pepper color.  The ash itself was a little more on the loose side.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Rosalila Inframundo Maduro

The draw was excellent.  It was not too tight and not too loose.  In the end, the Inframundo Maduro was a low maintenance cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, I did not find the Inframundo Maduro to be an overpowering cigar. The strength level remained medium for most of the smoking experience. Toward the very end, I did find the strength had increased – creeping into medium to full range. The body also followed a very similar pattern – starting medium-bodied and in the very late stages it had moved into medium to full-bodied territory. Overall I found the Inframundo Maduro to maintain a nice equilibrium between strength and body.

Final Thoughts

The Rosalilia Inframundo Maduro proved to be a nice offering in the Rosalila line. The market isn’t flooded with Honduran puro maduros, so this is something that is definitely worth trying. It delivers a classic maduro profile with notes of chocolate, earth, and spice. At the same time, this is going to be somewhat different from Nicaraguan and Dominican maduros. The bittersweet qualities of the chocolate and floral qualities of the spice were two things that I took as being somewhat different. Overall this is a maduro I would recommend to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this was another nice smoke by Oscar Valladares’ company – it’s definitely one I would smoke again and it’s worth a fiver in my book.

Summary

Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium (Medium to Full at very end)
Body: Medium (Medium to Full at very end)
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 3.0 – The Fiver
Score: 90