Flor de Selva Tempo Maduro by Maya Selva Cigars

The Flor de Selva Tempo Maduro is one of three sizes of Maya Selva Cigars’ Flor de Selva Maduro Collection.  The company itself is named for its owner, Maya Selva. Maya Selva Cigars has had a footprint in Europe for quite some time and recently has turned its attention to the U.S. market. As this push has begun to move forward, Maya Selva Cigars has made headlines for a couple of additional reasons. First up, Flor de Selva (in a Connecticut Shade) was the winner of Cigar Journal’s Best Value cigar from Honduras – a surprise to many U.S. cigar enthusiasts who were not familiar with Maya Selva Cigars. The second reason is that Gabriel Alvarez, best known for being the Operations Manager at Kuuts LLC has now come over to Maya Selva to become Director of Sales. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Flor de Selva Tempo Maduro.  Not only is this an outstanding 60 ring gauge cigar, but this is one of the under the radar blends that currently is now available in the U.S. market.

Maya Selva Cigars is also not a new company and neither is the Flor de Selva line. It was launched in 1995 in France, so it is a company and line with two decades of history. In addition to the Flor de Selva line, there is also the value-priced Villa Zamorano line and the Nicaraguan blend Cumpay.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Flor de Selva Tempo Maduro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The Flor de Selva Maduro Collection is highlighted by tobaccos from the Jamastran region of Honduras:

Wrapper: Natural Maduro from Jamastran, Honduras
Binder: Mata Fina
Filler: Habano Jamastran – Ligero Azacualpa
Country of Origin: Honduras

Vitolas Available

As mentioned, the Flor de Selva Maduro Collection is available in three sizes.

Tempo Maduro: 6 x 60
Robusto Maduro: 4 3/4 x 50
M15 Maduro : 5 1/2 x 54

Appearance

The Flor de Selva Tempo Maduro has a rich roasted coffee bean colored wrapper.  Upon closer examination, there is a slight dark marbling to the color scheme.  The wrapper itself is quite smooth and has a light oily sheen to it.  There are a few visible veins and very few visible wrapper seams.   The Tempo Maduro is a densely packed cigar and actually feels heavy – even for a 60 ring gauge.

There are two bands on the Flor de Selva Tempo Maduro.  The primary band is white with a bronze front. The image on the front of the band has the likeness to a Roman Statue. To the left is the image is the text “FLOR DE” and to the right is the text “SELVA”. On the left and right side are the band are images of a leaf and medallion surrounded by a circular design.

A second band is on the footer. It features a red to dark maroon gradient style background. Sitting on the background is the text “Maya Selva Cigars” in white cursive font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting the Tempo Maduro, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, I proceeded with the pre-light draw.  While this was a dense pack, I had no problem getting flavors off the dry draw.  I detected notes of earth, cedar spice, and a slight amount of mocha.  Overall I considered the pre-light draw of the Tempo Maduro to be satisfactory. At this point, I was ready to light up the Tempo Maduro and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Tempo Maduro started out with blast of spices that included notes of cedar and black pepper. The spices subsided early and notes of earth surfaced followed by notes of cocoa powder. The retro-hale added another layer to these flavors as I detected both cedar spice and cocoa through the nasal passages.

As the Tempo moved through the first third, the cocoa notes took on a little more sweetness and moved into the forefront with the cedar spices. Meanwhile notes of earth, nut and pepper were the secondary ones. Toward the end of the first third, some milk chocolate notes also surfaced in the forefront. The cocoa, cedar, and milk chocolate alternated in intensity as the Tempo Maduro moved toward the midway point.

The second half saw the cocoa and chocolate move to the background.  The primary flavors now had more of an earth and cedar profile.  The pepper was still in the background and there also was still a slight nut flavor in the background.

On the last third, the pepper notes joined the earth and cedar in the forefront.  This is the way the flavor profile held until the end.  While there was some spice at the end, the flavors never got harsh.  The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

This is an extremely well-constructed 6 x 60 cigar – and this was reflected very nicely on both the burn and draw.  The burn remained straight from start to finish.  There was a slight jaggedness on the burn line, but still this was a low maintenance burn.  The resulting ash was a charcoal gray and was extremely firm.  The ash came off the cigar in nice clean chunks.  While the burn temperature was ideal, the burn rate was slow.  This cigar took about 2 hours and 20 minutes to smoke. The slow burn had no adverse effects on the smoking experience – it just extended it.

Burn of the Flor de Selva Tempo Maduro

Like the pre-light draw, the dense pack had no issues in terms of the draw.  There was a slight resistance, but I considered this to be ideal.  This was a very enjoyable 6 x 60 to smoke.

Strength and Body

The Flor de Selva is as bold and robust cigar.  I found this cigar to be both full strength and full-bodied right out of the gate.  In fact there was even a slight increase in both of these attributes as the cigar experience progressed.  The strength of this cigar never assaulted the palate.  In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balance each other very nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

A couple of months ago I had my first introduction with the Flor de Selva in the Connecticut Shade wrapper and was quite impressed.  Since that time I’ve had the opportunity to smoke the Flor de Selva Maduro vitolas and have even been more impressed.  Ultimately any cigar is going to come down to its flavor profile and the Tempo Maduro definitely delivers excellent flavor notes.  Add excellent construction and a nice amount of complexity and you have a winner.  I also liked that you can get a powerful smoke from the Tempo Maduro without sacrificing the flavor and complexity.  Given this is a fuller and stronger smoke, I would recommend this to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast.  As for myself, this is definitely a cigar I’d smoke again – and its one that is box worthy.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Full
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 4.0 – Box Worthy
Score: 92

References

News: Gabriel Alvarez Leaves Kuuts LLC, Named U.S. Director of Sales for Maya Selva Cigars
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Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Episode: Episode 114
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