The Senorial Maduro Natural by Jose Blanco is the third regular production line to be released by Las Cumbres Tabaco. Las Cumbres Tabaco is the company owned by Jose Blanco and his wife Emma Viktorsson. A the name indicates, it is a maduro offering – the first maduro to be released by Las Cumbres Tabaco. It also was a cigar blended by Blanco. The cigar made its official debut at the 2015 IPCPR Trade Show and shipped to retailers shortly afterwards. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Senorial in the Robusto Digno vitola. Since launching in 2014, Las Cumbres Tabaco has been releasing some excellent cigars and the Senorial Maduro Natural introduces another winner into the portfolio.

While it is under the Senorial line, this is a not the original Senorial blend with a maduro wrapper. Instead this is a whole new blend featuring a San Andres Mexican maduro wrapper. The name Maduro Natural comes from the fact that the San Andres wrapper used for this blend has a rustic look to it.

Las Cumbres Tabaco has had a busy 2015. Along with the Senorial Maduro, the company also launched Frejya, the line developed by Viktorsson. A lancero offering was also introduced to the core Senorial line .

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

In addition to the San Andres Maduro wrapper from Mexico, the Senorial Maduro Natural features Dominican binder and filler. The blend features Dominican Piloto Cubano – something that has become a staple in each of Las Cumbres Tabaco’s blends. Senorial Maduro Natural is made at Tabacalera Palma, the factory run by Jose Blanco’s Jochy Blanco.

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Dominican Piloto Cubano
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano and Dominican Criollo ’98
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Tabacalera Palma)

Vitolas Available

The Senorial Maduro Natural is available in four sizes – each in 24 count boxes.

Lonsdale Refinado: 6 1/2 x 44
Robusto Digno: 5 1/2 x 50
Toro Coloso: 6 x 54
Opulento: 6 x 60

Appearance

While San Andres Maduro wrapper to the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno has a dark woody look to it, it still is on the lighter side compared to many maduro cigars. Upon closer examination, there is some darker marbling visible on the surface. There is a nice coat of oil on the wrapper. While the wrapper lives up to its rustic look, I still found it to be on the smoother side. There are some very thin veins and very thin wrapper seams.

The band to the Senorial Maduro Natural is an off-shoot of the original Senorial band design. The band features a dark and light gray mountain-like design that has the look of an oil painting on canvas. The middle of the band has a curved orthogonal shape to it with gold trim. In the middle of that shape is an portrait of a village – also with an oil painting effect. The village design is surrounded by a gold-grimed oval. Across the picture of the village is the text “Senorial by Jose Blanco” – in gold font. Above that text is the text “MADURO” with a modern style font featuring the letters irregularly aligned. To the left of the orthogonal portion of the band is the text “Hand Made” in white”hand painted style” font while on the right side is the text “Dominican Republic” – also in the same white font. The outer edges of the band have gold trim.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I used a straight cut to remove the cap of my Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno. Once the cap was successfully clipped, I moved on to the pre-light draw phase. The cold draw of the Senorial Maduro Natural delivered a mix of earth, cedar, and chocolate sweetness. Overall I considered this to be an excellent pre-light draw experience. At this point I was ready to light up the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno started with a quick blast of black pepper and cedar spice. This was quickly joined by notes of chocolate, earth, and a mixed fruit sweetness. The chocolate and earth notes moved into the forefront early with the cedar, pepper, and fruit notes secondary. At times fruit sweetness made its way to the forefront. Meanwhile the pepper was also quite prominent on the retro-hale.

At the start of the second third, the chocolate notes had a slight edge as being the primary flavor. The earth notes were still quite prominent with the cedar and pepper close secondary notes. The fruit notes were now more grounded in the background and continued to add some additional subtle sweetness. As the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno moved through the second third, I found the earth notes eclipsed the chocolate notes and by the start of the final third, it was more of a background note.

The last third was more earthy with the cedar and pepper spices now in the forefront. The chocolate notes were quite subtle and the mixed fruit flavor had dissipated. Despite more spice, the never got harsh, nor became a spice bomb. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

In terms of both burn and draw, I found the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno to score very nicely. The burn took a straight path from start to finish. There was a slight curvature to the burn line that required some touch-ups, but overall I did not find this cigar needed an excessive amount of touch-ups. The resulting ash had a salt and pepper color. While not a “tight” ash, I still found the ash to be on the firm side. The combustion to the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno was excellent as the burn rate and burn temperature were excellent.

I found the draw to the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno to be an open, but not loose draw. This cigar produced quite a bit of smoke. Overall this was a low maintenance draw to derive flavors from.

Strength and Body

This cigar surprised me. I found the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno cigar to be a powerhouse in terms of both strength and body. This cigar started out full strength and full-bodied out of the gate. There even was a slight increase in the intensity of both of these attributes. The strength and body both balanced each other very nicely as neither attribute overshadowed the other. At the same time, the flavors still shine nicely with this cigar.

Final Thoughts

While I’ve been critical of many San Andres Mexican wrapper blends, I’ll be the first to admit 2015 has delivered quite a few good ones. In most cases, I’ve preferred a San Andres blend with a cigar that has a medium profile. However, the Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno is a different story. I found the this full strength, full-bodied, full-flavored cigar to be very satisfying and very enjoyable. I’m curious to see how this cigar ages over the next few months. My gut tells me this is a cigar that will get even better.  As of now, this is a cigar I’d recommend to a more seasoned enthusiast who enjoys something on the bolder side. As for myself, this is a cigar I would easily smoke again – and it’s a box worthy cigar.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Full
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 4.0-Box Worthy
Score: 93

References

News: Senorial Maduro Natural by Jose Blanco
Price: $8.50
Source: Purchased, Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 163
Stogie Feed: Las Cumbres Tabaco Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno by Jose Blanco