In 2016, Lamborghini entered the world of premium cigars. Lamborghini cigars are offered by Lamborghini Latinoamerica, a lifestyle brand leveraging the iconic automobile brand name. The company has introduced two blends under the brand name – the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro and Lamborghini MCMXVIV Habano. Both cigars are offered in a large 7 x 56 torpedo. Today, we take a closer look at the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro offering.
In order to bring these cigars to market, Lamborghini Latinoamerica entered into a manufacturing and distribution agreement with Miami, Florida-based Lord of the Cigars. Lord of the Cigars is co-operated by its founder Lester Alvarez and CEO Junior Lopez. To produce its Lamborghini line, Lord of the Cigars works with the THECA factory – better known as Tabacalera Hernandez Castillo, which is located in Estelí, Nicaragua. This small factory was founded by some former employees who worked at the Padrón and Perdomo operations. According to Lord of the Cigars, the factory’s top pair is used to produce the Lamborghini Cigar line.
As for the cigars, the 1963 GTV Maduro pays homage to the 350 GTV vehicle, a Lamborghini prototype and forerunner of its first production model, the 350 GT. This cigar was showcased at the 1963 Turin Auto Show. As for the MCMXVIV Habano, it references the year 1994 which was when Lamborghini LatinoAmerica was established.
Without further ado, let’s break down the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro and see what this cigar brings to the table. This cigar assessment was based on a single cigar-smoking experience.
Blend Profile
Wrapper: San Andres Mexican Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Tabacalera Hernandez Castillo – THECA)
Vitolas Available
As mentioned, each cigar is offered in a 7 x 56 vitola. The cigars are offered in 20 count boxes and are also sold in individual tubes.
Appearance
The San Andres Maduro wrapper of the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro has a chocolate brown color. Upon closer examination there was some slightly darker motting that can be seen on the surface of the wrapper. The wrapper is on the oily side. There are some visible veins and visible wrapper seams. The surface of the cigar has a slightly bumpy feel to it.
There are two bands of the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro. The primary band is white in color with a gold patterned trim across the top and bottom. The center of the band features a black shield. On the shield is a gold bull with the text “Lamborghini” above it in a contemporary gold font. Below the bull is the text “Grupo” – also in a contemporary gold font. The sides of the band are adorned with the text “1963” and “HECHO A MANO IN NICARAGUA”.
The secondary band surrounds the footer. It is also white with gold-patterned trim. On the footer band is the text “350 GTV” in gold font.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
I started my cigar experience by clipping the tip of the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro with a straight cut. It is a regular practice for me to use my Credo Special T cutter with the 36 ring gauge hole to get an ideal cut on a figurado. This allows me to get a smaller ring gauge cut and to take advantage of the tapering of this cigar. From that point, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw delivered a mix of wood and coffee. Overall this wasn’t the most exciting pre-light draw, but since the pre-light experience is not factored into the numeric score and assessment rating, there was no loss of points here. At this point, I removed the footer band, lit up the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro and awaited what the smoking phase would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro continued where the pre-light draw left off as I detected more notes of coffee and wood. In the background, I detected some white pepper and a slight sour natural tobacco component. This component was not overpowering, but remained present throughout the smoking experience. On the retro-hale, a layer of red pepper came through the nasal passages.
During the first two thirds, I found the coffee and wood alternated in intensity as to which was the dominant flavor. Both the white pepper and sour component seemed to be a constant in the background.
By the final third of the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro, the white pepper notes joined the coffee notes in the forefront. I found the wood notes receded into the background where the sour component was present. This is the way the cigar experience of the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
For a large figurado cigar, I found this cigar performed quite well when it came to burn. For the most part I found the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro maintained a straight burn line and straight burn path from start to finish. The ash had a salt and pepper color to it. This cigar didn’t have the firmest ash, but it was not overly loose either. The burn temperature was ideal. As for the burn rate, I found the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro burned at an ideal pace – however considering this is a large cigar, it’s still one that is a 2+ hour smoking experience.
As for the draw of the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro, it also scored quite well. Given this is a smoke longer in duration, I was still a little surprised the torpedo tip didn’t get too soft while smoking. This was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.
Strength and Body
From both a straight and body perspective, I assessed the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro as a medium. Throughout the smoking experience, I didn’t find much variance in either the strength and body levels. At the same time, I did find the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I found the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro to be very old school in terms of its flavor profile. This did catch me by surprise considering the contemporary look of the packaging. There were a couple of drawbacks with this cigar. First, I did find this cigar lacked a little in terms of complexity. The other drawback was that the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro didn’t really have a “wow” factor to get me excited. The flavors delivered were good, but I guess I was looking for something more. One additional footnote is that from a construction standpoint, I judged the Lamborghini 1963 GTV Maduro to score nicely – especially given the fact this was a large figurado. This is a cigar I’d recommend others trying. As for myself, it’s certainly a cigar I plan to smoke again in the future.
Summary
Key Flavors: Coffee, Wood, Pepper, Natural Tobacco
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low to Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good
Rating
Assessment: 2.5-Try One
Score: 88
References
News: n/a
Price: $15.00
Source: Lord of the Cigars
Brand Reference: Lord of the Cigars
