The SuperEgo is the debut cigar by Freud Cigar Company. Freud Cigar Company is a partnership between Luis Torres and David Stadnyk. Torres is best known for his time as CEO of Casa de Montecristo and his time with Davidoff of Geneva retail stores. Stadnyk comes into the company with 30 years of experience as a financier and philanthropist. Freud Cigar Company pays homage to the legendary Dr. Sigmund Freud who is considered the father of psychoanalysis, but also a famous cigar enthusiast. The first regular production cigar is the Superego. The SuperEgo is one of the key elements in Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis and it was the inspiration for the cigar with its namesake. Today we dive deeper into the Freud SuperEgo cigar in the Magnum (6 x 60 size).

Through Torres’ connections at Davidoff, he has partnered with two blenders to produce his company’s cigars: Eladio Diaz and Wiber Ventura. Diaz now has his own factory and has produced Freud’s first limited edition cigar, Agape, and the (at press time) soon-to-be-released second core line, AlterEgo. Ventura, who is now with his family’s factory, Tabacalera William Ventura worked on the SuperEgo blend.

Box of the Freud SuperEgo Magnum

Without further ado, let’s break down the Freud SuperEgo Magnum and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Produced at Tabacalera William Ventura, the SuperEgo is highlighted by an Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper. The remainder of the blend utilizes a Sumatra binder over a combination of fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo
Binder: Sumatra
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera William Ventura

Vitolas Offered

The Freud SuperEgo is available in four sizes – each is presented in ten-count boxes.

Open box of the Freud SuperEgo Magnum

Robusto Extra: 5 x 54
Toro: 6 x 52
Magnum: 6 x 60
Lonsdale: 6 1/2 x 42

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper of the Freud Superego Magnum had a distinct cinnamon color to it. There were some oils present on the surface of the wrapper. While there were some visible wrapper seams on the surface, the wrapper was dark enough to hide most of the wrapper seams. The wrapper is pinched toward the head, creating a pigtail.

Close Up of the Freud SuperEgo Magnum

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

As opposed to pulling the pigtail off the head of the Freud SuperEgo Magnum, a straight cut was used to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw delivered notes of earth, chocolate, and natural tobacco. Overall this was a satisfactory pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to remove the footer band that was on the Freud SuperEgo Magnum and move on to the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The Freud SuperEgo Magnum came out of the gate with a very earthy profile. As the cigar burned through the early stages, notes of chocolate, natural tobacco, and grass surfaced in the background. A little further into the first third, some black pepper notes also emerged in the background. By the middle of the first third, the natural tobacco notes increased in intensity and joined the earth notes in the forefront. Meanwhile, there was an additional layer of black pepper on the retro-hale.

As the Freud SuperEgo Magnum moved through the second third, there was a gradual increase in the pepper notes. Meanwhile, the chocolate notes diminished during this stage of the smoking experience. As the cigar reached the midway point, the earth notes regained control as the primary note as the natural tobacco joined the pepper, grass, and chocolate notes. Toward the end of the second third, the chocolate notes dissipated.

The final third saw the earth notes remain primary. The pepper notes were now the most prominent secondary note. Further in the background were still notes of natural tobacco and grass. This is the way the Freud SuperEgo Magnum came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and slightly lukewarm.

Burn

Overall the Freud SuperEgo Magnum was a cigar that required frequent touch-ups along the way. The burn seemed to want to meander as it moved deeper into the smoking experience. The resulting ash was on the darker side of gray. The ash itself was also on the flaky side. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels – except at the very end when the burn temperature got slightly lukewarm.

Burn of the Freud SuperEgo Magnum

Draw

While the burn required some maintenance, the draw of the Freud SuperEgo Magnum performed quite well. This was a draw with a touch of resistance – which is something I like. Even on the bigger ring gauges, I still like a little tug on the draw.

Strength and Body

The Freud SuperEgo Magnum delivered a medium-strength, medium-bodied smoking experience from start to finish. Along the way, there wasn’t much variance in the intensity levels of the strength or body. When looking at strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES

While it’s not factored into the score, the banding and packaging of the Freud SuperEgo Magnum was outstanding. First I liked the three-band scheme: a primary band with the Freud brand name; a secondary band with the name of the line (SuperEgo); and a tertiary band that has the vitola name.

The color scheme really was a throwback and I could see it fitting for a cigar of Dr. Sigmund Freud.

Finally, the boxes looked outstanding as well – the maroon boxes, the inside vista, and presentation of the cigars all looked quite nice.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

The Freud SuperEgo Magnum delivered some decent flavors, but the flavors fell short of having any “wow” factor. While it wasn’t the worst burning cigar I ever had, this is a cigar that could have had a better burn. The blend seemed to work nicely in the 6 x 60 format. In the end, the Freud SuperEgo scored a respectable 88, but its $19.00 price point is quite steep. This is a cigar I’d recommend trying a sample of first.

Summary

Key Flavors: Earth, Natural Tobacco, Chocolate, Grass, Pepper
Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good