#6 2023 Cigar of the Year: Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll Churchill 2022

SPECIFICATIONS

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Fillers: Brazilian Mata FIna, Nicaraguan (Jalapa), Dominican (Olor, Piloto Cubano)
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Churchill: 7 x 52
Price: $21.99

Sponsor: Yes
Samples Provided for Initial Review: Yes
Review: Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll Churchill (2022) (6/6/23)
Appearances on Countdown (By Year/Company): 10 (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023)

The Details

The #6 2023 Cigar of the Year is the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll Churchill 2022 edition. Over the past few years, several Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) brands have been collaborating with various spirits companies, some involving utilizing barrel-aged tobacco. In 2022, Macanudo became one of the STG brands that would collaborate with barrel-aged tobacco. For its project, Macanudo would engage with Napa Valley-based winery Flint Knoll. What was different about this project compared to the other STG barrel-aged collaborations is that Macanudo would be working with a winery as opposed to a distillery – and that the barrels used for aging tobacco would be French Oak barrels that were previously used to age Flint Knoll’s single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

The barrel aging process used for the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll is consistent with what has been used across the other STG barrel-aged collaborations. This aging process involves putting the tobacco that is being used as the binder leaf into the barrels. For the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll, a proprietary Connecticut Broadleaf leaf was aged in the wine barrels. In addition to the Connecticut Broadleaf binder, the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll features a filler blend of Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Olor, Dominican Piloto Cubano, and Nicaraguan Jalapa. The wrapper on the cigar is an Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut Shade leaf. The Churchill size measures 7 x 52.

The Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll Churchill delivers a complex smoking experience. The cigar delivered notes of vanilla, fruit, cedar, wood, cream, earth, sourdough, and pepper. This is a more dialed-back, nuanced smoke. It’s a cigar that is mild in strength and mild to medium in body to start before progressing to mild to medium strength and medium-bodied in the second half.

This is the 10th year STG has placed at least one cigar on a Cigar Coop Countdown. For Macanudo, it’s the first time in 13 years that the brand has landed on the Cigar Coop Countdown. If you are keeping score at home, this is the eighth cigar from the Dominican Republic to land on the Countdown.