Today, we review the Macanudo Emissary España in the Robusto size. Emissary represents a new pillar in the Macanudo brand. It’s meant to be a more premium pillar revolving around a theme of European sophistication. It’s not just the look; the Emissary incorporates European tobacco into the blend. Emissary España represents the first line released under the Macanudo Emissary pillar. España is Spanish for Spain, and the Emissary España incorporates Spanish tobacco into the blend.

Many parts of Europe grow tobacco in Europe. I’ve seen or heard of tobacco used in cigar blends in France, Greece, Italy, and Germany. In all honesty, the Emissary España is the first blend I’ve encountered with tobacco from Spain. The Spanish tobacco comes from a farm near the town of Riolobos, Spain, located in the West-Central region of Spain. From discussions I’ve had with various folks at STG, it sounds like there will be more Macanudo Emissary releases, but it’s unclear what the releases will be and where the tobacco will come from.

For now, let’s turn our attention to the Emissary España Robusto and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Macanudo Emissary España Robusto | Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

One of the other features of the Emissary España is the incorporation of aged tobaccos. Parent company Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) has said that the Spanish tobaccos undergo ten years of aging. The remainder of the blend includes tobaccos aged between five and ten years.

In addition to the Spanish tobacco, the filler of the Macanudo Emissary España also incorporates several other filler tobaccos, including five-year-aged Dominican Piloto, six-year-aged Nicaraguan, and five-year-aged Colombian tobacco. The binder is a six-year-old Nicaraguan leaf from Condega. Finally, the España is finished with a five-year-aged Connecticut-grown Broadleaf Claro wrapper.

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Claro (Aged 5 Years)
Binder: Nicaraguan (Condega, Aged 6 Years)
Filler: Spain (Aged 10 Years), Dominican (Piloto, Aged 5 Years), Nicaraguan (Aged 6 Years), Colombia (Aged 5 Years)
Country of Origin: Honduras
Factory: Honduran American Tobacco S.A. (HATSA)

Vitolas Offered

There are four regular production sizes of the Macanudo Emissary España. These were launched at PCA 2024. A limited edition box-pressed torpedo was recently released in the Emissary España line. All of the sizes come in 16-count boxes.

Box Pressed Torpedo: 6 x 52 (Limited Edition)
Robusto: 5 x 52
Toro: 6 x 52
Churchill: 7 x 48
Perfecto: 6 x 40 x 54

Appearance (*)

The name Connecticut Broadleaf Claro implies this is a lighter shade of  Broadleaf. While this isn’t a dark Connecticut Broadleaf, it isn’t the lightest shade I’ve seen, either. The Emissary España Robusto has what I would assess as. a “medium roast” coffee bean color. There was a light sheen of oil on the wrapper as well as a slight amount of toothiness. In addition, there was some mottling on the surface. The surface of the wrapper had some thin veins on it. The wrapper was still dark enough to make the wrapper seams minimally visible. The cigar is finished with a Cuban-style flat cap.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Of note is the aromas coming from the footer of this cigar. A wonderful, sweet, natural tobacco note was quite alluring on this cigar.

A straight cut was used to remove the cap of the Emissary España Robusto. While I always default to the straight cut for smoking and assessments, when it comes to the flatter caps, I think there isn’t another good option. After removing the cap, it was time to commence the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered sweet natural tobacco, coffee, earth, and wood notes. Overall, I found this to be an excellent pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to remove the footer band, toast up the Emissary España Robusto, and move into the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The Emissary España Robusto opened with more sweet natural tobacco, coffee, wood, and baker’s spice notes. There was also a touch of black pepper on the tongue. It didn’t take long for the natural tobacco to move into the forefront. Meanwhile, the coffee, wood, baker’s spice, and pepper settled in the background. The retro-hale produced additional layers of baker’s spice and some pepper. The spices were never overpowering on the retro-hale.

During the second third of the Emissary España Robusto, the natural tobacco notes remained grounded in the forefront. In addition to the sweetness from the tobacco, this was also a rich flavor that really made this note stand out. One thing that was different was that, from time to time, the coffee notes popped into the forefront. Meanwhile, the rest of the flavor profile saw the baker’s spice, pepper, and wood notes round things out.

By the final third, the natural tobacco notes remained primary, and the coffee notes floated into the forefront occasionally. In terms of the other secondary notes, there was more pepper. At the same time, the wood and baker’s spice remained. This is how the Emissary España Robusto closed out. The resulting nub was cool in temperature and slightly soft to the touch.

Burn

The Achilles heel of the Emissary España Robusto was the burn. This was a burn that wasn’t horrendous, but it didn’t score quite as high as many cigars in the same price range ($14.99).

The burn might look straight in the photo, but that was not without a lot of effort. The photo was taken at a point where it appeared the cigar had been just touched up. From start to finish, the Emissary España was on the uneven side. While touch-ups did the trick, this cigar required many more touch-ups than I prefer. The resulting ash had a silver-gray color. This was an ash skewed toward the looser side. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.

The net/net is that this wasn’t the worst burn, but it wasn’t the best burn either.

Draw

The draw of the Emissary España Robusto scored nicely. This is a draw that had a touch of resistance to it – which is something that I like. At the same time, this cigar also produced a decent amount of smoke.

Strength and Body

Overall, the Emissary España Robusto delivered a medium-strength, medium-bodied smoke from start to finish. There was a slight increase in the intensity levels of the strength and body, but not enough to push it out of the medium range of the respective spectrums.

In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely, with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

While I didn’t love the blue exterior, the rest of the packaging is excellent. The inside of the box has a classic wood color. The shelf talker on the side of the box is also a nice touch.

 

While I didn’t love the blue exterior, I did like the blue and gold bands on the cigar. The primary band is deep blue with gold font and denotes the Emissary line. The secondary band is more blue-green, denoting the España cigar.

OVERALL ASSE.SSMENT

Final Thoughts

One note not factoring into the score is the branding.  For many years, the CAO brand has had its pillar called “CAO World,” which incorporates tobaccos from different regions: CAO Italia, CAO Brazilia, etc. In a way, I think a Spanish tobacco release would fit there. While I like the concept that Macanudo Emissary overlaps with CAO World, the Emissary is a more premium brand.

Usually, when there is “off the beaten path” tobacco, it sounds better on paper than it turns out in practice. This wasn’t the case with Spanish tobacco. I found this tobacco really contributed to a nice flavor profile. If it wasn’t for the burn not performing to my expectations, this could have crawled into Standard of Excellence territory. Still, this is a cigar I would recommend to any smoker: buy and smoke again. It deserves another assessment down the road.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Coffee, Baker’s Spice, Wood, Pepper
Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Buy One
Score: 89

The Smoking Syndicate

In August 2024, Ben Lee of The Smoking Syndicate reviewed the Macanudo Emissary España Robusto  and gave that size an 89

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REFERENCES

News: Macanudo Emissary España Debuts at PCA 2024
Price: $14.99
Source: Purchased for Review (Samples provided by General at PCA 2024 not used for this assessment)
Brand Reference: Macanudo

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop