Marco V Brazilian

The life of a cigar reviewer is tough.  What do I smoke today?  “Oh, come on” you say.  Actually, there are times when I’m in the mood for something reliable in a cigar, an old friend, if you will.  And I certainly have my go to sticks.  But then there are the times when you open the humidor to find…?  You really have no idea what is going to come out.  I like to review what I call semi-blind.  That is, while I know what I am smoking, I remove the band only after I have selected, examined, and photographed the cigar, I frequently know anything about the cigar or the maker.  Obviously, that is not the case with the well known lines, but there are so many lesser known brands to explore.  Some are great, some are terrible and some just are.  That is, neither good, nor bad.  And, there are times when that’s all you want from a cigar, to be ‘not bad’.

Today’s cigar is the Marco V Brazilian.  It comes from a small company that has a tobacco farm and rolling operation in the Dominican.  Their intent is vertical integration.  I’m not sure how that’s possible given that they are using some Brazilian tobacco, but…  When I first looked at the stick I was impressed.  It is a substantial size, in a beautiful chocolate brown color.  The double band speaks of a strong presence.  Closer inspection reveals a firmly packed rough but oily cigar.  My smoke punched without a problem and lit easily.  It produced lots of nicely aromatic smoke.

The cigar construction is ok.  It has an open draw that produces a nice medium gray ash.  The ash does not last long.  And the edge is slightly uneven.  These do not distract from the flavor of the smoking experience.

Flavors on the cigar were nice.  At the outset there was a spiciness that was strong but not overwhelming.  I expected some sweetness from the wrapper but that didn’t appear until the last third of the smoke.  The spice was balanced by a cedar  earthiness.  The flavors remained the same for almost two thirds of the stick.  At that point the spice gave way to a sweetness and a creamy note.  This is surprising since most cigars will finish stronger than they start.  I would consider this short finish, cool burning stick a medium bodied or ‘lunch’ cigar.

AT around $8.00 this is more than I would like to pay for a cigar that was neither good nor bad.  I usually would like a little more.  But, for those who enjoy a large stick this gigante will fill the bill.