Wrapper: Brazilian Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan (Proprietary)
Size: 6 x 52 “Torpedo”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $ 10.00 MSRP
Today we take a look at the Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro.
I reviewed the Martinez Flatiron No. 6 Natural back in February of 2014 and found it to be a superb cigar blend.
BACKGROUND:
From the Martinez Cigars web site:
“Our Flatiron #2 Maduro provides an incredibly bold, full-bodied flavor with an easy draw in its most popular robusto format. Our proprietary blend of 5-year-old Nicaraguan filler tobaccos are wrapped in a beautifully dark and oily Brazilian broadleaf exhibiting complex tobacco flavors crafted for the most developed palette. Not for the timid, this cigar provides the ultimate smoking experience with strong leathery notes punctuated by deep spice and hints of steel every bit worthy of its legendary name.”
Blends from Martinez Cigars: New York City Blend , Don Antonio Escogido Natural, Don Antonio Escogido Maduro, Pasión Series, Flatiron Natural, and Flatiron Maduro.
“From the Martinez web site:
“Antonio Genaro Martinez (1947-2002) was known to everyone as Don Antonio. When he emigrated from the tiny town of Tamboríl in the Dominican Republic, he brought with him a vast wealth of knowledge and incredible talent for making some of the finest cigars imaginable.
“Every day we do our best to honor his memory and tradition. We hope that he would be proud of what Martinez Cigars has become.
“Since 1974, Martinez Hand Rolled Cigars Factory has produced some of the very finest cigars available anywhere in the world. All Martinez Cigars are made by hand in our factory in midtown New York City. We proudly maintain the tradition begun by our founder, Don Antonio Martinez, honoring his talents, skills and memory.”
DESCRIPTION:
This looks like a chocolate candy bar. A mottled, oily, dark, dark brown wrapper. Invisible seams. Few veins.
The wrapper has a fine grit of toothiness.
The sticks are solid.
SIZES AND PRICING (Prices are good for the Natural and Maduro):
Flatiron #1 6 x 54 $12.00
Flatiron #2 6 x 52 $10.00
Flatiron #6 5 x 50 $8.00
Flatiron #9 7 x 44 $8.00
Flatiron Trio Box Set FT #1, FT #2, FT #6 (You can choose Natural or Maduro) $39.00
AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
The shaft brings aromas to this shnoz of spice, floral notes, chocolate, dates and raisins, sweetness, earthy tobacco, and espresso coffee.
From the clipped cap and foot, I can smell spice, barnyard, cocoa, sweet fruit, and leather.
The cold draw presents massive loads of chocolate, spice, fruity sweetness, earthiness, and leather.
FIRST THIRD:
Great draw.
The Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro kicks off with flavors of: (Yes, you guessed right) Chocolate, a mild black pepper, sweetness, earthy tobacco, very toasty and nutty.
It’s been nearly 18 months since I reviewed the Natural version and it was then I was on Martinez kick. Then it was time to move. So the only recollection I have of my impression was to read my own review. I liked it a lot. Good sign because I love Maduros even more.
I got this very cool humidification device called the Excel from Cigar Oasis. I’m such a schmuck for not getting a couple of these years ago. Totally trouble free. I will kibitz about it a bit later.
Back to the Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro. The MSRP is flexible as I believe I paid $24 for four sticks. Now this is a $10 cigar so the $6 price point blew me away. Yes. I actually bought some cigars. I spend a lot of time cruising looking for great deals that won’t upset the wife.
There are a few places online you can purchase these cigars.
The flavor profile is ripe with cocoa, espresso, toastiness, spice, nuttiness, and earthy tobacco.
The char line is dead nuts. What a nice change. This cigar was not born to run.
Strength is classic medium body.
Happy that I picked the packed solid cigar. Very slow smoke. 10 minutes to smoke half an inch. I will be here til Thursday ladies and germs.
I predict that the second third will see the cigar blossom. Right now, it is kicking the dirt with its front paws and snortin’ away getting ready to be released to gore the fool in the ring.
The fruity sweetness is composed of raisins, dates, plum, and a touch of black grapes.
As slow as this cigar is to smoke, now is the time to tell you how impressed I am with the Cigar Oasis humidifier. I got the one (Excel) that will humidify up to 300 cigars. I believe it runs for $119.00. It is good for humidors up to 4 cubic feet. Mine is less than 2 cubic feet but also works perfectly on a 50 count humidor. It plugs in. You program it. It comes fully filled with distilled water (No PG solution allowed), and is assembled in a couple of minutes.
You can even calibrate it to your current hygrometers. Just make sure they are accurate. And you set the humidity you want. It has a little fan on the top and a sensor on the side. It needs refilling every few months. And it tells you so. I love this thing.
I got the middle sized humidifier because of my 300 count humidor. They make a smaller one and a much bigger one. They give you a drop down menu on the web site so you can insert your humidor dimensions and it then tells you which model to buy. Cool.
I will review it in the next few days and give you the complete lowdown. No more Boveda packets, or humidification blocks, or beads. Let technology do the heavy lifting.
If all goes well, Cigar Oasis will become a new sponsor and provide deals for only Uncle Katman’s readers.
Back to the Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro.
Changes occur at the 1-1/2” smoked point. Flavors are emboldened and brighten.
A buttery graham cracker crust jumps aboard. The nuts are more almond than anything else allowing a marzipan flavor. Marzipan is an acquired taste. Europeans go ape shit over it. That’s where I learned to love it. But I missed my Halvah. Look it up.
The sweet spot hits a bit sooner than I expected.
The earthy tobacco is very rich and decadent. You can taste the soil and minerals at the root of the plant.
Chocolate taffy. Or even a chocolate Tootsie Roll. That’s how intense the cocoa is.
Creaminess makes its first entry into the fold. It boosts the other flavors big time.
Looking for concise leaf stats, I noticed that the Martinez cigars have very few reviews. I don’t know why. It is an outstanding work of blending skill. I guess it is flying too much under the radar. Must speak to owner, Jesus Martinez, about this. There are blends dying to be reviewed.
The whole Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro is bloated with flavors.
With the addition of creaminess, we now have cheesecake because of the buttery graham cracker crust.
I should add that this is my first cigar of the four I bought. So I had no preconceptions going in.
The sun just won’t cooperate this morning and I must rely on artificial light. Too bad because this is one hellacious gorgeous wrapper. Although, you can see the toothiness in the photos.
SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time has been 40 minutes. This may be a 2 hour cigar.
Strength remains at medium body.
The cigar finds its complexity here. Perfect balance and now a nice long finish.
Construction has been top notch. Perfect char line. No wrapper issues. If the sun comes out before I finish the review, I will use a different cigar to show off its mottled beauty.
Flavors flourish.
The strength is a tick above medium body.
HALFWAY POINT:
Some flavors dissipate a bit. The black pepper moves to the back of the line. The nuttiness as well. What is left is the heavy dose of chocolate, the coffee returns, sweetness, creaminess, buttery graham cracker crust, and earthiness.
Side Note: Lou Reed’s “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” is playing. I love that song. For my Eddie Munster song in 1983, I stole a line from this song. “And the colored girls go do-da-do-da-do, etc. Well, clearly, I couldn’t say “colored girls,” so I had a chorus of chick singers go: “And the “The Colored Ghouls say do da do da do…etc.” Not a single person in 32 years ever caught on to my wink to Lou Reed. Real bummer.
Back to the Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro.
I’m very impressed with the burn. With 2-3/4” to go, I’ve experienced an hour and 10 minutes of smoke time.
Strength hits medium/full.
Only a couple minutes after the strength opens up, the black pepper returns as strong as ever.
And then all the flavors re-emerge and we have one happy family.
Damn. Delicious cigar. ¾” before the last third begins, we hit the real sweet spot. What I’ve been waiting for.
A new flavor line up: Black pepper, chocolate, espresso, summer fruit, sweetness, dried fruit, creaminess, earthiness, leather, and something brand new: (This one is tricky and I need to sip water and puff) I got it. It is a combo of anise and oak. Doesn’t sound tricky now that I’ve put it to paper..so to speak.
Ooh..ooh. This is what I missed…lemon citrus. That’s the ticket. In fact, it has pretty much permeated the entire cigar experience but I was too much of a schmuck to call it out.
Add some Stoli, vermouth and we have a smooth martini. Martinis are my drink of choice. But no olives and no onions. All that salt and those weird pickling spices really screw up a good clean martini. The lemon twist brings out the natural flavors of the liquor.
The Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro is quite the impressive little blend. The Natural was delicioso and the Maduro follows in its tracks.
The oak and lemon zest are really swinging now. Nearly moving the other flavors aside.
LAST THIRD:
A big step for mankind has occurred. The Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro explodes with flavor molecules. The big bang.
The “It” factor has kicked in.
I don’t remember how long I allowed the Natural to rest before reviewing it. I definitely think that the Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro needs at least 2-3 months of humidor time. Not just a few weeks.
I betcha’ a buck, that what I taste now will be the lead off on a better rested stick.
Flavors are oozing and dripping on to the floor.
“Squeeze me baby, till the juice runs down my leg.
“The way you squeeze my lemon, I’m gonna fall right out of bed.”
The Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro is almost as good as sex. At least for this old man. What I wouldn’t give for a pup tent in the morning when I wake up.
I finally get a sun drenched photo. You can see the reddish tint in the mottled brown wrapper.
Strength hits full body.
All flavors are intact.
Final smoke time is one hour 45 minutes.
If you haven’t tried a Martinez blend, then shame. Lots of online stores carry them. You can also buy them directly from the Martinez web site.
They even offer the Flatiron Trio Box Set. You get to choose Natural or Maduro. And it is in a nice gift box.
This was a fun review. Wonderful cigar that seems to last forever like an all-day sucker.
Now that the sun is out, I go back and take a nice photo of the pre-lit cigar. No. 1.
I highly recommend both the Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro and the Martinez Flatiron No. 6 Natural.
PRICE POINT:
Prices vary from $6.00-$10.00. Google, Google, Google.
I’m dying to try the other blends. I will now have to twist Jesus Martinez’s arm to send me the other blends.
Visit the Martinez Cigars web site to check things out.
The sampler is a great place to start without doling out too much dough. And the wife will understand.
SUMMATION:
An exemplary display of journeyman blending skills. I’m ready to go back to my Martinez cigars kick.
I love this blend. The flavors are bold and stay that way to the very end.
Construction has been impeccable. And it is time for this cigar to get national fame.
The Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro is master blend. A high premium.
I have no qualms about the price point. It is worth every shekel. Even at the MSRP. This could have been a $14 cigar in this ridiculously expensive cigar climate.
I found the Martinez Cigars Flatiron #2 Maduro to be a relaxing cigar. Even with the strength being so strong; it does so with a gentleman’s smoothness.
Nicotine is nonexistent. It was there for a few minutes and then disappeared just as quickly.
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by Phil 'Katman' Kohn 
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