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Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco | Cigar review

By The Katman on September 24, 2015 • ( 1 )

Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Dominican Piloto Cubano
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano, Dominican Criollo ’98
Size: 5.5 x 50 “Robusto Digno”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $8.50 MSRP

Today we take a look at the new Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco.
I want to thank a very kind and generous man, Miguel Castro, for purchasing these for me from Cigar Federation.

BACKGROUND:
Las Cumbres Tabaco is the new cigar manufacturer headed by Jose Blanco.
Factory: Tabacalera Palma
Debuted at the 2015 IPCPR trade show.
This is the third regular production blend.
There is zero information online. Even the Blanco web site has not included this cigar in its lineup. My usual sources for news on cigars have very little information.

DESCRIPTION:
A very rustic looking cigar that is very oily with a nice bit of toothiness. The wrapper is a dark coffee bean color.
Like all the blends from Blanco, the cigar band is beautiful. Lots of detail.

Seams are tight. Lumpy and Bumpy. A perfectly applied triple cap. And lots of veins.

SIZES AND PRICING:
Lonsdale Refinado: 6.5 x 44 $7.00 MSRP
Robusto Digno: 5.5 x 50 $8.50 MSRP
Toro Coloso: 6 x 54 $9.00 MSRP
Opulento: 6 x 60 $10.00 MSRP

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I can smell fruity sweetness, spice, earthy notes, and cream.
From the clipped cap and foot, I smell chocolate, spice, coffee, cream, sweetness, and very earthy notes.
The cold draw presents flavors of chocolate, earthy tobacco, spice, and sweetness.

FIRST THIRD:
There is a nice creamy chocolate flavor that starts us off. The draw is impeccable.
This is a very smoky cigar in that smoke just billows from the foot like a house afire.

Then quickly after the introduction of chocolate comes creaminess, hazelnut, very strong red pepper, and malt (I need to smoke a bit more before I identify the malts), coffee, and the flavors keep piling on faster than I can deduce what they are…But I will.

Ever since I had that dementia lined epiphany about how to light a cigar, I’ve not had a bad char line or run since. Except for a couple cigars that were merely rolled poorly.

Either I don’t remember or I never heard of anyone lighting the wrapper and not the foot. Merely using a single torch flame around the circumference about 1/16” wide and then evenly distribute that width until it is 3/16” wide. This allows the foot to burn inward instead of outward due to the normal way we light cigars.

Since then, I’ve not had a single run or uneven burn line. And if you do see the start of a run with that little V burn, lay it down and allow the cigar to cool down a bit. Problem solved.

OK. On with the Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco.

The malts are defining themselves now: Aromatic Malt, Biscuit Malt, Cara Munich, Chocolate Malt, and Coffee Malt. (See Malt Chart). I wrote hundreds of reviews in which I couldn’t identify the “It” factor that made the flavor profiles so good. It took me being nuts in the head to identify that I was tasting variations of malt. This was the “It” factor.
Strength is medium body.

The Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is a slow roll. Taking its time. Imparting simple, but nuanced and subtle, flavors.
The chocolate, cream, and coffee are very potent and bold now. The spiciness moved to the halfway part of the list. Hope it returns.

The flavor profile reminds me of a rich chocolate dessert that you find in upscale restaurants for $16.
Complexity begins to form. The balance is good, but not yet outstanding. The finish is long.

Here they are: Chocolate, coffee, malts, cedar, caramel, roasted nuts, creaminess, and sweetness. I taste a couple types of dried fruit: raisins and something elusive. I’ll get it.

The Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is an extremely satisfying cigar blend. Jose Blanco keeps pumping out great blends. This man is a true journeyman in his trade. I cannot think of a single blend I don’t love.

Sweet Spot 1.0. The Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is singing an opera to me now. What a great, great blend!
Blanco has kept it simple and not made it a kitchen sink flavored blend. But what he does with the 7 or 8 flavors is amazing.

One of the reasons cigars taste so much better in the morning during a review is that it is the first cigar of the day with a clean palate. The second reason is that I allow a couple minutes between puffs. The absolutely correct way to smoke a cigar. Smoking it too fast will make it bitter or create too much tar that you will taste in the last third. So now, during the day, I take my time with my cigars and they taste so much better.
I don’t rethrohale any longer. It wreaks havoc with my nasal passages.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 35 minutes.
Lawdy, Miss Clawdy. This is one helluva flavor bomb. Creaminess has moved up the list right behind the chocolate component.
Complexity is just going nuts. The balance is spot on. And it has a super long, chewy finish.
A true dessert cigar. Without the infusion of fake flavors.

I decided to get rid of my Halfway Point part of the review. Too much of a pain in the rear end.
Strength makes its move to medium/full. But still very smooth and delectable.

I check my September 25, 2014 review of the Señorial by José Blanco and the differences are very apparent. But there is a string of similarities running through both blends. You can read that review if you are interested.

The Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco would love to live in my humidor all the time. This is another wonderful blend whose price is quite affordable; especially coming out of the 2015 IPCPR trade show. Blanco could have charged an arm and a leg but the man is a mensch. I’ve tasted some of the new expensive blends that came out of the trade show and I can’t think of a single $15 cigar that is better than the Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco.

The char line remains dead nuts perfect without a single touch up needed.
The construction is excellent and clearly the rollers knew what they were doing. The Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is going to receive a high rating. Remember, ratings are subjective. A 90 to me may be an 80 to you. I just like doing it now. No reason. Probably the nutsy coo coo brain shit going on in my head now.

Which reminds me. Today is the day. I have a 2pm appointment with my neurologist who will tell me how bad my dementia or Alzheimer’s is. I got the heebie jeebies something awful.

Spiciness returns to the fold and makes it way up the list of flavors. Now in first place. It is a combo of both black and red pepper. Nice.
The cigar is so smooth that the strength is hardly noticed.

A small crack forms between the bottom of the cigar band and the foot. I normally dry box my cigars for 48 hours before a review. I like them a bit dry. Nothing worse than a soft cigar as you enter the last half.

It’s time to remove the band so now I can turn it when I take photos. The cigar’s construction has acted like a champ so no reason to highlight a minor imperfection.

Very little change in the flavor profile.

LAST THIRD:
The last third makes a quantum leap. Bold, strong flavors. Rich and nuanced and constantly transitioning like a disco ball.
Miguel sent me a 5 pack and this is the first one I’ve smoked. So two great things came from this. First, the Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is a great cigar without need for extensive humidor time. And second, I have four cigars left!

Here they are: Spice, creaminess, chocolate, malts, coffee, roasted nuts, caramel, sweetness, dried fruit, and a very rich earthy tobacco element.

With 1-1/2” to go, I’ve logged in an hour and 15 minutes smoke time.
Because the Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is so smooth, it is a great cigar for newbies and experienced palates alike. It is still medium/full but no sign of nicotine.

The char line remains perfect.
I’ve truly enjoyed this cigar. Nothing puts a smile on my face than being surprised during a review at just how good the blend is.

The Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco finishes beautifully. Uber flavor profile. Not a hint of harshness or heat.
I’m sure that the Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is in a B & M near you. So far, Cigar Federation is the best place to buy these cigars due to their 10% discount. And in a search on Google, I couldn’t find a single online store that carries them yet.

Clearly, I highly recommend the Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco.
Great cigar!

RATING: 94

PRICE POINT:
$7.00-$10.00 for four sizes is ridiculously cheap for this quality. Worth every shekel.
The two sizes that I would choose would keep me in the $7.00 (Lonsdale Refinado 6.5 x 44) and $8.50 (Robusto Digno) range. Buy them at Cigar Federation and you get a 10% discount.
I just reviewed the Freya by Emma Viktorsson from Las Cumbres Tobacco. Emma is Blanco’s wife. Two great reviews in a row for two great cigars.
The Señorial Maduro Natural by José Blanco is well worth your time and money.

SUMMATION:
I’ve fawned over this cigar like a new baby.
A big flavor bomb of a cigar. Lots of transitions. Very complex.
The leaves used in this cigar are a perfect combination.
The nice thing about Cigar Federation is that they charge the same price for a single as the box price. If I had the dough, I’d love to buy a box.

And now for something completely different:
1975

I was never that bright in the world of street sense. We were touring in the far south-west country of England. We were in the sea side community of Torquay…just east of Plymouth. Torquay is in the county of Devon which is one of the most beautiful places in the U.K. Mick, our guitarist, had lots of friends there who he invited to the concert and to hang out with.

I always forgot that I was considered a rock star in the U.K. I have lots of silly stories to back that up. I felt that I was the same So Cal kid who just happened to be playing bass in a band. The fact that we played in front of huge crowds was the only difference in my head.
The original band leaders took their fame seriously. It was boorish to me which eventually led to my downfall within the band.

All of Mick’s friends were good people. And one in particular, a very pretty girl named Cynthia, took a liking to me. I had no radar and Mick had to tell me. We spent 3 days in Torquay and Plymouth doing two shows over two days.
On the second day, Cynthia and I began to hang. She was a lot of fun; smart, funny, witty, and really good looking. We began holding hands as we walked the sea side and boardwalks. And did a little smooching. I was truly enjoying myself. Being a rock star had its privileges and perks.

For our first concert. Mick got all of his friends front row tickets. And Cynthia got caught up in the rock star show with all the lights and the big sound system and my dynamic personality on stage. LOL.

The lights were bright enough that we could always see the first few rows unless they were really far back.

We did a 2-1/2 hour show, including encores. For some reason, the audience always expected us to do 3-5 encores a night…which just floored me. The band had a history that I was not part of. And the band coming out of hibernation from 2 years of sleep really got the huge fan base going. And I should mention that these were the original players except for me. Another story.

(Me on the far left playing my beloved Gibson EBO bass)

The huge klieg lights made me sweat like a monkey or a clam. Not sure which. So by the time we hit the dressing room, I was drenched. My leather pants clung to my skin making it very uncomfortable. Taking off suede leather pants while you are soaked was like the Spanish Inquisition. I usually raced to the bathroom to change into my civvies but I wanted to impress Cynthia.

I sat in a big chair while she stroked my forehead with a damp wash cloth. It felt great. She felt great.
I took Mick aside and told him it looked like I was getting laid that night. But I knew nothing about her. What if she had an STD? Oh God! Condoms were not in style back then.

He told me the way you tell is light a cigarette and get some tar and nicotine on your thumb and forefinger. Then you insert them into her vagina and if she jumps because it stings, well…you know there is something wrong. The only problem was that I had never smoked a cigarette in my life.

And the whole time she and I hung out, she smoked cigarettes and I declined them every time she offered one. How would I do this and not look stupid.

After partying in the dressing room for a couple of hours, we left for the hotel. It was a given that Cynthia was coming to my room with me.
I was nervous as hell.

We got undressed and I asked for a cigarette. She looked stunned. “I thought you don’t smoke fags, darling.” Fags are what they called cigarettes. Don’t ask me why. Had nothing to do with homosexuals which they called Puftas.

I choked and gagged on the cigarette trying to look cool while she looked at me like I was from outer space. I kept rubbing my fingers on the cigarette filter until I saw a brown substance on my fingers. Time to go to work.

We made out for a while. Very tender. All the time, I was trying to keep those fingers from touching her which made the whole thing comical.

Finally. I did the deed and she never made the expected “Ouch” sound.
I was relieved. So we spent the night making love. It was a great night and I remember seeing the sun come up with her and me sitting on the patio of the hotel room in our bathrobes provided by the hotel. My fro looked like a squished sea urchin. She laughed at me every time she looked at me. I laughed too. A fro was very high maintenance. I hated it but it made me look very rock n roll.

Years later, of course, I came to find that Mick’s technical test for STD was all hogwash. Like I said, I wasn’t very street smart. But she was a good girl and there was never any chance of me catching anything.

Thank goodness. My girlfriend, back in London, would have killed me.