Wrapper: Nicaraguan Shade Grown Habano Jalapa Viso – Fermented twice
Binder: Nicaraguan Condega Habano Criollo
Filler: Nicaraguan Condega Seco Habano Criollo, Condega Viso Mediano Habano Criollo, Jalapa Viso Grande Habano, Jalapa Ligero Mediano Habano Criollo, & Jalapa Ligero Grande Habano
Size: 6.25 x 52
Body: Full
Price: $19.99 (Can be found online for a couple bucks less)
Humidor Time: 4 Weeks
Number of cigars smoked prior to review: 0
Today we take a look at the Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico.
Thanks to a reader for sending me this stick.
Most reviewers are calling it 10th Anniversary but the footer band calls it 10th Anniversario. I doubt Google will care one bit.
No. I cannot afford a cigar at this price point. Nor would I buy one even if I made spare dough doing tricks in downtown Milwaukee. For this price, I expect an orgasmic experience. Anything short of that makes the cigar a nonevent.
For $4 more, you can get one of these from Amazon. And it comes with a travel bag.
Let’s face it. Most of us are secretly looking for a completely disrespectful review telling you what a piece of crap this $20 cigar is. Hardly anyone wants to hear that this is a cigar to die for. Whether it is an overbearing girlfriend, or wife, the last thing she wants to find out is that you spent $100 for a 5 pack of cigars. She could have had her hair done or had her nails done and gone shopping at TJ Maxx for that $100.
BACKGROUND:
Debuted at the 2016 IPCPR trade show.
Available in 10 count boxes.
2006 was the birth of Mombacho Cigars SA. The company has its own factory in Granada, Nicaragua…also known as Casa Favilli.
According to Halfwheel.com:
“The company tried 25 blend and size combinations before deciding this was the ideal combination. Once finalized, production was assigned to one of Casa Favilli’s most experienced rolling pairs, with no more than 200 cigars made in a single day during September and October. The complete production is being capped at 5,000 cigars.”
DESCRIPTION:
This is one humongous tree trunk of a cigar.
But it is a beauty. The wrapper is so oily that it shines in the dark like your old Mickey Mouse watch. I didn’t luck out with any sun because it is rainy, dark and dreary. So you will just have to take my word that the stick looks like it was dunked in 10-40.
Seams are not that tight. And there are a lot of veins working their way around the shaft like worm holes in space. It is also a bit lumpy and bumpy.
The pig tail cap is spectacular. I don’t believe I’ve seen a better one. The main cigar band and the footer band are completely in sync with wrapper. Brown and gold.
The wrapper is a burnt umber/seal brown/russet trifecta of colors…all in a wonderfully marbled presentation.
AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell semi-sweet chocolate, dark coffee, caramel, malt, sugar, floral notes, smoky hickory, dates, cedar, salty pretzel, and caraway.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I smell sneezing powder in the form of red pepper, sweet fruity notes, cocoa, coffee, nuts, malt, and floral notes.
The cold draw presents flavors of espresso, salty pretzel, strawberries and sour cream, caraway, and malts.
The aromas and flavors are so complex that I find it beyond my capability to identify them all properly. Hope this translates into a great cigar experience.
FIRST THIRD:
For such a big stick, the draw comes without a hitch.
Big pepper bomb to start things off. My nose is stuffy and then becomes clear as a bell and my eyes water to the point that tears roll down my cheeks.
The Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico starts like gangbusters. Wow.
No fooling around waiting for the cigar to get warmed up…this baby hits your senses like a sledge hammer.
Flavors: salted caramel, coffee, dark chocolate, malts, raisins, ha cha cha red pepper, creaminess, pumpkin spices, and within the first quarter of an inch; reaches medium/full body. This is going to be a long ride.
Char line is a bit wavy but so far, so good.
The Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico is as solid as a stick of dynamite yet the flow of air through the shaft is flawless.
There are some really potent tobaccos in this cigar and they are all trying to show off at once.
Here is the thing. Rather than a kitchen sink of flavors, it is the tobacco that becomes the star of the show.
My heart is pounding from the onslaught of those Ligero, Criollo, Shade Grown, and Habano ingredients.
Every place I looked, the cigar is described as medium body. I don’t know what universe the folks that said this live in, but they are way off the mark. It is stronger than a baboon’s grasp on your larynx. The strength passed medium body before it was even lit.
The Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico begins its journey extremely complex and with a box car full of transitions. If I paid $20 for a cigar, this is what I expect. If it continues on this path, not only will I declare the cigar worth every dime…but the stick will probably make it to my top 5 of the best 25 cigars of 2016.
It has taken me 15 minutes to smoke the first half inch. At this rate, I’m going to be here for 3 hours.
I couldn’t find any info on how much aging the list of tobaccos used in this blend had prior to rolling. From my vantage point, they have the characteristics of a cigar stored for years in perfect surroundings.
Catalog cigars never taste better with a year or more of humidor time. Some boutique brands do get better. And, of course, great Cubans require that kind of rest.
I’ve only had the Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico in my humidor for a month and it impresses me like no other cigar I’ve smoked in ages.
My pissing and moaning over the price of the cigar goes down the garbage chute.
I’ve never said this, especially this early in the cigar experience, but if you ever want to gift yourself a $20 cigar, then this is the one. And as only 5,000 were produced, who knows how long they will last? Once word gets out, there is no telling.
One would expect that Mombacho used only #9 rollers. Yet, I am having consistent burn issues.
SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 55 minutes.
I’ve yet to smoke any fancy shmancy cigar: Padron, Opus X, Davidoff, or Montecristo that comes close to the exquisite quality of this blend.
All of the above need extensive humidor rest. Not the Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico. Mombacho took that responsibility off your hands and delivered a monumental blend.
Flavors dig deep now and are an ancillary element to the spectacular tobacco varieties.
The lavishness and luxuriance of the experience is mind boggling. I geared up for the review before 7am. Had a strong cup of coffee. And got a pie right in the puss from a blend I was fully prepared to rip apart. Soupy Sales would be proud.
I am earnestly trying not to be repetitive in my praise of the Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico but there are no other options.
I always do my prep work for a review the day before. Since my health issues began, it is just too much work to do it all at once the morning of the review. At that time, I could find no reviews of this cigar.
And then the strength falters a bit down to medium/full.
The halfway point finds the sweet spot. The range of subtle flavors expands its horizons. No new elements to report but the earlier list are intense with building blocks of savory, mature variations.
The halfway point is upon me. Smoke time is 85 minutes.
Spice has moved to the back of the pack. Nicotine enters. Strength wavers between medium/full and full. Flavors of mocha java, honey, cumin, and peanuts are new.
The inconsistency of the burn is annoying and not what one expects from an expensive cigar. It will affect my rating.
My puny brain sizzles from the depth of the complexity.
Side bar: On MTVLive, I taped a concert of Joe Bonamasso live at the Greek Theater in L.A. taped in September. He called it a tribute concert to The Three Kings. Who are they you might ask? Albert King, Freddie King, and B.B. King. It is a brilliant musical event and you should find it and tape it.
The Greek was a favorite venue of my friends and I back in the day. A small version of the Hollywood Bowl. The last time I was there was in 1983 when I saw the original Blues Brothers. That was fun.
The malts surge. Along with the creaminess. I don’t recollect a slower smoking cigar. How Halfwheel finished it in less than two hours must have been an act of God. He must have been puffing away like a 19th century train.
On the other hand, I take a few puffs and then let the cigar rest for a couple of minutes. It is the only way I’ve found to keep the flavor profile fresh.
The char line is a real mess. I don’t understand. You find 7 different tobaccos to make this blend and then use #4 torcedores to roll the thing.
Great construction is all important, and expected, when doling out a $20 bill for a cigar.
LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is two hours 10 minutes.
Sweet spot 2.0 strikes with the force of Lizzie Borden’s axe.
Strength is a solid full body. Nicotine soars through the universe taking out medium sized stars and leaves me weightless in space. In other words, I think I am now blind.
The Mombacho web site makes no allusion to the 10th Anniversary cigar’s existence so my only source of information was from the press release on several review sites.
Jesus Cristo. I have 2” to go and the nicotine is so strong that I wonder how I’m going to finish the cigar.
The red pepper returns. It has burned all of my nasal hairs into oblivion.
My days of hallucinating from acid, peyote, and mushrooms are long gone. Yet here I am once again. The posters on the wall are melting.
The last time I ventured to that other plane was 41 years ago. I’m having flashbacks.
I’m conflicted about recommending that you go out and buy the Mombacho 10th Anniversario Magnifico. It is contingent on two issues. The first being the price. Granted, it is an exceptional effort of blending…but a $20 stick should have zero burn issues. Second, the last third is so strong that it has now become an act of stamina. Medium..shmedium. This is a full body blend.
If I were not reviewing this cigar, I would stop smoking during the last third and come back to it in a couple of hours when my brain has repositioned itself. It is the only way I can think of to fully enjoy the entire cigar.
If you don’t huff the cigar like you huff paint, then this is a 3 hour experience. Way more than I can handle in one sitting. So one may think of it as two $10 cigars.
Final smoke time is two hours 40 minutes.
RATING: 94 (Would have been higher if not for the burn issues)
God bless our brothers and sisters affected by Hurricane Matthew.
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by Phil 'Katman' Kohn 
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