Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut Desflorado
Binder: Mexican San Andrés
Filler: Nicaraguan (Estelí, Jalapa), Dominican Habano ’92, U.S. Undisclosed
Size: 5.625 x 46 Corona Gorda
Strength: Medium
Price: $11.00
Look at the leaf stats…and then look at the price.
One of the best cigars I smoked in 2024.
My cigars received 5 months of naked humidor time.
Cigars still lingering on the butcher block have approximately 2 years of box aging.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Yesterday, I reviewed the Warped New Day. It was OK. It felt like a million Viajes and middle of the road Warped blends. The elite blends from these companies are often expensive. So, while I rant about pricing for the good stuff, I am bringing this Dappper La Madrina Shade to your attention again. I reviewed it a year ago. And I loved it. The point? You can get the exact style of blend I crave for half of what sticks like this normally price out at in 2025.
Damn thing is plugged. What shall I do. Click here.
The aromas from the wrapper are a must. Big floral, caramel, lemon, and honey cashews. Nothing new about these perfumes but how do you not relish it when it’s there right in front of your nose.
Sweet expansive start. Lovelier than I remember from earlier tries. Rich flavors of caramel, floral, BBQ, candied lemon, black pepper, red pepper, white chocolate, and walnuts. Very nice.
It tastes thick. No idea what that means but it was a flash across my tiny brain screen. Old guy daily aneurysm scare.
Half an inch in and hugely complex. Layers unfold like deconstructing baklava on a warm day. I’m in love. Can this blend keep its boner till the end…My fervent wish is yes it does. Who wouldn’t love to find a $25 stick for $10.
I saw George Martin at his London Air Studios many times during the month we were there in 1975. But I never had the nerve to offer anything other than a hearty hello and handclasp…the man was too intimidating, and I could never think of anything intelligible to say…so we just smiled at each other. Things we wish we could go back and fix. But then what if he discovered I was an idiot? Whole different memory.
Salty maple syrup. Roasting coffee beans my palate thinks is an aroma. Honeysuckle rose. And zesty fried apples with butter. Wow. I’ve turned into a dolt with stupid flavor analogies. But this is in the moment and it’s all here for discovery.
For thousands of years of United States history, everyone knew who the heavyweight boxing champion of the world was. Since the click of the new Millenium, not so much.
Superb construction. It’s taken over 20 minutes to burn an inch of this corona gorda. Using advanced trigonometry (I failed trig only once), this will be a 90-minute journey.
I begin the ‘spellbound ferret’ portion of my review where I no longer want to report…I want to smoke, stare at the wall, enjoy the music, and listen to the satanic voices in my head.
Due to the level of richness, there aren’t lines on the wall showing height variations. Rather, the blend descends into a fat smoothness with complex corners.
Flavors haven’t moved an inch. This is a good thing. Fatter and fatter.
Butter-soaked caramel. Woobies of creaminess. White chocolate. Honey. Floral. Sweet cashews. Sweet lemon. BBQ.
Strength has been the perfect medium from the beginning. The Dapper site says medium/full but everyone else says medium. Who do we believe? Dunno. My memory has been shot since I took a little too much acid at a Uriah Heep concert in 1968.
The faultless morning cigar with coffee. I’m going to shut up now. No I’m not.
Max Bialystock. Leo Bloom. Other men sail through life.
Cigar bibs. Inexplicably, we have found a path to live without them.
The second half is better than the first. Sleek with deep complex notes that are just damn mysterious. Dapper did the smoking world a solid. No shit.
Delicate. The romanticism this cigar brings just sucks the witty right out of me. I could go on and on, but I won’t. You’re welcome.
I’m going to do something unusual. This cigar is not perfect in all manners. But there is not a single cigar on the market that checks all the boxes that this cigar does with a price point that is insanely reasonable. So, I’m going to give it 95 for the reason you’re not going to find a super boutique New Era $25 blend for $10. I want you to enjoy a ‘treat cigar’ that you can buy over and over and never fear your wife again. We can dream.
Price Matters. So does naked humi aging. Let ‘em sleep.
You can purchase Dapper La Madrina Shade from sponsor Small Batch Cigar. Take 10% off with promo code: KATMAN
RATING: 95
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
These cigars are so confusing. I thought the shade was the white label but your picture shows a black label and a Connecticut wrapper. Dapper website does not even have a picture for the shade. Neptune has pictures and shows the shade as white label but the black label Madrina has a very dark wrapper unlike the one in your picture. Explain please.
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I’m confused too.
Initially, I thought it was merely a change in the cigar band design.
The more I look into it, the more I am not sure.
I emailed Ian Reith, owner of Dapper.
As soon as he responds, I will post his answer.
Thanks for your comment.
Phil
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Sorry for the confusion here. We sent a box of original La Madrina Shade to Phil since we know he enjoyed em’. They were from the original run back before we had separate packaging.
The La Madrina comes in two formats:
La Madrina Shade (Connecticut Shade Wrapper), in white packaging, white labels.
La Madrina Habano (Ecuador Habano Wrapper), in black packaging, black labels.
Hope that clears any confusion.
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Thanks for the review/rekap
Shade, when it came out, shared the same dark band as the Habano version. Not sure when they went white, but they are all white now
Also, incidentally, Habano wrapper used to be much darker, and there was also a Maduro version that I’ve never actually seen. Apparently, Habano (natural) was swapped to a lighter quality so people wouldn’t confuse it for the Maduro.
The darker Habano Madrina was a big deal for me, and inspired my first box purchase
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Hi Ben,
This is beginning to make sense.
Ian sent me cigars that he said were from the initial release. Dark cigar bands.
Hence, SBC is selling cigars from the earliest release.
Others are selling the subsequent release.
My educated guess is they had an ‘Oops’ moment releasing both the Habano and Shade blends with the same cigar band…and then changed the band with the next run of cigars.
Only Ian Reith can answer these questions definitively, but it is Sunday, and it is probable that I won’t hear from him until tomorrow.
Thanks for your comment.
Phil
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Thank you. I hope he weighs in on the Maduro claim too, as that is only hearsay for me at this point
I like Dapper bands. I heard Ian say they use some special company (maybe in Belgium?) to make them, and it takes a long time. They are quite nice, if you look real close there is a ton going on. The El Borracho Broadleaf band in particular is just beautiful
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I’m sure Ian can clear it up.
I checked the Dapper site. There is a photo of the La Madrina Habano but not the Shade.
Yeah, I concur on the El Borracho. I reviewed it in 2018 and liked the cigar immensely.
Dapper is a solid manufacturer.
Thanks,
Phil
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Hi Phil – So the box of La Madrina Shade I sent you was from the original run of cigars and I thought you might enjoy them. This is NOT the packaging, the white label version is the packaging. Sorry for any confusion.
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Hey Ian,
Thank you for settling this debate.
As smokers, we are very confused people.
Phil
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I’ve never had a cigar by Dapper, but these flavors are definitely ones I like.
My wallet can’t take any more of this!!!
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