Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua (Estelí, Jalapa)
Size: 6 x 54 Toro (Soft Box-Pressed)
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $12.60
Blender: AJ Fernandez / Raphael Nodal
Date Released: October 30, 2023 (Dia de los Muertos)
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
I smoked two of these for this review. My cigars have six months of aging, and who knows how long in the warehouse because I received them with discolored wrappers.
Usain Bolt is, by every authoritative measure and historical consensus, the greatest sprinter of all time. His world records in the 100m and 200m, set in 2009, have remained untouched since. He won gold medals in both events in three consecutive Olympics. But it wasn’t his speed that made him the greatest. It was how he completely redefined the physics of sprinting.
He was never fast out of the blocks. Where he won was in the middle of the race. Where every other sprinter started quickly, plateaued, then began to fade, Bolt never stopped accelerating through the entire race. He was the definition of rising motion.
Hypothetical Speed Curve: Usain Bolt vs. Competition
The Trinidad Espiritu No. 3 carries that same rising energy. I’m not suggesting it’s the greatest cigar in the world or the fastest (that would not be good), but its motion reminded me of Usain Bolt. It starts moderately, but what makes it compelling is how it never stops rising — never loses momentum, never offers respite — much like Bolt in the middle of a race. It doesn’t run; it awakens and ascends, until inevitability is the only shape it knows.
Removing the wrapper and holding the cigar fills me with anticipation. The dark San Andrés leaf has that 200‑grit sandpaper feel—tactile, gritty, a promise of structure rather than softness. Barnyard, yeasty bread, and overripe fruit rise from the skin and foot, but the signal is dry, not sweet. It’s clean, as if the fermentation stripped away any surface sugars. I shrug, punch the cap, put flame to foot, and the cigar comes alive in that quiet, inevitable way a good blend does when it knows exactly where it’s going.
But before I go on, let’s just get this out of the way: This is an AJ cigar through and through. It opens up with AJ’s signature of black pepper, cocoa powder, toasted sourdough, espresso, and that familiar Nicaraguan mineral line that tells you exactly who blended it, like Usain Bolt settling into the starting block. There’s no ambiguity in the first inch; the cigar announces its lineage immediately.
But what makes the No. 3 so compelling is how quickly it stops behaving like typical AJ dark blends, which tend to settle into heaviness in the middle stanza, then finish with a sudden burst of strength and intensity. Instead, the No. 3 tightens and gathers energy. This is not the sweet, syrup‑leaning San Andrés profile you find elsewhere. The wrapper behaves more like a structural element than a flavor bomb.
The middle develops without changing direction. AJ’s signature stays in place, but it picks up more definition: a firmer espresso note, a dry cocoa edge, a mineral line that sharpens instead of spreading. There’s a roasted‑nut element that comes and goes, a cedar thread that tightens, and a faint dark fruit tone that never turns sweet. The San Andrés wrapper adds a restrained earthiness, but it stays disciplined — no syrup, no bloom.
Everything compresses into a narrower lane: pepper, cocoa powder, toasted bread, mineral, and a touch of leather. The profile gains pressure without gaining weight, which is why the cigar feels like it’s accelerating rather than expanding.
The final third resolves into a focused mix of pepper, mineral, dry cocoa, and a steady roasted earth tone. No bloom, no syrup, no softening. The profile narrows and firms up, and the cigar feels more directed the closer I get to the end. It doesn’t get louder; it gets more certain. The motion is upward and tightening, not outward or sweetening—exactly the behavior that defines its sprint architecture.
It isn’t dramatic about it. As it progresses, the cigar just firms up and gets more sure of itself. The San Andrés stops behaving like a heavy wrapper and starts acting like a structural element, tighter, cleaner, and more focused. The Nicaraguan core doesn’t swell or drift; it narrows. By the back half, the cigar feels like it’s running on rails. Not louder, not sweeter, just more directed. The rise isn’t a performance; it’s the blend settling into its natural shape.
But the most remarkable thing to me about this cigar is how AJ managed to step out of his norm of heaviness and compression and late-stage power, much like I found in my review of the New World Decenio. The Decenio moves with refinement and purpose. The entire structure of the profile lifts rather than gaining weight. It’s an example of AJ stepping out of his system; cleaner, more aromatic, and more deliberate, almost as if he borrowed someone else’s toolkit.
The Trinidad Espíritu No. 3 breaks from AJ as well, but in the opposite direction. Like the Decenio, it keeps AJ’s signature ignition—pepper, espresso, mineral—but refuses to follow his usual trajectory. There’s no plateau, no syrup, no thickening. The cigar stays dry, tight, and directional, gaining pressure without gaining weight. Instead of settling, it accelerates. It’s still unmistakably AJ, but it behaves in a way his cigars rarely do. Where the Decenio departs through restraint, the No. 3 departs through motion. Two different rebellions, both outside his modus operandi.
In the end, what stays with me is how early this cigar showed that AJ could step outside his usual gravity. The Decenio would come later and prove he could build lift and refinement when he wanted to, but the No. 3 was already breaking from his pattern in its own way. It keeps his signature ignition and still refuses the heaviness, the plateau, the late‑stage surge. It stays dry, tight, and directional, gaining pressure without gaining weight. It accelerates instead of settling. It rises. And in a portfolio built on force and density, that kind of motion is rare enough to matter.
Total smoke time: 1:25 – 1:35
Rating: 94
Katman Here: Sponsor Cigar Page has deals on the Trinidad Espiritu Series No.3. Alex Gougher rose like a behemoth defending Tokyo from Mothra with a 15% off promo code: ESPIRITU15. And if you look closely, there is an insane deal on Brendan’s review cigar.
Please visit Brendan Delumpa’s blog, Unco B’s Stogie Diary, and check out his insights.
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