Menendez-Amerino Co, (M-A) is Brazil’s largest cigar manufacturer. Located in the Reconcava region of the state of Bahia, M-A employs about 150 people, which is small by the standards of cigar giants elsewhere in the world. However, to any artisan or craftsperson in Brazil, quality means so much more than quantity. The farmers, processors and rollers of M-A have all been schooled by the best in the business. M-A produces three name lines of cigars; Dona Flor, Aquarius and the cigar in today’s featured review, Alonso Menendez.
Assigning this particular namesake to this particular line, it had better be a top quality cigar! Alonso Menendez was, along with the Garcia brothers, one of the operating partners of Cuba’s H. Upmann Company, in pre-Castro times. While the brothers Garcia handled finances, marketing and other necessary day to day tasks that every successful business mind need attend, Alonso was in charge of production. He was the artist of the trio. His single crowning glory was the development of the Montecristo line, arguably the most highly regarded cigar in the world.
Alonso, a capitalist by nature, felt it wise to leave Cuba after Castro came to power, lest he face the minister of Justice, Che Guevara, with the possibility of ending up in jail like some capitalists in Cuba who resisted yielding their properties to the new state. He and his family made two stops (Dominican Republic and the Canary Islands) prior to finding the perfect location in Bahia to cultivate the seeds he had smuggled out of Cuba. To learn more about the man, his sons and the company that bears their name, here is a link to a good article: http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,1705,00.html
The Alonso Menendez “Mata Fina” (the area in the Reconcava region in which this dark, sweet tobacco is cultivated – pictured alongside a Connecticut wrapped cousin) though extremely well constructed – firm, weighty and with a triple cap – will never win a beauty contest. Felix Menendez honored his father’s resiliency when he developed this ode to a rugged artist. This is a cigar you could carry around in your pocket all day and not worry about damage. In fact, I dropped the cigar I reviewed (a definite no-no for smokers) and merely ruffled a tiny edge of the foot … workman-like solid! The wrapper is mocha dark, moderately veined and the sides are not plumb, but once you snip off the end and draw its prelight taste, not unlike that of black cherries, you begin to appreciate its unique character. This ugly duckling offers an experience into the intimacy of smoking a complex cigar for those who like to smoke, not necessarily for those who seek to look good while doing so.
After toasting and a 4 puff lightup - drawing quite easily through the robusto’s length, I took a couple deep draws and allowed the cigar to hibernate a few seconds to get initial cooked aromas. The cigar rested well, with smoke lightly wafting from the foot, the aroma of which put me in mind of black walnut being ripped into boards. Then, touching my nose to the stick, the shoulder exuded the tawny aroma of molasses while along the body length I smelled rough tanned and peppered leather. All the aromas that came through this cigar from beginning to end were distinct and bold. No guessing at a nebulous “something or other” coming from this cigar! Yet none of the diverse fragrances throughout this smoking experience were so very powerful as to get the impression that they were trying to subdue me. Each aroma seemed to say, “I am here and not going to let you down. We are together. We are partners in this endeavor”
After about 45 seconds of rest (while I made notes) and upon taking a quarter-puff primer then a full draw, the cigar responded immediately with a full mouthful of tangible smoke, the taste of which put me in mind of a rich creamed potato porridge. The circumference fired around evenly on every puff throughout this review, no matter how long I spent writing notes. A good rest-to-life response is important to me, since I am an hour long plus smoker who rarely takes two puffs in a minute. I like leisurely ingesting every aroma of the stick and take time to enjoy each moment. While the thick blue-white smoke doesn’t stop pouring from the foot for the first 15 seconds after a long pull, the farthest I pushed this stick in hibernation was about two and a half minutes. It still easily came back to life without needing a lighter. This is a cigar that wants to be smoked.
The ash is tight and bright white, contrasting attractively against the dark Mata Fina wrapper. I had the feeling this stick could grow a one inch ash and still resist falling from a single firm tap, a sign of a well made cigar. As an indication of the fine tobacco content, the fragrances evolved as I approached the midpoint. From the cut came milk of mahogany, as the body smelled of birch mixed with aged, well worn blackened leather, while the foot embraces the olfactory senses with something akin to warm cherry wood. This is a cigar that allows for pleasure and pauses. It offers the smoker copious puffs to taste and exhale while patiently waiting as he then drifts away in reverie, thinking about being in a woodworking area in some old barn that has equestrian tack hanging nearby. Or recollections of the bold aromas offered by the planks of beautifully crafted classic wooden sailing vessels.
There was never a need for a “touch up” to be applied to the cigar, as it burned evenly the entire length. In fact, smoking this is effortless in that the draw is constant and the rest period does not affect its ability to be puffed after even long intervals. The stick remained firm for handling and the pack felt tight. Approaching the midway point (bit over two and a half inches to go) the body begins to shine with accumulated oils, while its aroma now approaches a dark Bavarian chocolate and the foot emits something like burning coconut shells, after the meat has been removed. Drawing smoke and exhaling through the nose, I feel a bit of outward pressure to the sinuses but never a stinging sensation, as the taste of a creamy clam chowder with crackers swirled inside my mouth.
At this time, as I do when trying to learn all I can about a cigar, I let the stick rest for a few minutes in anticipation of abstracting - smoking only the filler material, which conversely allows me to also later evaluate the binder/wrapper combination as they burn alone, sans filler. Abstracting produces a core hole (see photo) which excludes burning the outer layers. Once “inside” this Alonso Menendez Mata Fina cigar, the abstracted filler becomes amazingly sweet with an aroma I can only attribute to chlorophyll that swirls on the air around me. The feeling on the tongue is gentle and cool, while the taste is sweet coconut meat mixed with that chloroific sensation. Burning only the core like this produces a Bar-B-Q roasting effect upward into the outer layers, which in turn gives a most fantastic aroma along the cool, but toasted body of the cigar that puts me in mind of succulent grilled salmon.
After the filler is burned inward beyond the tip to a depth of about 1/2 inch, I let it stop burning and then fire up the outer two layers. This produces a lush, dense and warm smoke with a spirited fragrance of burning palm leaves. At once one can understand how the sweet intimate filler works so well with this exotic binder/wrapper combo to produce a great smoking experience when all the tobaccos are combined.
As the binder/wrapper burn down to where the core hole ends and the three tobaccos merge again - at about an inch and a quarter remaining – the cigar again gives new aroma nuances. So sweet and wonderful is the fresh choco/coconut aroma from the shoulder, I am forced to wonder if perhaps the rollers of this product might not put an extra knot of filler material toward the finish, as a way of rewarding the smoker for staying with the cigar for so long. In Brazil friends and even strangers, when meeting, will hug and kiss on the cheek as a greeting. I wonder if this extra knot of filler is but a kiss from the brown-eyed Bahian cigar rollers of Menendez-Amerino. A way of sharing the intimacy they felt while preparing this cigar for the consumer of their products; someone they certainly must consider to be a friend. A friend allowed time while smoking. Not rushing to finish, but accepting this cigar AS the finish – perhaps the finish to a meal or maybe even to the entire day. A friend, who after finishing this cigar, better understands the fine art and intimacy of cigar making/smoking.
Assigning this particular namesake to this particular line, it had better be a top quality cigar! Alonso Menendez was, along with the Garcia brothers, one of the operating partners of Cuba’s H. Upmann Company, in pre-Castro times. While the brothers Garcia handled finances, marketing and other necessary day to day tasks that every successful business mind need attend, Alonso was in charge of production. He was the artist of the trio. His single crowning glory was the development of the Montecristo line, arguably the most highly regarded cigar in the world.
Alonso, a capitalist by nature, felt it wise to leave Cuba after Castro came to power, lest he face the minister of Justice, Che Guevara, with the possibility of ending up in jail like some capitalists in Cuba who resisted yielding their properties to the new state. He and his family made two stops (Dominican Republic and the Canary Islands) prior to finding the perfect location in Bahia to cultivate the seeds he had smuggled out of Cuba. To learn more about the man, his sons and the company that bears their name, here is a link to a good article: http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,1705,00.html
The Alonso Menendez “Mata Fina” (the area in the Reconcava region in which this dark, sweet tobacco is cultivated – pictured alongside a Connecticut wrapped cousin) though extremely well constructed – firm, weighty and with a triple cap – will never win a beauty contest. Felix Menendez honored his father’s resiliency when he developed this ode to a rugged artist. This is a cigar you could carry around in your pocket all day and not worry about damage. In fact, I dropped the cigar I reviewed (a definite no-no for smokers) and merely ruffled a tiny edge of the foot … workman-like solid! The wrapper is mocha dark, moderately veined and the sides are not plumb, but once you snip off the end and draw its prelight taste, not unlike that of black cherries, you begin to appreciate its unique character. This ugly duckling offers an experience into the intimacy of smoking a complex cigar for those who like to smoke, not necessarily for those who seek to look good while doing so.
After toasting and a 4 puff lightup - drawing quite easily through the robusto’s length, I took a couple deep draws and allowed the cigar to hibernate a few seconds to get initial cooked aromas. The cigar rested well, with smoke lightly wafting from the foot, the aroma of which put me in mind of black walnut being ripped into boards. Then, touching my nose to the stick, the shoulder exuded the tawny aroma of molasses while along the body length I smelled rough tanned and peppered leather. All the aromas that came through this cigar from beginning to end were distinct and bold. No guessing at a nebulous “something or other” coming from this cigar! Yet none of the diverse fragrances throughout this smoking experience were so very powerful as to get the impression that they were trying to subdue me. Each aroma seemed to say, “I am here and not going to let you down. We are together. We are partners in this endeavor”
After about 45 seconds of rest (while I made notes) and upon taking a quarter-puff primer then a full draw, the cigar responded immediately with a full mouthful of tangible smoke, the taste of which put me in mind of a rich creamed potato porridge. The circumference fired around evenly on every puff throughout this review, no matter how long I spent writing notes. A good rest-to-life response is important to me, since I am an hour long plus smoker who rarely takes two puffs in a minute. I like leisurely ingesting every aroma of the stick and take time to enjoy each moment. While the thick blue-white smoke doesn’t stop pouring from the foot for the first 15 seconds after a long pull, the farthest I pushed this stick in hibernation was about two and a half minutes. It still easily came back to life without needing a lighter. This is a cigar that wants to be smoked.
The ash is tight and bright white, contrasting attractively against the dark Mata Fina wrapper. I had the feeling this stick could grow a one inch ash and still resist falling from a single firm tap, a sign of a well made cigar. As an indication of the fine tobacco content, the fragrances evolved as I approached the midpoint. From the cut came milk of mahogany, as the body smelled of birch mixed with aged, well worn blackened leather, while the foot embraces the olfactory senses with something akin to warm cherry wood. This is a cigar that allows for pleasure and pauses. It offers the smoker copious puffs to taste and exhale while patiently waiting as he then drifts away in reverie, thinking about being in a woodworking area in some old barn that has equestrian tack hanging nearby. Or recollections of the bold aromas offered by the planks of beautifully crafted classic wooden sailing vessels.
There was never a need for a “touch up” to be applied to the cigar, as it burned evenly the entire length. In fact, smoking this is effortless in that the draw is constant and the rest period does not affect its ability to be puffed after even long intervals. The stick remained firm for handling and the pack felt tight. Approaching the midway point (bit over two and a half inches to go) the body begins to shine with accumulated oils, while its aroma now approaches a dark Bavarian chocolate and the foot emits something like burning coconut shells, after the meat has been removed. Drawing smoke and exhaling through the nose, I feel a bit of outward pressure to the sinuses but never a stinging sensation, as the taste of a creamy clam chowder with crackers swirled inside my mouth.
At this time, as I do when trying to learn all I can about a cigar, I let the stick rest for a few minutes in anticipation of abstracting - smoking only the filler material, which conversely allows me to also later evaluate the binder/wrapper combination as they burn alone, sans filler. Abstracting produces a core hole (see photo) which excludes burning the outer layers. Once “inside” this Alonso Menendez Mata Fina cigar, the abstracted filler becomes amazingly sweet with an aroma I can only attribute to chlorophyll that swirls on the air around me. The feeling on the tongue is gentle and cool, while the taste is sweet coconut meat mixed with that chloroific sensation. Burning only the core like this produces a Bar-B-Q roasting effect upward into the outer layers, which in turn gives a most fantastic aroma along the cool, but toasted body of the cigar that puts me in mind of succulent grilled salmon.
After the filler is burned inward beyond the tip to a depth of about 1/2 inch, I let it stop burning and then fire up the outer two layers. This produces a lush, dense and warm smoke with a spirited fragrance of burning palm leaves. At once one can understand how the sweet intimate filler works so well with this exotic binder/wrapper combo to produce a great smoking experience when all the tobaccos are combined.
As the binder/wrapper burn down to where the core hole ends and the three tobaccos merge again - at about an inch and a quarter remaining – the cigar again gives new aroma nuances. So sweet and wonderful is the fresh choco/coconut aroma from the shoulder, I am forced to wonder if perhaps the rollers of this product might not put an extra knot of filler material toward the finish, as a way of rewarding the smoker for staying with the cigar for so long. In Brazil friends and even strangers, when meeting, will hug and kiss on the cheek as a greeting. I wonder if this extra knot of filler is but a kiss from the brown-eyed Bahian cigar rollers of Menendez-Amerino. A way of sharing the intimacy they felt while preparing this cigar for the consumer of their products; someone they certainly must consider to be a friend. A friend allowed time while smoking. Not rushing to finish, but accepting this cigar AS the finish – perhaps the finish to a meal or maybe even to the entire day. A friend, who after finishing this cigar, better understands the fine art and intimacy of cigar making/smoking.
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