A.C.E. Prime Cigar Company officially launched at this year’s IPCPR trade show. They made a big splash sponsoring the trade show, getting a beautiful booth, and launching two lines with former NBA players. The M.X.S. line has cigars from both Dominique Wilkins and M.X.S. by Tiago Splitter. M.X.S. stands for Maximum Excellence and Success. The company was started by Luciano Meirelles.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
The M.X.S by Tiago Splitter uses a Sumatran wrapper with Nicaraguan fillers. It comes in two vitolas, a 6 ½ x 54 toro and a 5 x 52 robusto and comes in boxes of 20. Tiago Splitter played for seven seasons in the NBA, and won an NBA World Championship with the Spurs in 2014. The cigars are rolled at Tabacalera Pichardo, which is run by Don Eradio Pichardo, originally from Habana, Cuba, and Don Eradio, a third-generation tobacco agriculturist.
“Very large cigar. The wrapper is silky smooth to the touch with only a few prominent veins. There’s a well applied triple cap but it seems a little undersized to me. ” –Alan (Eulogy)
Aroma: 91
“Off the foot, scents of leather and a bit of chocolate waft into the nose. The cold draw reveals must, ripened red fruits, and leather.” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Flavor: 91 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
“Like many Connecticut‘s it has a burning green grass note that is smooth and usually it is a little bitter but this one is quite good and balanced even has a honey like sweetness. Also piking up a note of cinnamon on the finish with black pepper spice to add to the complexity.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“Upon lighting up, I am greeted with delicious flavors of light brown sugar, leather, and a light pepper profile, yum! An inch in the profile settles into a dominate leather and light brown sugar profile for the remainder of this third. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Second Third
Flavor: 90 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium
“The profile is still very similar to the first third but with a bit more depth. There’s leather in the background now but it’s still almonds, coffee with cream, and cinnamon. The ash is also a bit interesting in that it’s bone white.” –Alan (Eulogy)
“The meaty umami returned in the second third, with a tinge of white pepper on the background. Slowly the flavors transitioned to a cafe au lait quality. ” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
would smolder, but quickly die out. After fighting it for twenty minutes I had to conclude the cigar was done.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 91
“Nice open draw with plenty of smoke” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Burn: 88
“The first two thirds were razor sharp but it’s become pretty wavy at the end. Still no need to touch up or relight throughout. ” –Alan (Eulogy)
Construction: 87
“Construction looked good as well cap looked professionally applied seams all looked nice with no over lapping or wrinkling. ” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Overall Strength: Medium Overall Body/Complexity: Medium Experience Overall: 83
“This cigar really didn’t do it for me. If the pumpkin, apple and cherry aromas continued with the duration of the smoke it would’ve been a much better cigar. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“Feels like they were going for a Cubanesque profile and in that they nailed it. Very mild but flavorful experience throughout. I would definitely smoke this again if I was in the mood for something mild and I think it would pair great with a morning cup of coffee. The vitoal was a little larger than I usually prefer but would love to try this in a toro or robusto size. ” –Alan (Eulogy)
“This cigar had an outstanding start, with excellent flavors and transition. It really had a lot going for it. Unfortunately the burn problems more than halfway in took away from the joy this cigar had been. ” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
“This cigar started out awesome! However, after I got an inch in it was cruise control with leather, cream and spice of similar levels in the flavor profile. Later on the stick fell apart and became unsmokable as it wouldn’t stay lit at all. Based on the complexity I’ll pass on this one in the future. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
“Being that the last third wasnt so good, I couldn’t honestly give it a better score.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
Blind Cigar Review: A.C.E. Prime | M.X.S. by Tiago Splitter Sublime
Summary
"This cigar had an outstanding start, with excellent flavors and transition. It really had a lot going for it. Unfortunately the burn problems more than halfway in took away from the joy this cigar had been. " -Isaac M. (The Nothing)
