Cigar Info
In 1998, MARIO W. PALACIOS began in the cigar industry as an operational manager for an exclusive cigar distributor. In 2002, he founded Tabacalera J.E.M. Corp, dedicating his efforts to producing higher quality, handmade cigars. By 2007, Mr. Palacios went on to develop a new premium line of cigars, “The M. Palacios” cigar line using blends consisting of leaves from Nicaragua, Peru, and Mexico.
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.
They work with the 3rd generation of the Gomez Sanchez Cigar Family in Esteli, Nicaragua, where all Palacios Cigars lines are handmade. The produce three wrappers Habano (Ecuador) Connecticut (Ecuador) and Maduro (Pennsylvania USA).The Old Quito Reserva No.2 comes in the following sizes 52×7 Churchill, 52×61/8 Torpedo, 52×5 Robusto, 60×6 Gigante.
MARIO W. PALACIOS was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1971. He grew up most of his youth alongside his grandparents. By the age of 9 he became a State champion in Gymnastics but suffered a major accident that left him partially paralyzed. With strong determination, within one year he made a full recovery. Upon his return, coaches showing skepticism challenged him to repeat the exercise that nearly ended his life. Upon taking and fulfilling the challenge, he went on to win four (4) Gold Medals and one (1) silver medal.
Mr. Palacios (business owner, athlete, and consultant) has grown Palacios Cigars to several cigar labels, a storefront establishment – Palacios Cigars Lounge (closed in June 2015 with the launch of the online store) with manufacturing at the Gomez and Sanchez family’s internationally-based production factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, and is, as always, working on additional pending projects to serve his customers.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Torpedo
Length: 6.12″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Maduro Pennsylvania, PA, USA 5 Years
Binder: Habano San Andres Mexico 7 Years
Filler: Undisclosed
Factory: Tabacalera Maduro Gomez Sanchez
Blender: Mario Palacios
Number of reviewers: 4 —– Sandeep (Djangos) Alan (Eulogy) Ryan (Youngryan216) Robert (NavyPiper)
Price: $10.50
Age: 6 Months Rest
Release Date: 2015
Contributed by: Palacios Cigars
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 86
“The appearance on tonight’s cigar is ‘Fair’. Its torpedo shaped, with a short taper ending at a point. The wrapper is a dark black coffee color, is dull with no sheen, and has no blemishes. Seams look ok, except for a couple of stretch marks, and the cap has wrinkles & gathers from overlapping. The feel to it is rough textured, not smooth to feel or shape. Feels very light, to me it is too light for its size.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Aroma: 88
“The wrapper has a barnyard scent and a slightly papery smell. Both the draw and foot have a much more pleasant tobacco, coffee, and wood scent.” –Alan (Eulogy)
First Third
Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“In the cigar’s first third, the flavors are of light roast coffee and a muted sweetness. There is neither spice nor complexity thus far into the smoke. The strength of this cigar is surprisingly mild. The ash is mostly dark grey to black and quite flaky, falling off in sloppy, one inch chunks.” –Ryan (Youngryan216)
“At the start, flavors were muddy & didn’t blend well for about ½”, then became crisp & smoothed out. Flavors of dark black coffee, burnt toast, tobacco, and pepper were identified. There’s a little burn through the sinuses. Aftertaste remains on the palate between puffs. Ash dropped at about 1”. Draw is good. The burns a little uneven but doesn’t need a touch up.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Second Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The middle third starts off with leather and tobacco with the coffee and sweeter flavors now in the background. As the cigar progresses there is strengthening of the pepper once again. This is a very oily cigar with a oily coating felt on the tongue in this third. Not as complex as the initial third but just as enjoyable. The burn in this third slightly skews but does not require a touch up at this time. There are still no issues with the draw.” –Sandeep (Djangos)
“In the 2nd third, the pepper increased quite a bit, but not enough to overpower the other flavors, which did change a bit. Strong black coffee, burnt toast, tobacco, and there’s also a charred, smoky flavor like a brushfire. There’s a good burn in the sinuses now. Flavors remain on the palate along with a nice little zing between puffs. Ash still drops at about an inch.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Final Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“As we enter the final third the pepper starts to ramp up once again and increases in intensity to the very end. The cigar is even oilier in this final third than before. The predominant flavors are leather and tobacco with some cedar thrown in for good measure. The burn did skew to a point where I touched it up once. No issues with the draw. Over all this was a very enjoyable cigar with a good amount of complexity and I will try this again.” –Sandeep (Djangos)
“There’s still an underlying sweetness that pops in every once in awhile but it’s mostly leather with the strong vegetal finish. The retro-hale has become a nice blast of pepper that really improves the overall profile.” –Alan (Eulogy)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 91
“The draw is good but not great, offering a decent resistance that eases as the cigar burns.” –Ryan (Youngryan216)
Burn: 91
“The burn was straight in the initial third and after that starts to skew in the middle third. The skewing got to a point that I had to touch up once with the lighter in the final third. The favors were good enough that I didnt seem to notice this till it was quite bad.” –Sandeep (Djangos)
Construction: 93
“Very well constructed cigar with no major issues pre or post light. Remained quite firm till the very end. The burn did have some issues in the middle and final thirds. There was no cracking or peeling of the wrapper.” –Sandeep (Djangos)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Overall Experience: 90
“Overall this was a very good cigar with a quite complex flavor profile that kept my interest the entire way. Some issues present with the burn that slightly detracted from the experience. I will definitely try this one again.” –Sandeep (Djangos)
“A great cigar. If you’re in the mood for something a little different and enjoy vegetal flavors certainly give it a shot.” – Alan (Eulogy)
“Overall I was very unimpressed with this stick. While it does win a few points with me for burning decently, there is just nothing exciting about it in flavor.
“I can definitely abide a less than attractive cigar if the flavor is there –That was not the case here. It was a shockingly mild stick for its appearance and left me wanting to light up something else to satisfy my fix. I would not smoke this again.” –Ryan (Youngryan216)
“Overall it was ok. The ‘Burnt’ flavor really didn’t do much for me when it came in in the 2nd third. It wasn’t a stogie that bored me, but not one that really got me going if that makes sense.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 72
|
Reviewer
|
Appearance
|
Aroma
|
1/3
|
2/3
|
3/3
|
Draw
|
Burn
|
Constr.
|
Overall
Experience |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandeep | Djangos) | 87 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 95 | 85 | 95 | 95 |
| Alan | Eulogy) | 97 | 92 | 95 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 97 | 97 | 95 |
| Ryan | Youngryan216) | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 83 | 92 | 97 | 90 | 83 |
| Robert | NavyPiper) | 85 | 85 | 87 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 85 | 88 | 88 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.