Cigar Info
General Cigar announced a new line in the Macanudo brand earlier this April. This new blend, Macanudo Inspirado Brazilian Shade is a limited edition, a first in the Inspirado line. It uses rare Brazilian wrapper and a special Cuban-seed proprietary filler, both a first for Macanudo.
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 wrapper for Macanudo Inspirado Brazilian Shade is grown in the tropical region of Bahia in Brazil. The rest of the blend uses a Mexican San Andres binder, and fillers that include: Dominican Cubita, Brazilian tobacco, Dominican Piloto Cubano and Nicaraguan Jalapa. The Dominican Cubita is a special proprietary sun grown tobacco cultivated on a one-acre plot in the bucolic region of Mao, Dominican Republic .
Macanudo Inspirado Brazilian Shade is made at General Cigar Dominicana in Santiago, Dominican Republic. It comes in two sizes, aToro that measure 6.5 x 52 and sells for $10.49, and a Churchill that measures 7 x 48 and sells for$10.99. All are packaged in 10 count boxes. Production is limited to 2,000 Boxes of the Toro, and 1,500 boxes of the Churchill.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro
Length: 6.5″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Brazilian Bahia Connecticut Shade
Binder: Mexican San Andres
Filler: Dominican Cubita, Brazilian, Dominican Piloto Cubano and Nicaraguan Jalapa
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Blender: Jhonys Diaz
Number of reviewers: 4 – Diana (ArmyRN) Chad M. (Chad Tchad) Lauren S. (Lauren S.) Randy B. (randobush)
Price: $7.39
Age: 3 Months
Release Date: July 2020
Contributed by: General Cigar
Initial Impressions – Macanudo Inspirado Brazilian Shade Toro
Appearance: 87
“Very light color to the wrapper. The overall construction appearance does not seem too impressive by looks. The wrapper has a lot of veins, seems, and creases in the whole length of the cigar that are palpable with touching and feeling the cigar.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
Aroma: 88
“There is a sweet barnyard smell to the foot of the cigar. Nothing is pungent or unpleasant but the cigar appears mild and creamy through the nares. The dry draw is woody with a slight hint of sweetness.” –Diana (ArmyRN)
First Third
Flavor: 87
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Light-Medium
“I was hit by flavors reminiscent of sweet cream when I began smoking the cigar. I had a moment of wondering if the cigar had a sweet cap or was infused. However, as the flavors blended more I really wasn’t concerned about what was giving me the flavor notes. There is a woodiness to the cigar that is a mix of cedar and oak. The sweetness is prominent on the draw but glides seamlessly into the mix upon holding the smoke and lazily letting it out. The finish is creamy and just a tad sweet but not overly so. ” –Diana (ArmyRN)
“On the pre-draw, there is a very noticeable sweetness to the tongue and the cigar, the notes sweet raisin taste it on the tip of the tongue. After lighting the cigar the sweetness is intensified on the tip of the tongue and is very noticeable. On full draws of the cigar the sweetness carries into the mouth with a strong mouthfeel and sweet cherry/raisin flavor is noticed. The tip of the cigar is tasting very much like a sweet-tipped cigar. On retrohale getting bland tobacco flavor with some slight black pepper spice.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
Second Third
Flavor: 86
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“While still rather sweet a bit of red pepper tickles my nose of the retro. The burn has become a bit of a nightmare, including a hole burning through the side.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
“Going into the second third, I am praying for some transition in flavors here. Way out of my wheelhouse being such a mild, and low-level complexity cigar. No changes from first third, unfortunately.” –Randy B. (randobush)
Final Third
Flavor: 85
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The sweetness has finally faded away. The smooth has become more enjoyable now. The flavors coming through now are creamy cinnamon flavor with some caramel notes. The retrohale is still pretty harsh and there are notes of black
pepper but not a good retrohale cigar. The cigar has started burning a lot faster than the first 2/3’s of the cigar as well. ” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
“The last third picks up on strength a bit. This gives the woody flavors more depth and I am enjoying that. The creaminess is still there but the sweetness remains just about hidden. The mix of cedar and oak are deeper and are reminiscent of a well-burned fire pit that is slowly simmering in the ashes. The last inch was very tasty for me.” –Diana (ArmyRN)
Overall Impressions – Macanudo Inspirado Brazilian Shade Toro
Draw: 93
“The cigar was very light for me and as a result, I almost felt as if the draw was tight when I first started smoking. I was just looking for more from the cigar initially. The draw was good and I didn’t have to think about it throughout the smoke. At the end of the smoke, I decided that it was still just a tad tight for me but nothing that really interfered in the experience.” –Diana (ArmyRN)
Burn: 89
“Nice even burn with no touch-ups needed.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
Construction: 88
“I was somewhat surprised by this cigar. The wrapper had a few little “dings” in it when I received it; nothing that would cause problems with the smoking. However, it was very apparent that this wrapper is very thin and delicate. I wondered if there might be problems with cracking if the cigar became too hot. I was pleasantly surprised that no problems were noted. This was a long smoke for me but the cap remained intact, the wrapper never cracked or lifted. Pretty impressive for the delicate nature of the wrapper.” –Diana (ArmyRN)
Overall Strength: Mild-Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 88
“This cigar was very good at the beginning and very good at the end. Those two experiences were somewhat polar opposite of each other but tasty in their own ways. The middle of the cigar fell flat for me but again, not so unpleasant that I would never smoke it again. I’d love this cigar in a corona or Corona Gorda size. It’s a great cigar for fall mornings and would pair nice with some pumpkin coffee to compliment the sweet cream of the cigar.” –Diana (ArmyRN)
“This cigar has some sweetness to the tip of the cigar. It produced a lot of sweetness that I am not in favor of. The other flavors were not that anything to really write home about. The retro-hale for the entire cigar was harsh and was not enjoyable or produced any additional flavor notes. There was some black pepper spice on retro; but the harshness took away from that. The last third was the best part of the cigar but that was because the sweetness of the tip finally faded away. ” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
“The flavor of the blend started stellarly. A nice sweet cedar played great with the sweet and pectin on the cap. A bit of complexity in the retrohale with the red pepper and smokiness gave some great interest to the blend. Then the burn issues set in ruining the experience and the flavor. I would like to try this cigar again to see what the entire flavor profile would be without the bad luck construction issues.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
“First let me preface by saying that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and all palates are different.
That said, Although I give the construction, draw, and burn very high marks on this cigar…I was not a fan of the flavors at all. If I were not reviewing it, I would not have finished it, unless I was in a rowboat, fishing by myself, and nothing else to smoke. To be clear, to the manufacturer, I mean no disrespect. I just didn’t care for the bland mildness of the flavors, but hats off to the outstanding physical performance of this beauty.” –Randy B. (randobush)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 89
| Reviewer | Appear. | Aroma | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Constr. | Overall Experience |
| Diana | 87 | 90 | 87 | 87 | 87 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Chad M. | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 85 |
| Lauren S. | 87 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 85 | 95 | 83 | 85 | 90 |
| Randy B. | 95 | 85 | 87 | 83 | 83 | 97 | 95 | 95 | 85 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.