🔥 Buy 5-Pack 🔥

Unlit Impressions

Fastidiously formed in build and finish, the feel of every single one of these box-pressed torpedo vitolas have been near flawless. Very little mottling is to be seen, and the sandpaper roughness to that dark Broadleaf wrapper tells you that there is a healthy amount of tooth and age to this blend. Sweet and sour, like cherry-covered black forest cake with cream, the scent of this outer leaf is gnawingly good, and it only gets better the more you sniff. 

The closer your nostrils get to the foot, the more you may recognize the aromas of dank dirt and gourmet root beer. By the time you hit the snipped end of the cigar, the exposed tobacco inside sends down a full-blown root beer float, complete with sour cherry striped vanilla ice cream. Surprisingly, it is not all that sweet of a scent though, and not very funky, peppery, spicy, or heavy either. Just a simple and clean maduro after-dinner dark cigar aromatic. 

Unlit pulls are craft cola and a fair bit sweeter, as a simple mixture of chewy granola bar, milk chocolate, and damp fall foliage unfold on the palate. Comforting and very familiar, this mixture is both mild and macho at the same time.

A few other unlit notes include the lightweight feel to the cigar when held, which is surprising considering how full the fill is inside. The other intriguing standout was the vintage look of the band, which unlike some of the more progressive blends within the Espinosa Cigars portfolio, is strikingly old-school.

Initial Smoke

That culinary staple of salt and pepper piques the senses after puff number two, rolling over halfway to allow a funky, cedar-strong taste to shine outward. Like a cedar plank ready for the smoker, the woodsy beginning to this blend lifts off with a perfect draw and medium amounts of flavor, body, and strength, finishing with a milky sweet cocoa taste.

1st Half   

Cedar and spiced craft cola come at the nose and tongue from every angle in the first third, tempered only by the bowls of granola and raw grain that rock back and forth. Funky and spicy upon retrohale half the time, and milky mocha and soil strong the rest, the finish on this blend grows as the overall power rating ticks toward medium-full status. Longer finishes are one of the root causes of this increase in smoke potency, and as retrohales become bolder, out comes that taste of sarsaparilla soda pop.

By the time the second third of the barrel begins, a tangy fermented barbeque sauce taste starts to take hold. In true form, flavors and aromas of mild hickory gradually blend with the cedar from earlier, and together they develop an engrossing cinnamon cereal taste. Grain-fed, but not grainy per se, the closest comparison I can muster is an organic wholegrain version of a junk food cereal, but without the insulin-inducing sugar content.  

2nd Half 

Finally reaching full, the last half of this blend starts with a meaty umami touch and then rolls out that signature maduro mocha note we hunt for in many darker cigars. Strong coffee ground tastes and the bitterness that builds when these caffeinated beans are percolated over an open campfire cloud the mind. Somewhere deep inside charred hardwood collides with the earthy darkness found beneath Nicaraguan tree roots, as more mocha melts upon the palate. 

Strong, yet still smooth, this is the simplest section of the cigar, and from a flavor perspective not all that much changes for much of the final third. Nothing to complain about, for it is a very delicious twenty minutes or so. But not the most wild or transitionally intriguing time spent either.

Parting Puffs

Retrohales rock in parting puffs, marking a high point in the blend for my overly sensitive schnozzle. Dark dried fruits of mixed varieties, bittersweet dark chocolate, and a dash of what was detected in the final third all swish across the taste buds. Dark and strong, but equally controlled and well-crafted, I find this a most befitting way to finish the 601 Blue Label Maduro without leaving you feeling overwhelmed. 

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Once again Espinosa has delivered a blazingly good burner. A tiny tunnel in the first third was my only issue between both sticks smoked, and that was easily remedied with my Klaro torch and did not return. Although the draw on the torpedo was a definitive standout, it was actually the hold of the ash and how nicely it formed that gave me the most reason to nod in approval. These cigars are very well built, which as of late seems to be increasingly difficult to find in the business. 

Final Thoughts 

Recommending the 601 Blue Label Maduro is fairly easy to do, especially for those of us who prefer a less funky Broadleaf cigar smoking flavor profile. It's a strapping barbeque cigar of a smoke that sits somewhere between strips of sauce-covered meat sizzling over the campfire, and smores served with mugs of mocha, all sans sugar of course.

I did discover that retaining a balance was a struggle at times for this cigar, as it tended to send a touch too much pepper spice at the senses at times, and a good bit of bitterness at others. The monotony of the flavors within the final third also felt a little uninspired, even if the section as a whole was satisfying and fairly smooth for being so potent.

Although I would have liked to throw a better rating at this blend, I find that its lack of sweetness and missing elements prevented it from taking things to the next level. It is still very much an enjoyable cigar and a fantastic burner, but without a bit of barrel-aging or some sort of unique double binder combo, it does not stand out enough to make it the most memorable Broadleaf blend we sell.

Stogie Specs