Boxed, brightly banded, boldly embossed, and about as big as a king-sized Snickers bar, the toro gordo vitola of La Opulencia by My Father Cigars is one eye-catching premium cigar blend. 

Equally impressive are its accolades, which include a #2 Cigar of the Year award at Cigar Aficionado back in 2018, and a lengthy list of love letters from cigar smokers.

Taking portions of the utterly outstanding tiramisu tidal wave that is the Le Bijou by My Father Cigars, and giving it a rosado oscuro spin on the standard Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Don Pepin Garcia proves that everyone loves a remix.

Further setting this blend apart from its rivals and portfolio counterparts, is the fact that it uses a dual binder combo constructed from criollo and corojo leaf. What isn't very different though, is the use of Cuban seed long-filler leaf from the MFC farms down in Nicaragua. So there is some familiarity to be had in that regard.

All of this sounds really rich and complex, right? It sure is all of that indeed, plus a bit more (and less) as well. 

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Unlit Impressions 

Rust-red in color, roundly pressed in its boxing, and triple banded like many other MFC smokes, La Opulencia sits at the top as one of the swankiest-looking smokes we sell here at Klaro. It might be traditional in its banding, but all of that gold, red, and green really draws you in the more you look. 

The cigar smells faintly of hay and soil down its tooth-covered outer perimeter, with a fermented funkiness filling in as needed. The foot is sweetly scented and subtle. A mixture of chocolate-covered malt balls and caramel, with an undeniable overtone of mixed baking spices. And by that I mean ALL the baking spices. It's like the whole damn cupboard got cleaned out and dumped into this blend, as faint milk cocoa and nougat notes bring back images of king-sized Snickers bars and chewy delights.

Cold draws spin the flavor wheel with the brute force of Pat Sajak on steroids, but somehow without producing much in the form of strength or overt spice. There's some sun-grown rosado richness and criollo earthy tones, as well as a little bit of corojo kick, but there's so much smoothness going on here it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Loads of oak and dried hardwood notes round out the cold draw, and urge you to light up ASAP.

Initial Smoke 

I love it when I encounter a full-bodied, full-strength dark cigar that doesn't destroy your mouth right at light. For this blend, it starts with a good bit of baking spice (heavy on the clove, cinnamon, and allspice), followed by more oak than you can shake a stick at. Pun intended.

There's a little bit of cocoa powder and criollo earth inside, but it's very effervescent, thus making for an unexpectedly light start to the cigar. 

1st Half   

If there are cocoa notes to be found in this vitola's first (and much of its second third), it is almost completely glossed over by the baking spice and tannins of this premium cigar blend. You might detect some at first pull and then upon retrohale, but it's just there for moral support. 

Since the draw on this larger/longer vitola requires some lung power, I found the first 45 minutes or so to be sub-par in smoke production. This surely influenced my opinion of this being a mellower smoking experience and made for a far less full mouthfeel.

Flavors were not very full either at first and body would have been labeled as medium if it weren't for the cigar's extremely long finish. This last portion proved to be my favorite aspect of the first half of the cigar, as it left you with a chocolate-covered spiced fruit taste, finished with coffee grounds, vanilla, and microdoses of nougat. As stated in the video, oak is most omnipresent and provides a pleasant tannin taste and drying sensation on the tongue to balance out all else.

2nd Half    

Eventually, a shift toward stronger flavors and a fuller body occurs, but only after you work through much of the first half of the cigar. As the smoke encircling your senses develops a deeper note of espresso and earth, corojo comes in to kick things up a touch with tangy spice tastes and a little bit of sunshine and leather. Star anise, which was around at light starts to edge its way back into the mix, paving the way for something bigger than ever before.

Sweet cedar starts to show itself toward the end of the second third, and with the oak adding more tannin tastes than before, it builds a woodsy bridge for the emerging milk cocoa notes to march across. On the other side sits everything listed in the previous paragraph, as well as some cracks of black pepper, a big spoonful of vanilla pudding, and a retrohale that harbors some star anise. 

At this moment, everything has hit the "FULL" mark, but in such an opulent form that it is hard to tell that you are smoking such a bold blend.  

Parting Puffs    

Things get a little squirrely in parting puffs, with my review cigar suddenly deciding to shut down mid-pull. A quick relight later and things were back on track, but not before I had determined that parting puffs were destined to end sooner than later. There's espresso action going on, and the lingering cedar tastes are easily detectable, but it's all a touch too harsh for my taste.

Perhaps it's all of the resins and oils from the previous 6 inches of smoke bubbling inside, but the sappy burnt licorice taste and over-caramelized sugar notes just weren't my jam. 

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Like quite a few other cigars from My Father, I found La Opulencia struggled to burn straight more often than naught. Wavy burn lines, canoeing, tunneling, dirty ash formations, flakes, and a tough first 30-45 minute draw experience all deducted points from my overall score for this blend. This proved true for the cigar I smoked prior, whereas the third stick burned better but still required a touch-up here and there.

Final Thoughts  

I admire how this cigar delivers depth and flavors in such a smooth fashion, and the way in which it looks pre and post-light. It's a great-smelling, wonderful tasting, easy retrohaling sort of dark cigar that takes you through the entire spice cabinet before finishing with a shot of espresso and a venti mocha serving as a chaser.

Performance was a disappointment at times though, and the lackluster level of smoke formation in the first third was annoying. It also failed to form many of the oscuro flavors I enjoy at any given point prior to the final third and beyond. 

This left me holding a spiced milk chocolate cigar that had some added earthy sweetness and impressive oaky depths but without all of the dark cocoa creaminess of a darker maduro. Some might find this to be perfectly fine, but for me, it is far-flung from the impressive flavors that I found in cigars like Super Fly from Oscar Valladares or the competitively priced Curivari Buenaventura BV560 Maduro. 

Still, this is an interesting option for anyone in search of something a bit more spice-forward and tannin-touched than mocha-centric, and an intriguing comparison cigar for those who tried and liked Le Bijou from My Father Cigars.

Flavor, Aroma & Transitions

Depth & Complexity

Construction, Burn & Physical Appeal

Backstory & Branding

Overall Balance & Repeatability

Stogie Specs

Cigar	My Father Cigars "La Opulencia"
Wrapper	Rosado Oscuro (Mexico)
Binder	Corojo & Criollo (Nicaragua)
Filler	Nicaragua (all Cuban seed)
Factory	Nicaragua
Size	7" x 56 "Toro Gordo" (box-pressed)
Strength	Full
Pairing Drink	Iced Italiano Boss Coffee
Rating	4.2/5