Initial Thoughts
This Quesada 40th Anniversary cigar was created to celebrate Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr.’s 40 years in the cigar business. It comes in 6 sizes all of the same blend except for one, the ‘Corona Classic’. It appears to use a different wrapper leaf.
You may be familiar with the Quesada brand, every year they release a Oktoberfest cigar that is usually all the rage during October. I had one a couple of years back and really enjoyed it. They also manufacture the Casa Magna brand, which used to be under the SAG Imports name and now everything is under the Quesada flagship.
For this review I smoked the Toro Press 6×49, it comes in a 10 count box and only 1,000 of those boxes were made. So I feel honored to have gotten 1 of 10,000. I’ve actually had this cigar for quite some time. My sister-in-law got it for me for my birthday last May and I’m just now getting around to smoking it… Better late than never though right!
Looks
Taking a look at this Quesada 40th Anniversary it has a beautiful dark San Andres wrapper. This leaf seems to be the theme this year. It’s gorgeous dark chocolate brown. Some nice rugged texture to it as well. You can see a few veins and seams but it appears to be well put together.
I love the double band on this cigar. It’s got a big Q shaped leaf in the middle and a great mix of black, gold and silver. It’s a powerful look and one that isn’t mistaken on the shelf. Below the main band is a secondary one that has 40th right in your face. So there’s no confusion as to which blend this is. I love the packaging all around. I have a feeling this strong secondary band sets up sub-sequent releases under this new branding adventure for Quesada. I can’t wait to see what they have in store.
Function
If there’s one thing I love in cigars it’s a nice pressed cigar. I love have a cigar that won’t roll on you. This Quesada 40th Anniversary has a beautiful toro press to it. A nice flat top and bottom and it lays perfectly in my ashtray. I didn’t squeeze the barrel too much because I didn’t want to chance breaking the wrapper. I’ve found in the past that when I do that on a pressed cigar the corners tend to break a bit easier.
The foot is partially closed so it’s hard to get a look and see how much tobacco is packed in there. I’ve learned from the past though that these pressed cigars seem to have a bit easier draw in them. So I nipped the cap and sure enough the dry was nice and open on this guy, even with the shaggy foot!
Smoking
Putting my Stratosphere lighter on the foot the shaggy foot took right to the flame and we were off. This Quesada 40th Anniversary had a wonderful draw through the first third. It was nice and open and let a good amount of air through the barrel and it was nearly effortless to smoke. Can’t hate on that can ya? I had a few touch ups a long the way, but the burn line never got too out of control which was nice. I really just sat back enjoyed the cigar. I think I got a little distracted at one point reading and let the cigar go out. It took a bit to relight it and then it had a bit of a funky taste. I powered through it and it got its form back on track quickly though.
Flavor
Speaking of flavor! The pre light on this Quesada 40th Anniversary was mmm tasty. I picked up some intense notes of earth, cocoa and barnyard. Every note was rich dark, I loved it. There were flares of spice that I could pick up in the back of my throat as well. On the cold draw this cigar offered up a nice bit of sweetness to compliment everything else. It must have been that cocoa seeping through.
During the first third this cigar gave off a nice dose of spice. It was on the back part of my tongue just like the pre draw. What set it apart for me was the very herbal note it gave off in the retrohale. That was absolutely outstanding. It gave it another level of depth and complexity that I really enjoyed. It also started to build into a nice savory meaty note that was just delicious. I was sitting back and enjoying it with a nice cup of coffee and it was a great compliment. I could see enjoying this cigar with a great bourbon and it just opening up into something outstanding.
As I mentioned above when the cigar went out it started to develop a bit of a bitter flavor. I kept smoking though and powered through. Finally it returned to that meaty savory note, however I lost the herbal retrohale note which was a bit of a bummer. Oh well, I still enjoyed it for a little while. I would say this Quesada 40th Anniversary was right around a medium bodied cigar. It has the opportunity to get a little stronger but never really hit it. All in all I really enjoyed it minus that final third where it got bitter. I think it’s a well rounded cigar though.
Would I Buy It Again?
Yeah I would. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’m not sure how easy they are to find nowadays but I’d pick it up again.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
It could be if you could find enough of them. However I feel like it’s one of those you bust out every now and again.
Would I Buy a Box?
I’d look at buying a box of these to age them and see if they change up with time. Certainly would add some nice luster to the aging humidor!
Conclusion
I really enjoyed this Quesada 40th Anniversary it was a nice well rounded cigar that offered a good change of pace on the retrohale. I thought it was a fairly complex smoke that offered up a lot of what I like in a cigar. It wasn’t too spice but had a nice savory note overall and then threw in a few curveballs along the way. If you’re interested in them go and pick up a box they only have a few left on Famous, click here to get them.
