Cigar Geeks - La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Duque

Cigar Geeks Geek Critique

La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Duque
Written by Cigar Geeks Member: Barry (benchjockey)

88
Cigar Geeks Rating

Welcome to another Member sponsored Geek Critique generously sponsored by our member cnyCigarGuy (David). The cigar provided for this round is the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Duque.

A grand collaboration between Ashton and the Garcia Family, Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor is handmade in small batch fashion with a luscious Cuban-seed wrapper grown in Mexico and a marvelous blend of aged Nicaraguan tobaccos. Medium to full-bodied, these cigars are all about richness, balance and complexity.

Accolades: The #2 Cigar of the Year – Cigar Aficionado, 2011 and Top 10 Cigars of the Year – Cigar Aficionado, 2023.

La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Duque

Brand:: La Aroma de Cuba
Name:: Mi Amor Duque
Length:: 5.25
Ring Gauge:: 56
Country of Origin:: Nicaragua
Filler:: Nicaragua
Binder:: Nicaragua
Wrapper:: Mexico
Color:: Maduro
Strength:: Medium
Shape:: Robusto Gordo
Average Member Purchase Price:: $7.25
Average Member Rating:: (5 Review(s))

Pre-Light: 9 Points of 10 Possible

This is a good-looking, box-pressed stick that is virtually vein free. The wrapper is smooth to the eye and solid to the touch, without any soft spots. The one negative is that the cap appears to be sloppily applied.

Lighting and Burn: 13 Points of 15 Possible

A straight cut removed the cap problem free. Lighting was easy with the draw a bit on the tight side, while the smoke output was plentiful. The ash was tapped off at about one inch. I got brave the only other time the ash needed to be removed and let it grow to two inches before it landed in my lap. The burn remained true for the entire smoke. No relights were necessary.

Construction: 30 Points of 30 Possible

Construction was flawless. The burn never wavered, the wrapper was perfect. The roller did a top-notch job with this cigar. The wrapper never caused a problem. While the cap may have been ugly, it was never an issue after cutting.

Flavor and Aroma: 36 Points of 45 Possible

Right from the start there was pepper on the retrohale combined with a sweet aftertaste. After the pepper disappeared, the sweetness increased.

Orange flavor was detected in the second third, but the main flavor was sweet chocolate.

The final third brought nuts, coffee and chocolate. Pepper also occasionally appeared.

Summary

This medium strength stick may not be overly complex, but showed an abundance of flavor. It contained plenty of sweetness with a dose of pepper. I already have a few of these in my humidor and they will have a spot in my rotation. My thanks to David for his sponsorship.