Quesada Tributo Alvaro – Cigar Review
Today I have the Quesada Tributo from SAG Imports, the makers of the ever famous Casa Magna and Fonseca brands. Headed by Manuel Quesada and his family (The 5th Generation), SAG Imports was started in 1993 to distribute the Quesada’s cigars. SAG stands for “Sobrinos de Antero Gonzales” or “Descendants of Antero Gonzales,” who was the original member of the family to go into the tobacco business during the 1880’s in Cuba. The Quesada Tributo is a cigar meant to pay “tribute” to family members that have passed on as well as the cigar enthusiasts that enjoy their cigars. The wrapper is the most noteworthy component of this cigar as it is a Ecuadorian Hybrid that was made using four varieties of seeds; Habano 2000, Corojo, Habano Vuelta Arriba and Sumatra. Now I am not a horticulturalists by any means but as I understand it, you have to basically cross pollinate the 4 different plants. Here is my best explinatin: A stamen is the male organ of a flower. The stamen is the portion of the flower that has powdery pollen formed on it. If you can’t see the pollen with the naked eye, use a magnifying glass. The stigma of the flower is the female organ. Pollen gets deposited on the stigma and travels down a tube to fertilize the flower. I’m not quite sure how all those varietals formed one plant but I would imagine it would have taken years to make one plant.
Cigar: Quesada Tributo
Company SAG Imports
Size: Alvaro, 6×52 Torpedo
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Hybrid (Habano 2000, Corojo, Habano Vuelta Arriba, & Sumatra)
Binder: Honduran Ligero
Filler: Nicaraguan & Dominican Ligero’s
Made In: Dominican Republic – Matasa factory
Price: About $8 per single cigar
Appearance & Construction: The Quesada Tributo is an amazing looking cigar, one of the best I have seen in a while. The chocolate brown colored wrapper has very minimally sized veins and a light sheen of oil. The cigar is ultra smooth to the touch and is solidly constructed.
Smoking Characteristics: The Quesada Tributo has a nice even draw that produces a satisfactory amount of smoke. The burn is pretty uneven and required some touch-ups along the way but nothing major. From the bad burn came a chunky ash that I was forced to get tap off along the way so I was never really able to make an assessment on the strength of the ash.
Flavor: The Quesada Tributo starts out with a nice clean spice and some wood. The spice is not black pepper, rather a clean heat like cayenne pepper. Once the cigar settles in notes of espresso, cocoa, nutmeg and cinnamon add to the woodsy core of this cigar. The cigar has a very complex profile and the flavors are very round and synergistic. The second third adds some leather to the core of the cigar while the nuances still remain the same. On the final third of the cigar, things change up a bit. The body becomes heavier and the flavors change to more of a dried fruitiness and toasted wood. The body of the Quesada Tributo is medium to full while the nicotine strength is a bit stronger than your average cigar.
Final Thoughts: What a cigar! Complex, balanced and a great flavor profile for the Quesada Tributo Alvaro. Everything went together so well with this cigar and the flavor changes throughout the cigar were enough to keep me on my toes and typing away. I will say I was a little disappointed with the burn of the cigar, however some time in the humidor should shore up those problems; but what a nice smoke.
Cigar Rating: Very Good
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I’ve had similar burn issues with the Quesada Tributo’s, i’m not sure what the deal is. I’d smoked the 6×60 and it’s a beast of a cigar, I’ve had general burn and issues with them being plugged/going out quite a bit. I’ve tried dry boxing them and everything. I’ve heard good things about some of the other sizes so i’ll have to give them a shot. Thanks for the review.
Bought some of these based on the review here and they are pretty good. They are up there with some of my other favorites such as the Bolivar Dominican, Excalibur 1066 and others. They are a very good smoke for the money and I am always looking for good cigars at reasonable prices. I also purchased a double cigar holder at http://cigarholdershop.com for $11.95 with shipping included, and now I don’t lose any cigars on the golf course and am a very happy camper!
Just my $0.02 worth.
Thanks