Matilde Oscura | Cigar Review

Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Sumatran
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, & US Pennsylvania
Size: 6.5 x 54 “Toro Bravo”
Body: Full
Price: $8.50 MSRP

Today we look at the brand new Matilde Oscura.
I want to thank my good buddy, Anonymous Stogie, for sending me these cigars. A loyal, but very, very old aficionado. He personally circumcised me at 8 days old. Me, not him. That would be awkward.

BACKGROUND:
Released October, 2015
Regular production cigar.
Blended by José Seijas.

From the Matilde Cigars web site:
“Matilde Oscura is the second addition to our family. The combination of Dominican, Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian filler; held by a Sumatran binder and finished with an exquisite San Andrean wrapper will yield amazing notes of black and white pepper with hints of sweetness that will evolve to play a larger role as the tobaccos burn. Light up and let Matilde Oscura guide you through an unforgettable journey of flavors and aroma.”

DESCRIPTION:
Beautiful cigar. A dark, dark, oily chocolate brown color. Seams are fairly tight. Lots of veins. A perfect triple cap. Extremely toothy. The double cigar bands are a pretty pale green. Perfect offset for the dark wrapper.

SIZES AND PRICING:
Robusto 5.25 x 50 $8.00 MSRP
Corona 5.5 x 44 $7.50 MSRP
Toro Bravo 6.5 x 54 $8.50 MSRP
Gordo 6 x 60 $9.00 MSRP

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell notes of cocoa, spice, floral notes, raisins, cream, and charred oak.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I can smell very smoky mesquite, charred steak, chocolate, spice, and raisins.
The cold draw presents flavors of rich dark cocoa, red hot pepper, smokiness, raisins, floral notes, and oranges.

FIRST THIRD:
If you check out the photo, you will see imperfections in the termination of the wrapper at the foot. This means trouble down the road as far as burn issues.

First out of the gate is some heavy duty black pepper and red pepper. The strength starts out at medium/full.
There is a nice rush of dark chocolate while being tapped on the shoulder with some delicate floral notes.

I was right. The burn line makes a run for the border but I stop it in its tracks. I’m getting good at this. While this method for lighting a cigar seems odd, it is much better than the traditional torch the shit out of the foot with four torch flames…scorching the wrapper a full inch up from the foot.

The draw is great. This is a well packed cigar…and heavy! My delicate woman’s lips find it difficult to hold this big black member in my mouth without using my teeth.

Some baking spices show up: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. It’s making a pumpkin pie!

I got a flu shot the other day while at my doctor’s. Medicare pays for it. Every year, I get that damn shot and every year I get the flu between 2-3 times.

Right..the Matilde Oscura. I reviewed the Matilde Renacer Corona back in May of 2014 and found it to be a superb blend. And José Seijas didn’t jack up the price this year. Same prices.

This is a meaty cigar^2. I look at my review of the Renacer and it was a major flavor bomb. Can this bend compete? We shall see.
The ash gently disembarks the mother ship at 1” right into the ashtray instead of my lap and burning my naughty bits.
I’m getting a touch of black licorice. Just a tad.

A cigar this size really needs a couple months of humidor time to get a true picture of its quality. I told a friend I was gifted this cigar and he told me it’s good to go pretty quickly. So I listened to his advice and here I am.
There is a dark menacing value to this blend. And it hits full body only 1-1/2” in. Yikes. I will have to be wrung out after the review.

The ball and chain left for work an hour ago and won’t be home til 8pm. After work, she is stopping at our daughter’s to hang out and do mother/daughter things.

My son in law is a Milwaukee cop and he put a decal on the rear window of my truck. It’s called the Thin Blue Line. It’s an American flag with one blue stripe. When cops stop you because you ran over an old lady in a walker, they will give you a pass. At least that’s what John told me.

Bam. The spice does the high jump. Man oh man. We have some jalapeno going on here. My eyes are watering. Oh no..that’s just me whimpering and crying. I do that at 9:30am, 1:30pm, and 7:30pm every day. It’s a Jewish tradition.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 40 minutes.
The first third was nice.
The second third starts with an Olivia Neutron Bomb.

There is a fine, fine charred steak quality. You know. Like those ridiculous steak houses that charge $50 for a steak and $12 for a baked potato.

Malts show up: Black Patent Malt, Brown Malt, and Flaked Rye Malt. (See Malt Chart).

And here they are: Spice, creaminess, chocolate, malts, charred steak, oak, raisins, baking spices, caramel, espresso, floral notes, orange zest, and rich earth notes.
Seijas went in a totally different direction from the Renacer. He made us wait a full year for it but it was worth it. Terrific cigar!
I’m digging the smoothness of the full body. The charred values really ratchet up everything.

Man, what a friggin cigar blend! The Matilde Oscura is taking no prisoners.

I cannot believe this is an $8.50 cigar. No way. The assholes upon the mount are charging chumps $17 for their new blends thinking the market will bear it. What they don’t have is a brain. They think us smokers are stupid? That because the cigar costs the same as Sears lawn mower, it will make us cum? Word always gets out and that’s what counts. And then after an initial rush to be the first on your block to get one of these mortgage payment sticks, the cigar will fade into obscurity and end up going for $3.50 on Cbid. Or Holt’s.

Ooh..ooh…new flavors. A mysterious sweetness. Tangerine juice. Molasses. Teriyaki beef jerky instead of charred steak. Pick one.

It has a sweet and sour element. That just came out of nowhere.

Seijas is mad I tell you! Mad! Does he know guitarist Robert Johnson or his FRIEND? Did he sign something?
I’ve got a major piece of wood beneath my wife’s pantaloon panties. A giant 4-1/2” of solid stainless steel.
The char line has behaved nicely. That first third was kind of a bitch.
I don’t usually care for giant cigars. But this baby just flies by.

The Matilde Oscura is the devil’s playground.
“I soar the skies in a state of euphoria,
My lengthy hair fluttering in the gusts,
Lashing out at my heels as I plummet:
An architectural wonder anticipates my arrival.
I shatter the gleaming stained glass windows:
Faux renditions of a woman holding a child
(Rings around their heads: colorless glass).
A grin smears across my blood-covered face
And the light of a thousand candles gleams in my eyes…”
…by Xoandre.

HALFWAY POINT:
Smoke time is 55 minutes.
David Rico of AJ Fernandez was going to stop by. But then someone must have clued him what I’m like and he changed plans. Hey, he contacted me.

I’m boppin’ to the tunes on the classic rock station on cable TV. I have this Ray Charles/Stevie Wonder move I do really well.
I’m listening to Queen’s “Dragon Attack” with a heavy bass lead in it. I could have smoked him in my good days. If I popped for another $100, I could play videos and tunes on my web site. But I just recently had to buy more storage so that went out the window.

More malts: Caramel Malt, Honey Malt, and Special B Malt. Nice.
Clearly Jose Seijas proves that a great cigar need not cost double digits. Kudos Jose.

None of the discount boutique online stores carry the Matilde Oscura yet. I find that odd. Did they piss Seijas off? Every other store online sells them.

The Matilde Oscura is the smoothest full body blend I’ve smoked. Not a lick of harshness or raging nicotine.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is one hour 35 minutes.
This is a real blast.

I got an email from Trevor Olson; a longtime reader and friend. He commented on this morning’s review of the Cuban Montecristo No.2 and the lousy construction. I thought I would share his insight:

“Your construction problems all come down to demand vs supply. The demand for Cuban cigars is sky-high but the supply is low. So, they have to go gangbusters and roll as many as they can, as fast as they can to fill orders. Like anything else that’s rushed, quality goes down. So it’s not at all uncommon to have five or six duds per box. It’s disappointing but dems the breaks.”
Makes sense to me.

The Matilde Oscura takes off like a Korean rocket. Scratch that. An American rocket.
Flavors explode! Giant, gooey, smothering, effusive, gushing, unrestrained, extravagant, fulsome, demonstrative, lavish, enthusiastic, and lyrical.

See. I can write shit like that and my readers can understand the words unlike some reviewers who get comments like: “Dude, good review.”

Of course, my readers have to point at the words while they are pronouncing them.

The transitions are aplenty. Complexity is massive. 7.6 on the Richter Scale. A finish much like the Yellow Brick Road. Curly, long and leads you straight to Oz.

I can’t thank dear reader Anonymous Stogie for gifting me with a pair of these cigars. With one left, I have something to live for. LOL.

All flavors intact. I venture to say that even as strong as this cigar is, it is a great blend for newbies to test their virility. And experienced smokers will love it and make passionate love to it.
Go get some.

RATING: 94

PRICE POINT:
$8.50 is the bargain of the decade. All the foo foo blends with their ridiculous packaging and idiotic stories behind the making of the cigar should learn a lesson here.
Jose Seijas is a blending genius and a real mensch for never taking advantage of his customers’ wallets.