Black Label Trading Co. Macabre

By Tony Casas | June 8, 2026

What a beautiful weekend to head out back and see what this Black Label Trading Co. Macabre is all about! 

The Good Stuff:

The Macabre is the newest addition to the Black Label Trading Co.’s portfolio after making its debut at this year’s PCA event in New Orleans. Created at the company’s Fabrica Oveja Negra factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, this limited edition release features a Mexican San Andres wrapper over an Ecuadorian Habano binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. The cigar is offered in three sizes: Robusto (5 x 50), Corona Gouda (5.5 x 46) and the Toro (6 x 50). Each come packaged in boxes of 20 running between $13.50 and $14 per cigar.

• Size: 5 x 50
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
• Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $13.50

Prelight:

The Macabre starts out with a very consistent, very dark brown wrapper with only a few lighter areas surrounding the minor veining found throughout the wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is incredibly gritty and toothy with a whole ton of oil coating it. The wrapper’s texture feels very thick, dense and hard while the rest of the cigar feels very heavy and tightly packed. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s snubby, “rabbito” cap. There is a black and white band with an image of a horse skeleton and the addition of a foot band with carried the Macbre crest.

The wrapper on the Macabre gives off really strong cocoa and floral aromas while the foot of the cigar is really spicy with loads of natural tobacco. The cap cut clean and easily. The cold draw on the Macabre produces loads of raisin, spice and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Macabre starts out with a huge blast of cayenne pepper that left my lips tingling. After a few draws the pepper subsides and the cigar is allowed to release massive amounts of raisin, cinnamon, espresso, dark chocolate and walnut with some great earthy and natural tobacco flavors on the finish. There is also a great little sweetness that pops in at the end of the taste. The draw is beautiful as each and every little puff kicks out a ton of thick, white smoke which hangs out for a while before dissipating while the cigar surprisingly only releases minor amounts of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind an absolutely brilliant trail of bright white ash which held for almost and inch before falling into my ashtray. 

Second Third:

Into the second third the flavors in the Macabre started to take a step back, and cream out a bit with a more consistent balance than the bold flavors in the first third. The leading flavor is raisin with a hint of vanilla over espresso and molasses with a very nutty and earthy finish. The retrohale brings out the pepper I picked up at the start and I don’t find myself doing it too often. There is a little bit of cracking developing on the outside of the wrapper in the center of the cigar, however it’s not affecting the experience at all. The burn line is still perfectly even and the draw is incredible. I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick. 

NOTE: out of three Macabre I smoked this was the only one that cracked. It was only in the center area where it looks like the filler expanded and cracked wrapper. This did not affect the experience in any way so no harm there. It’s been raining a ton here so it’s likely this particular cigar was a bit over-humidified. 

Finish: 

Holy cocoa Batman! The cocoa has really taken pole position in the flavor race within the Macabre backed by some great espresso and raisin with and earthy/floral finish. I’m shocked with how pronounced the cocoa is. The flavor profile in this cigar has been awesome. It took me an hour and a half to smoke it down to the nub. I experienced no harshness, no extended heat and zero burn issues even with the wrapping cracking a little on this specific cigar. I close out with only a minor nicotine kick as the only real nicotine I felt was in the second half. 

Overview: 

The Macabre is classic Black Label Trading Co. with its bold flavors, balanced approach, and interesting profile. I’ve always been a fan of their blends and they really sing to my own personal palate and the Macabre is just another perfect example of that. This is a limited edition cigar that I expect would sell out incredibly quickly especially at the lower price point. It’s box worthy and if you’re a fan of James’ blends you better track some down before it’s too late.