The Good Stuff: The Cremo Classic Maduro is the second release from the good guys over at Cremo. Created at the El Titan de Bronze factory in Miami, this American made cigar contains Nicaraguan binder and filler wrapped in a beautifully dark Mexican San Andreas wrapper. I was a big fan of the Cremo Classic line (read the review here), so I couldn’t wait to see what the Maduro version had to offer. The Cremo line is still in it’s boutique phases, but years back it was a popular cigar created in New York. In recent times a New York born man by the name of Walter Lilo Santiago decided to revive the brand. The Classic Maduro will come in 2 sizes, the Intrepidus (6 x 52) and the Excelsior (5 x 50).  The cigar will run $10 – $12 a stick, and will come in boxes of 20.

Size: 5 x 50
Wrapper: San Andreas Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $10
Pairing: Sixpoint Righteous Ale (Rye Beer 6.4% ABV)

Prelight: The Cremo Classic Maduro is a very pretty little cigar. Starting with the crazy dark, consistent brown wrapper. This cigar look, and even smells like a candy bar. The construction is perfect as the wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself and the round triple cap. The body carries only a few larger veins, but nothing too concerning. The wrapper has a very toothy texture with a pretty good amount of oil. The wrapper feels a bit delicate as I squeeze the firm cigar. While the cigar remains firm you can tell it’s not packed too tightly. Polishing off the cigar is the classic Cremo band only this time they replaced the yellow with a mirror chrome finish.

The wrapper on the Cremo Classic Maduro seriously smells like straight up hot chocolate with some spicy notes. The foot of the cigar gives only nothing more than just a small trace of lightly scented tobacco. The cap cut very clean and easy from the Cremo Maduro. The cold draw produces a very strong, bittersweet chocolate flavor with some soft spice and tobacco notes hidden underneath.

First Smoke: The Cremo Classic Maduro started out just as I expected. Lots and lots of biter-sweet chocolate, lots of spice, some slight black pepper, and soft tobacco. The draw on this bad boy is magnificent. Each little puff fills my mouth with this crazy-thick, light brown smoke. The crazy thing is, with all the smoke this cigar kicks out every day, there is no stationary smoke at all. The burnline on this cigar started out pretty wavy, but nothing that caused me to break out the lighter. The ash is very tightly compacted and bright grey with darker spots. It held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: The flavors in the Cremo Classic Maduro really began fading out in the second third. The chocolate has become more of a cocoa, blending in with the spice as more of the tobacco flavor crept in. It’s very smooth, and very creamy, I just wish the flavor kept up as well as it did in the first half. On a good note, the burnline has complete corrected itself with no help from my lighter. The cigar is now burning dead even leaving me with no nicotine kick at all yet.

Finish: There we go! The final third of the Cremo Classic Maduro is where this cigar really starts to shine. Some soft cedar got thrown in the mix as the spice ramped the hell up and the chocolate and tobacco kept trucking along. The crazy part about it was how smoothly all the flavors blended with each other resulting in a very tasty experience. The burnline has continued to burn perfectly with no touch ups or relights. There was a slight bit of harshness towards the very last inch, but nothing really concerning. This cigar took a little over an hour to take down and I felt absolutely no nicotine the entire time.

Overview: El Titan de Bronze rocks. I love them. And I am incredibly delighted that they are finally making Maduro wrapped cigars. The Cremo Classic Maduro was a solid stick. Great construction as always, some nice flavors, and perfect burn. That’s all you can really ask for a cigar. It wasn’t overly complex, but not one dimensional. I still don’t think it did what the Cremo Classic did for me though. That cigar was just dynamite. 9 times out of 10 I will reach for the Maduro version of a blend too. I smoked another Classic recently and can still confirm that I like that better than the Maduro. I think it just had a little more “umph” while the Maduro was more smooth and creamy. The price point is another issue. $10-$12 a stick puts it in a high-caliber price range. The construction and burn experience was on spot with that range. I personally, don’t see these as a box purchase for me, but I’d still pick up a few to have on hand. Either way, both blends are great and I suggest giving them both a run!

Pairing: I’ve been all over Sixpoint’s brews as of late. The marketing, packaging, social media attention, and the fact that they are finally available here in El Paso forced me to finally try out a few of their brews and I am so glad I did. This brew in particular, the Righteous Ale is very interesting. First of all, it’s brewed in New York, which is the same location in which the Cremo brand was developed. It’s called a “Rye Beer”. Basically it’s brewed with Rye grain, a grain that can survive the most acidic soils and harshest winters. What the Rye grain does is add this very unique, sweet, zesty, character to the malty, caramel goodness. This is seriously an amazing beer. The best part about it is I could see myself drinking this any time of the year. The darkness and malty character make it perfect for the winter while keeping light-weight and refreshing to satisfy those summer thirsts. That being said, how do you turn it into the perfect winter brew? Add chocolate. And that’s exactly what I did by pairing it with the Cremo Classic Maduro. I knew this pairing would be love at first taste and it was. Not to mention, the band matches the can pretty neatly.

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The Good Stuff: I will jump right into the press release, it pretty much sums up Cremo’s history:

The Original Cremo Cigar, an icon of early America and the most successful cigar brand of the early 20th century, made a commitment to providing their customers with value. The company which rose out of beautiful Manhattan, New York City attained the largest sales of any cigar in its class. The brand was also famously linked to musician Bing Crosby in the early days of Broadcasting Radio.

With a shift in the way cigars were made, factories moved south and all was lost… Now in the 21st century a new dawn awaits. After new buildings were built, and old ones were torn down, a piece of history remained. Now, that piece has been found. Walter Santiago, better known as “Lilo”, a native New Yorker, decided that this amazing company, a staple in the Cigar World, should rise from its ashes.

With the revival of Crémo, the tradition continues with taste and quality as well as class. This was found in El Titan de Bronze (ETB) cigar factory, makers of the “Redemption”, which has scored 88 in Cigar Aficionado and 90 in Cigar Snob. Lilo, along with ETB owner Sandy Cobas and Master Blender Willy Herrera (now with Drew Estate), created an ultra-boutique cigar of masterful construction and excellent flavor.

The factory located in Miami’s famed Calle Ocho, known best for its old school Cuban entubado techniques, is a family owned and operated “fabriquita” which employs level 9 rollers from Cuba, who have worked for Cohiba, Romeo y Julieta, Corona and Partagas. These torcedores (cigar rollers), like a painter to a canvas, handcraft each cigar with meticulous detail.

There you have it. One thing to note is the Cremo doesn’t describe the smoke. Cremo is actually the first personal translation of “Cremar” or “To Smoke”. Thanks Cigar Inspector for pointing that out. Anyways, the blend is composed of a Habano wrapper (not sure if its Dominican or Nicaraguan), a Nicaraguan Binder, and mixed Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The cigar is available in three different sizes: The Excelsior (5 x 50), the Magnum Opus (5.75 x 46), and the Intrepidus (6 x 52) and run between $8 – $9 a stick.

Size: 5×50  –  Wrapper: Habano  –  Binder: Nicaraguan  –  Filler: Dominican/Nicaraguan

Prelight: The Cremo Classic is a fantastically constructed cigar. The wrapper starts with this almost perfectly smooth, consistent milk chocolate brown. It almost looks like a Connecticut shade wrap, and I thought it was for a while.  There is only one smaller vein running the length of the body of the cigar which leads up to the round, triple wrapped cap. The band is a simple, elegant manila and silver color with the words “Cremo” and “ Handcrafted in little Havana” in dark brown. The cigar is firm to the touch and the only soft spot I was able to find was right at the foot.

The wrapper gives off a very sweet, cedar aroma while the foot of the cigar carries a really nice mixture of spice and nuts with some interesting floral notes. The cap clipped off extremely easy using my handy dandy “V” cutter. The cold draw produces this just awesome profile full of sweet cedar, cinnamon, and even some nutmeg. It tastes much like a Christmas treat!

First Smoke: I was shocked to be greeting with a bunch of upfront pepper from my initial draws on this Cremo cigar. It’s not overpowering, I just didn’t except it to be there. Under the pepper lies a bunch of nutty, cinnamon and cedar flavors. I was expecting a much smoother, milder start but this Cremo Classic actually packs some flavor!  Even the aftertaste is great leaving behind a ton of cedar and tobacco. The draw is wide open and kicks out lots of thick smoke without being too loose. The Cremo Classic gives off just a bit of stationary smoke, but it smells really neat, kind of like roasted nuts. The burnline is pretty wavy, but not too concerning as I think it will correct itself as I continue on with this cigar.  The ash is a bit flaky, medium and dark grey. The ash held on for about in inch before falling into my ashtray. Again, ashtray, not my lap. Success!

Halfway There: The pepper has started to fade into the second third of this Cremo Classic. Once the pepper faded the cigar really smoothed and balanced out. The main flavor is now this soft cedar, sweet nutmeg, and cashew.  The retrohale on this cigar is badass. It coats my nasal passage with a really smooth cedar with just a touch of spice. The burnline has since completely corrected itself as I assumed it would and I am feeling almost no nicotine kick at this point.

Finish: The body ramped up into the final third of this Cremo Classic. I started to feel only a slight nicotine kick while the cigar remained smooth and creamy down to the nub. The main flavors were still that cedar, nut, and sweet tobacco but a lot of the spices that I picked up in the first third made a brief comeback. All in all it took a little over and hour to take this cigar down to the nub. It needed absolutely no touch-ups or relights.

Overview: The Cremo Classic surprised me with it’s bold flavors and it’s overall smooth profile. I was expecting something super mild and it wasn’t anything like that. Great flavors, amazing construction, and an overall good cigar at a great price. This is a great cigar for the seasoned cigar smoker and a perfect cigar for the novice looking for a good cigar that won’t break the bank.

Pairing: I paired this cigar was a very easy to find, affordable, and wonderful winter seasonal. Yes, I stepped out of my Belgian kick for this one, pairing the Cremo Classic with some Samuel Adams Winter Lager. Sam Adams winter lager is brewed at the infamous Boston Brewing Company and clocks in at 5.5% ABV.  Sam Adams winter lager bears the same characteristics as most winter brews, smooth, fruity, caramel, deep amber beer only with a few extra hops which really helps to bring out the flavor without being too overpowering. This beer pairs wonderful with any smooth cigar such as the Cremo. This cigar would also go perfect with your favorite coffee or tea.

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