D’Crossier Golden Blend Reserva Magnum

From 2009 to 2016, D’Crossier Cigars made a name for itself by producing upscale premium cigars out of Costa Rica. This concluded with the Pennsylvania Avenue and Flor de D’Crossier Cabinet Selection cigars in 2016. From here, the brand ventured to the Dominican Republic in 2017, partnering with the ABAM Cigars S.R.L. factory to produce their popular Flor de D’Crossier Selection No. 512 line. In 2019, parent company, Pure Aroma Cigars, added Nicaragua to the growing list of manufacturing regions, releasing the Lords of England duo out of the Tabacalera Perdomo factory.

In 2020, D’Crossier returned to their roots, reviving their original flagship brand—Golden Blend—and returning to Costa Rica for production. Former iterations of this line have included the original Golden Blend and the followup Golden Blend Aged 10 Years cigar. The latest addition to the collection is the D’Crossier Golden Blend Reserva, made in commemoration of Isaias Santana Crossier, father of company owner, Isaias Santana Diaz.

“I have dedicated this new D’Crossier Series of premium cigars to my beloved father, Isaias Santana Crossier (1945–2020), who brought the D’Crossier tradition for creating the world’s finest cigars to new heights. He was my friend and mentor, as well as my inspiration for continuing on this journey to uphold our family’s values and tradition of excellence. For this I will be eternally grateful to him.”

D’Crossier Golden Blend Reserva Magnum Breakdown

While former Costa Rican-made D’Crossier cigars were rolled at the Pure Aroma Cigars S.A. and Inversiones González Martínez S.A. factories, the Golden Blend Reserva transitions to the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory (of Bombay Tobak and Atabey fame). The blend begins with an Ecuadorian Habano claro wrapper, which is triple fermented during a 10-month period and finalized with an additional year aging in Spanish cedar boxes. This leaf encloses an undisclosed binder and fillers of Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, which have been aged for seven years.

Three sizes debuted at the tail end of Dec. 2020: Cañonazo, Taino, and Magnum. Packaged in boxes of 25, the first allotment was limited to 2,000 boxes, though production is ongoing moving forward.

Appearance

Differing from 2019’s Lords of England cigars—which offered among the most simplified packaging displays from Pure Aroma to date—the Golden Blend Reserva returns to the company’s regal tendencies. There are multiple layers of packaging to dig through before uncovering the cigars buried at the center. This begins with a structured cardboard box (which is numbered, if you have one of the original-release boxes). Inside lies a hefty wooden box that is wrapped in a vibrant red layer of felt fabric. This box is lightly stained and coated in a thick layer of lacquer—being accompanied by the high-quality hinges and clasps seen on former D’Crossier displays.

At 6½” x 56, the Magnum has a commanding look to it. The cigars incorporate entubado bunching and are finished with a triple cap, giving an incredibly solid feel on inspection. The wrapper has a bronze-like hue to it, hovering around the classic Colorado in shade. This leaf has plenty of small veins and nicely-placed seams from head to toe. From the foot, there are no signs of ligero in the bunch.

The wrapper’s aroma consists primarily of barnyard musk, with a touch of caramel underneath. On the foot, there are more diverse notes of cocoa, sweet florals, and cedar—a delicate aroma, compared to the wrapper. The pre-light draw has a near-perfect resistance, showing flavors of sage, clean florals, and a tingling spice on the throat.

Smoking Experience

The Golden Blend Reserva Magnum lights up relatively quickly, giving off a voluminous smoke output straight away. The profile feels noticeably clean, taking no time to develop long-lasting flavors of sugar and espresso, similar to a frothy cappuccino. The body is nearly mild, prompting full exhales through the retrohale. This helps to bring out a touch of white pepper, adding an edge to the otherwise smooth and subtle profile of oily butter and cream. The cigar is slow-burning, with a mild strength and mild-plus body taking a backstage to the nuanced flavor profile, which is medium-light in intensity.

The Golden Blend Reserva burns slow and steady, showing a slightly wavy burn line and seeming to self correct when at risk of canoeing. This continues until the ash is roughly two inches, falling from the cigar with a light tap. The profile maintains its focus on smooth cream, enough so that I find myself digging deeper into this flavor region in order to uncover derivative notes, such as almond butter or crème fraîche. Likely due to the cigar’s size, the smoking temperature is quite cool, giving a refreshing sensation on the palate and helping to detect such subtle characteristics. With added progression, there are understated additions of saltiness and sourness, helping to add complexity to the experience. The saltiness seems to attach to the oily butter flavor, while the sourness helps to provide the crème fraîche note (as opposed to a more generic table cream).

The smoke hits the palate on the front sides of the tongue (saltiness), followed by the front (sweetness), back sides (acidic), and center (bitterness), giving an overall mouthwatering texture. It is balanced and maintains its clean character, with an enjoyable sensation of oily butter that sinks into the palate through the finish. In this portion of the experience, a dialed-back Cuban pastry-like sweetness can be found from time to time as well. Nearing the halfway point, spice is felt for the first time since the cigar’s beginnings. This comes across in the realm of nutmeg or ginger—an appreciated addition to what can sometimes feel like a monotonous creaminess. In terms of intensity, the cigar is medium-light in strength and medium in body and flavor.

The smoke can be felt more so on the center of the tongue when approaching the band, increasing in bitterness. The largely clean flavor profile begins to darken for the first time, adding flavors of dark toasted nutmeg and chestnut. This portion pulls back on the cigar’s mouthwatering texture, showing dryer, bread crust-like components. This bitterness is not overly done or off-putting, being a somewhat refreshing change of pace from the largely homogenous profile seen throughout the majority of the experience. This brings an increase in strength through the finale, hitting medium-full in its last moments.

Would I Smoke This Cigar Again?

I have and I will. D’Crossier’s long-awaited return to both the Golden Blend and Costa Rica is here at last, picking up where they left off and reinforcing the quality that led them to become one of the best kept secrets in premium cigars a decade prior.

• Company owner, Isaias Santana Diaz, has long been a proponent of long-term aging, being hesitant to package his cigars in cellophane. He compromised with the Flor de D’Crossier Selection No. 512 line of 2015, taking the unique approach of punching holes in the cello for added breathability. This has carried through ever since, with a new hole pattern arranged on the Golden Blend Reserva (seen in a photo above).
• This is a top-five D’Crossier cigar, in my opinion, battling somewhere within the realm of the original Flor de D’Crossier Selection No. 512, the D’Crossier Lancero Selection 512, the original Golden Blend, and a certain unreleased blend (which happens to be a personal all-time favorite smoking experience).

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