Aganorsa Leaf Arsenio - No. 4 Cigar of the Year 2024

Aganorsa Leaf celebrated the life and legacy of Arsenio Ramos in 2024 with the release of the Aganorsa Leaf Arsenio line. Passing away in 2018, Arsenio had spent the prior 18 years working with Aganorsa Leaf, often being credited as the driving force behind the company’s signature smoking style/profile. Prior to working with Aganorsa, he’d spent half a century with Cubatabaco in the famed Pinar del Río region of Cuba. However, his faith in God made him both unwilling and ineligible to join the country’s Communist Party, eventually leading to his emigration to Nicaragua, where his efforts in agronomy, tobacco processing, and blending helped to form the vertically integrated operation employed by Aganorsa Leaf to this day. In his memory, Aganorsa sought to recreate Ramos’ personal favorite blend, debuting the Aganorsa Leaf Arsenio line in the summer of 2024. Rolled in three sizes, the cigars make use of a Nicaraguan puro recipe that includes a Corojo ’99 wrapper from the Jalapa growing region, dual Criollo ’98 binders from Estelí, and unspecified varietals from Jalapa and Condega within the filler. Of the three, we found ourselves gravitating to the 6″ x 44 format, which allows for a more concentrated smoke and a bit more spice through the retrohale. The blend is surprisingly mellow for Aganorsa, leaning heavily on nuance over intensity. The cigar is sweet on the palate and lightly zesty through the nostrils, hitting standout complexities of sage and clean cedar upfront, eventually leading to notes of creamy caramel, cappuccino, buttered nuts, and sugar cookie.