Matilde Renacer

Unfamiliar with the Matilde name? Well you’d better familiarize yourself with it, because you’re going to be buying a lot of these cigars from now on!

Allow me to be of some assistance. Matilde is a new brand/company/factory owned and operated by José Seijas – the man responsible for classics such as Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, and H. Upmann, among others. José has over 40 years of experience in the cigar industry, and served many of them as the vice president of Altadis USA’s factory in the Dominican Republic.

Now, Seijas has parted from Altadis, creating his own factory that has been dubbed Tabacalera la Matilde, also located in the Dominican Republic. With Matilde, Seijas has resurrected an old Dominican brand that dates back to the early 1900’s. Tabacalera la Matilde attests a superior product, making use of a small batch-style, boutique environment – with the master (Seijas) in full control.

Matilde Renacer Breakdown

Renacer is the first product released from La Matilde Cigar Co. For this blend, Seijasholds nothing back, offering a full flavored smoking experience with medium/full strength.

The appearance of Renacer is classic, the band sports the brand’s logo in gold foil, contrasting against a muted, brown, textured band (actually pretty similar to the Sarsaparilla). I chose to smoke the Corona vitola, a size that I think fits this cigar really well, giving a perfect draw and heavy influence of the Ecuadoran Habano wrapper. This cigar has some really nice pre-light aromas of maple syrup, brown sugar, and hickory – the foot verged more towards oak and citrus.

Lighting up, you’ll notice (again) a perfect draw resistance and a good amount of smoke. The first few puffs are bitter and sour, which was a little off-putting and surprising, but this quickly fades. Soon there is an absolute rush of flavor that seems to come out of nowhere! My first thought is saltwater taffy flavor – delicious. More puffs reveal cedar, aged tobacco, and a delicate chocolate in the background. There is a really lovely sweetness that comes and goes, it’s most evident if you let the cigar rest a good while between puffs.

Now, on to that retrohale! This is where you’ll find a contrast that makes this smoke very interesting – a curry powder spice that zings its way through the nostrils, leaving as quickly as it arrived. Switching between retrohaling the smoke and puffing through the mouth only, you’ll get those contrasting flavors between sweet/salty and zesty spice that keep the smoke very entertaining.

The Renacer is easily full flavored, I’d actually call it Full-flavored-plus! The body is medium/full and the strength goes from medium to full (or just below it, depending on your tolerance). The burn line is slightly wavy but remains pretty consistent throughout, other than a singular point where it required a pretty hefty touchup – probably due to the wind. Further developing flavors include a sweet, dark coffee, Graham cracker crust, campfire smokiness, and a sweet toffee. Eventually, the flavors are less discernible, as they all sort of meld together, becoming less enjoyable as the ember comes too close to the head.

Would I smoke this cigar again?

Ab-so-lutely! I’ve been plotting my plan of attack ever since smoking this beauty, will most definitely be buying a stockpile of these.

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