Casa Fernández Aganorsa Leaf Maduro Délire (Prerelease)

Earlier this month, Casa Fernández announced it would be making a few changes to its Aganorsa Leaf Maduro line. First, the company lowered the price of the Illustre (5 x 48) vitola from $8.90 to $8, while it also announced that it would be adding a 6 1/2 x 50 size known as the Délire, which is the French word for delirium or wild idea.

Deliré is priced at $8.90 per cigar and offered in boxes of 15. It becomes the fourth size for the line which uses as Mexican San Andrés maduro cover leaf over Nicaraguan fillers from the AGANORSA farms.

• Casa Fernandez Aganorsa Leaf Ilustre 48 (5 x 48) — $8 (Boxes of 15, $120)
• Casa Fernández Aganorsa Leaf Maduro Robusto Extra (5 x 54) — $8.60 (Boxes of 15, $129)
• Casa Fernandez Aganorsa Leaf Maduro Délire (6 1/2 x 50) — $8.90 (Boxes of 15, $133.50)
• Casa Fernández Aganorsa Leaf Maduro El Supremo (6 x 58) — $9 (Boxes of 15, $135)

Like the rest of the Casa Fernández line, the cigar is made at the Casa Fernández Miami factory.

• Cigar Reviewed: Casa Fernández Aganorsa Leaf Maduro Délire
• Country of Origin: USA
• Factory: Casa Fernández Miami
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Maduro
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $8.90 (Boxes of 15, $133.50)
• Release Date: September 2014
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 2

It’s a somewhat dirty version of Mexican San Andrés wrapper with some abrasions, although it’s well-applied. Aroma out of the cellophane has some sweetness, although a bitter sweet earth is the dominant profile, while some notes from the AGANORSA tobacco bodega are emerging underneath. The foot of the Délire shows a hearty aged cedar, a sweet cocoa that reminds me of many AGANORSA-rich cigars before it along with vanilla bean, cinnamon and a fading pepper. The cold draw is medium with a sweet iced coffee and vanilla flavor surrounded by some meatiness and a fair bit of pepper on the back of the throat and around the lips. 

Things start very sweet with roasted apples, meatiness, sweet cocoa, leather and green pepper. Surprisingly, the flavor is actually medium, although the strength is slightly more intense and the body is pretty close to full. The Casa Fernández is quite layered with the Délire featuring a hearty burning cedar on top and a sweeter cocoa, creaminess and vanilla mixture below. An occasional pepper hits the lips, but it never really makes it into the profile of the cigar itself. I do pick up some lavender at one point in the finish. Little has changed regarding the mixture of strength and flavor, although the body seems fairly reduced, around medium. A touch-up is needed after the burn gets pretty uneven, but I enjoy a comfortable amount of smoke and an average draw.

The uneven burn continues in the second third of both cigars. It’s nothing a lighter can’t fix, but it’s also something that’s a bit annoying. Flavor-wise, the Agranorsa Leaf Maduro turns creamier, with some burnt coffee and touches of chocolates. It’s somewhat reduced from the first third and is also being overshadowed by the earthiness, which really shines through the nose and continues the trend of two distinct layers. At around the mid-point, the burn rate of the Délire slows, although the smoke production can still be towering. Strength is still medium. 

A damp earth joins the more narrow earth flavor in the nose, it’s not my favorite flavor, although the change is helpful. Elsewhere, the Casa Fernández has a familiar creaminess and coffee with breading adding itself into the mixture. There are touches of leather, which bring a decent bit of saltiness, but there still is almost no pepper—something that could probably help things. The lighter gets one more use before the end of each cigar, once again to correct an uneven burn.

Final Notes

• We were told the cigars were supposed to ship on Sept. 15, 2014, but a quick sampling of five retailers that carry Casa Fernández didn’t return any evidence of the cigar being in stores.
• It’s been a while since I’ve had a cigar, particularly not one with a smaller ring gauge, been this tight. It’s never problematic and the cigar keeps burning, but some might find this as a huge turn off. The smoke production occasionally becomes inconsistent, but, the cigar can take a beating puff rate-wise without any problems regarding flavor.
• Unfortunately, both samples failed to burn evenly for anything longer than inch.
• I’ve always considered Casa Fernández to be a ~$10 brand, so this price-point is super aggressive.
• For the most part, I’ve not been impressed with the cigars that have come from Casa Fernández Miami. While I have not had any catastrophic problems, they’ve not been up to par compared to what I’ve had from TABSA, the other factory associated with Casa Fernández.
• In case you were unaware, AGANORSA is the Nicaraguan growing operation headed by Eduardo Fernández, who also owns Casa Fernández and the aforementioned factories.
• Strength was medium.
• Final smoking time was one hour and 45 minutes.
• Cigars for this review were sent to halfwheel by Casa Fernández, who advertises on this site.

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