Casa Magna XV Anniversary

In 2008, Quesada released Casa Magna, a release most notable for being a Nicaraguan puro that was made by the Plasencia family. While that fact was perhaps the most noteworthy part for a time, the Casa Magna story changed dramatically when Cigar Aficionado named it the magazine’s top cigar for 2008, beating out the Padrón Serie 1926 80th Anniversary Perfecto and sparking a large debate about how much the massive difference in price played a role.

In the 15 years that have followed, there have been a number of different variations. For the last three years, Quesada has added a new Casa Magna blend, all of which have been made at the company’s Tabacos de Exportación factory in the Dominican Republic.

Last year marked the 15th anniversary of Casa Magna, and Quesada did what so many cigar companies do: a limited edition anniversary cigar. The Casa Magna XV anniversary is a 6 x 54 toro extra that uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers.

The MSRP is set at $15 per cigar and the Casa Magna XV Anniversary is packaged in boxes of 15. Production numbers don’t entirely keep with the “15” theme, although 3,500—the number of boxes produced—is divisible by 15.

“Raquel and I started working on this project with the factory team last summer,” said Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr. in a press release when the cigar was announced in May. “We knew since day one what we wanted but took us a while to figure it out. Sometimes a project comes to life as fast as the first blend thought in mind, and this was not the case.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Casa Magna XV Anniversary
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacos de Exportación
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $15 (Box of 15, $225)
• Release Date: Sept. 29, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 3,500 Boxes of 15 Cigars (52,500 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Casa Magna XV Anniversary has a pretty uniform, slightly red wrapper—certainly worth of the Colorado description on the band—with some very prominent veins. The wrapper has a full smell with lots of earthiness and some smells that remind me of a bucket of rainwater. Underneath, there’s some pita bread and acidity. The foot is medium-full with lots of leather over earthiness, a touch of underlying sweetness—sometimes like cocoa—and, on one cigar, pita bread. Cold draws are much more interesting than the relatively pedestrian aromas. Two cigars have cocoa—one cigar more of a salted chocolate flavor—with floral and oatmeal flavors as notable secondary flavors. Peanut butter, buttered toast, orange and leather are also present as minor flavors. The other cigar doesn’t have chocolate, with the oatmeal flavor leading walnuts and a familiar mixture of oranges, floral flavors and some peanuts. All three cigars are around medium-full in intensity.

Savory flavors—woodiness, pretzels, nuttiness—lead leather, saltiness, soft bread, acorns and some sweetness during the first puff of the Casa Magna XV Anniversary. Each cigar is a bit different, though only one cigar has much in the way of pepper—a tiny amount of white pepper—while only one cigar has a real noticeable amount of sweetness, with another cigar delivering a bit of a Dr. Pepper sweetness. Pretty early on in the first cigar, it’s clear that it’s going to be a special one. Unfortunately, it’s also apparent during the first inches of the other two cigars that they aren’t on that level. That first cigar has lots of creamy peanut butter over meatiness, some floral flavors, vibrant earthiness and some generic creaminess to tie everything together. The other two cigars have earthiness and nuttiness battling for the top spot over orange peel, dry hay, creaminess, rocky mineral flavors and white pepper. All three cigars make it difficult to pick up all of the flavors as the intensities of individual flavors are oftentimes pretty similar. A sweet creaminess—maybe not vanilla frosting, but certainly frosting-like—serves as a prelude to a strong mineral flavor that shows up during the finish. There’s a lot of earthiness along with varying amounts of white and black pepper. While I’ve never smoked a menthol cigarette, there’s a mild mint-like cooling sensation that I find in cigars every once in a while. It has a completely different dynamic compared to most flavors, bringing both flavor and a sensation at the same time. Retrohales during the first cigar taste like a Cuban cigar with peanut butter, some Cuban twang, cedar, white pepper and creaminess. While the other two cigars are good, they are not on that level with peanut butter, earthiness and leather leading black pepper and mineral flavors. The retrohale’s finish doesn’t change things all that much, but I do find some added green pepper. Flavor is medium-full or full, body is medium to medium-full and strength is mild-medium to medium. The final cigar needs a touch-up to help with an uneven burn, though the other two cigars burn fine.

I find the second third of the Casa Magna XV Anniversary to be fairly similar to the first third, which is a good thing. The profile continues to lean towards more savory and, to a lesser extent, sweet than spicy, salty or sour. In addition, the individual flavors continue to oftentimes be at very similar intensities, making for a very balanced profile. As with the first third, the first cigar I smoke continues to be noticeably better than the other two cigars. The flavors seem more alive, there’s a sweet creaminess that isn’t as noticeable on the other two and the overall profile seems much more mature. For example, I find the nuttiness on the other two cigars to be getting slightly harsh. That not only detracts from the harshness but also brings out more of the leather and barnyard flavors. For the most part, I’m good with the latter change, though I could deal without the harshness. They also have a different retrial experience where peanuts and hay sit atop unsweet creaminess and leather. It produces an interesting finish that has some unripe fruit flavors with straw, minerals and toastiness. Flavor is close to full, body is medium-plus and strength remains medium or just below medium. All three cigars have excellent construction during the final third, nothing to knock there.

There’s a lot more toastiness in the final third. It seems to be both an added toasty flavor as well as certain flavors—earthiness and minerals—adding toasty elements. It’s also not as sweet as before. Leather and earthiness are battling the nuttiness for the top spot in the flavor profile, sitting atop white pepper, straw, kettle chips and creaminess. One cigar has this rich caramel flavor that catches my attention for the two seconds it’s present. It was an incredibly vibrant taste, even if it only lasted for a split second. The finish tends to be sharper with minerals, toastiness, barnyard and leather combining for this core flavor that takes the top spot. Secondary notes include straw, a funky creaminess and some generic harshness. Retrohales serve as a flashback to the first third, with nuttiness and floral flavors emerging seemingly out of nowhere. Not only do they serve as an extreme contrast to the flavors in the mouth, but they also have richness like those flavors did in the early parts. They finish with creaminess, nuttiness, pretzel, green licorice and some milk coffee. Flavor is close to full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. Two cigars need touch-ups, including one that needs multiple touch-ups, though one cigar makes it start to finish without any construction issues.

Final Notes

• There were actually two new Casa Magnas for 2023. In November, the company shipped a 7 x 40 Casa Magna Colorado Lancero in limited quantities. “New” is in italics because there have been previous Casa Magna Lanceros before, though this appears to be the first time for this specific size.
• I appreciate the somewhat understated nature of the band. There are some companies that would have added two more bands to make it clear that this is an anniversary release; this particular band is close enough to the regular Casa Magna Colorado band that you’d be forgiven for not immediately picking up on the difference.
• While the first cigar—the one that had the best flavor profile—and the third cigar needed touch-ups at various points of the cigar, the second Casa Magna XV Anniversary I smoked had no issues whatsoever.
• This is one of the times that our process of smoking three cigars for review hurt the cigar being reviewed. If I was tasked with reviewing only the first cigar I smoked, it would have been a much more glowing review. The other two cigars were fine and good, but the first cigar was excellent in a way few cigars are.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was a relatively quick one hour and 40 minutes.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Corona Cigar Co. carry the Casa Magna XV Anniversary.