JFR Lunatic Maduro La Loma

When I think of the brands that are most responsible for the proliferation of larger ring gauge cigars, I must start with Asylum. But, I understand that Gran Habano, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr.’s work at La Gloria Cubana, and AGANORSA’s JFR brand were making thick cigars before Asylum really brought them to the forefront.

That’s why it’s somewhat surprising to me that the JFR Lunatic Maduro brand didn’t have a 7 x 70 size until earlier this year. It was not because of a lack of larger offerings—there are two 80-ring gauge vitolas—or because the blend is only offered in a couple of sizes—there are more than a half dozen different vitolas—but the most popular big ring gauge sizes—6 x 60 and 7 x 70—weren’t offered.

While there’s still no 6 x 60, earlier this year, AGANORSA Leaf added a 7 x 70 and a 6 1/2 x 60 size, the latter known as the La Loma. Like the existing sizes, it uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers.

“These new releases are based on retailer and consumer demand,” said Terence Reilly, vp of sales and marketing for AGANORSA Leaf, in a press release when the cigars were announced. “The consumer thirst for big, flavorful maduro cigars seems unquenchable and our retailer partners have been consistent in their desire for an affordable fresh pack. We listened and have now produced these great additions to our portfolio to address the needs of the market.”

• Cigar Reviewed: JFR Lunatic Maduro La Loma
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Agricola Ganadera Norteña S.A.
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 60
• Vitola: Gordo Extra
• MSRP: $9.99 (Box of 28, $279.72)
• Release Date: March 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Most of the JFR Lunatic Maduro La Loma’s dark wrapper is covered by foil, while some more of it gets obscured by the band. Once the foil is removed, it’s a pretty familiar sight: a dark brown oily wrapper with some minor amounts of reds, a below average amount of veins, tight seams and a decent amount of oils, though certainly not the oiliest wrapper I’ve seen. The other thing that is quickly apparent is that this is an abnormally heavy cigar, more on that in the Final Notes section. The aroma from the wrappers is defined by a smell that reminds me of fire-cured tobacco, though it lacks both the intensity and the specificity of that sensation. My notes for one cigar say it almost smells like it was stored next to a fire-cured cigar, something that didn’t happen in our humidors. While the fire-cured smell might define the aroma, it’s rarely the strongest smell as two cigars are led by something that smells like craft paper, which could be a residual effect of the foil covering. Despite the dark appearance and heft, the aroma from the wrapper is more like medium-plus. The foot is medium-full with sweet chocolate leading barnyard flavors—on one cigar that ordering is reversed—over secondary notes like hickory, ammonia and some generic irritation. Cold draws have a semi-sweet chocolate leading woody flavors; sometimes, it’s pretty generic, though one cigar reminds me of a brownie with freshly torn-off tree bark.

Each cigar begins very woody, though the secondary notes differ between the cigars. Those flavors include graham cracker sweetness, grain cereal, leather, creaminess, green pepper, charcoal barbecue, herbal flavors and sourness. Each cigar has a different list of secondary flavors, though due to how dominant the woodiness is, I think the starts are pretty similar. The JFR Lunatic Maduro La Loma continues to be led by woodiness—it varies between a hearty cedar-led blend to something more akin to dry sawdust—over mineral flavors, some beef jerky and a faint hit of pepper. Sometimes those mineral flavors become burnt, which dries out the profile. The finish tends to be smoother thanks to an uptick in creaminess and a dry mineral flavor, which combine to flatten out the profile. On one cigar, I find a beef jerky flavor, which turns more like teriyaki jerky during the finish. Retrohales see the woodiness present itself exclusively as cedar with secondary flavors including red berries, creaminess and something that reminds me of the smell of rubber. Flavor is medium-full or full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-full and building. The draw on each cigar is a touch too tight for my liking—which is normally to have cigars on the tighter side—meaning it’s a few ticks away from how I’d expect the draw to be on a cigar this thick. While I have my nitpicking, I avoid any touch-ups.

Up until the halfway point, there’s consistently an uptick in flavors I’d describe as “roasted,” a sweeter and less smokey version of the campfire flavors. At the halfway mark, starchy potato flavors begin to emerge and seem like they could challenge the roasted flavors, but they never get strong enough. They do act as a nice binding sensation, helping to smooth out the woody sensation and make the individual flavors more balanced. The finish is led by roasted flavors and woodiness over sunflower seeds, some starchy pasta flavors, crisp black pepper and some other umami sensations. Retrohales add some generic sweetness, though the larger change is that the woody flavors are edging out the roasted flavors. The black pepper gets stronger, and during one cigar, I’m reminded of some corn whiskey. The finish dries out a lot, creating an interesting contrast between the sweeter and more engaged flavors when the smoke is still tingling in my nose and then the dryness that occurs later. One cigar has a unique vegetal flavor that combines with everything else to remind me of some of the smells of a bowl of ramen. Flavor is medium-full, body is full and strength is medium, medium-plus or full. The draw of each cigar remains somewhat tight, two cigars need at least one touch-up each to help with smoke production.

By the time the final third rolls around, I can tell that my palate isn’t as fresh as it was before. After more than two hours of smoking, it’s to be expected. I find the profile to be more like the first third than the second third, though that’s acknowledging that the woody flavors aren’t dominant like they were in the first third. The woodiness is more generic, mixed with sawdust, earthiness, minerals and some nutty accents. Black pepper also seems to be a consistent part of the profile, though the cigar it’s never a big part of the cigar. The JFR Lunatic Maduro La Loma gets spicier in the finish, but that’s more of a cinnamon flavor. Leather adds itself to the mixture, which retains most of the aforementioned flavors I find when the smoke has just departed the mouth. Retroahles are quite different, with potato chips leading meatiness, leather, fruitiness and then woodiness. While it’s not the most complex part of the cigar—it’s probably more like the second most complex part—it’s the best. During the final third, the flavors present during the retrohale work better with one another than at any other point of the cigar. The finish is enjoyable as well. It’s a balanced mixture of earthiness, poultry-like meatiness, leather, acorns and some cinnamon. At times, it can get quite peppery—more white pepper than red—something that might be a result of me doing one too many consecutive retrohales. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is either medium-full or, in the case of one cigar, very full. The two cigars that needed touch-ups in the second third avoided any further issues in the final third, though the one cigar that avoided the lighter during the second third need a touch-up.

Final Notes

• The first cigar I smoked for this review was extremely strong. Not as strong as the Padrón Family Reserve No. 96 Natural, but still a cigar that was difficult to finish. While all three cigars started quite similarly, the other two cigars I smoked didn’t get much past medium-full. Yes, there were puffs where the nicotine ramped up to full, but that was a minority of the puffs I made.
• On a puff-by-puff basis, this is probably more like in the top 10 percent of strong cigars versus the top 5 percent. All of that is multiplied by the number of puffs that get taken, which given the size of this cigar, is a lot of puffs.

• To date, we have weighed 171 of the cigars used for reviews here at halfwheel in 2023. The JFR Lunatic Maduro La Loma is the heaviest cigar amongst the bunch by average weight. In addition, the three individual cigars ranked as the second, fourth and fifth heaviest cigars we’ve weighed to date. The La Flor Dominicana TAA The Golden Salomon Maduro is the other candidate for this title.
• It’s pretty rare for a cigar to weigh less than 10 grams—just 10 cigars have done that—or more than 20 grams, though that’s happened 30 times. Looking at this data sorted for weight, it occurs to me that we are going to have to start reviewing some thicker cigars. There’s not a single cigar on this list that we’ve measured at 60 ring gauge.
• That last part is one of the reasons why I wanted to start weighing cigars, I wanted to know if a cigar like this—listed at 6 1/2 x 60—is actually 6 1/2 x 60. It’s a bit difficult to measure the length of this cigar with the pigtail, which companies typically do not include.
• While I didn’t have that many issues with the draw, I imagine that someone who regularly smokes 60-ring gauge cigars would. My understanding is that most of those smokers want a looser draw, which normally happens with larger ring gauge sizes. This would have been a bit tight even for a robusto.
• AGANORSA Leaf advertises at halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time varied between three hours and three and a half hours.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop carry the JFR Lunatic Maduro La Loma.