Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition

Even when reading his words, I can hear the humbleness in Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr.’s voice.

“I have been very fortunate, and blessed, to have worked in the tobacco world for 63 years and for 48 years in the cigar manufacturing side of the industry,” Quesada said in a press release when this cigar was announced. “Surprised as I was, I have celebrated my 75th birthday on April 10th and, as I did on my 70th birthday, I have blended a cigar to mark reaching this meaningful stage of my life.”

The cigar is the Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition, a 6 3/4 x 48 double corona with a blend that uses an Ecuadorian corojo wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The cigars were produced by Tabacos de Exportación, the factory owned by the Quesada family in Licey, Dominican Republic, with production limited to 1,200 numbered boxes of 10 cigars. They began shipping to retailers in the middle of August 2022, coming with an MSRP of $15 per cigar and $150 per box.

As Quesada said, he joined the family tobacco business, which dates back to the last 1800s, at a young age. Following the Cuban Revolution, the family left the country in 1960 when Manolo was just 13-years-old, relocating with his mother and siblings to Miami, while his father would eventually join them after establishing the company’s new business in the Dominican Republic.

When he was in college, Quesada was selected for the draft, and while not yet a U.S. citizen, he elected to serve in Vietnam, a decision that would earn him U.S. citizenship.

In 1974, the Quesada family set up the factory that most modern cigar smokers know them for, a facility called Manufactura de Tabacos S.A., or MATASA for short. Starting with just $100 and a chair, as the company tells it, the facility steadily grew and produced cigars for a number of clients, including Antillian Cigar Corp.’s Sosa brand, the Romeo y Julieta brand and Nat Sherman. It also produces its own cigars, including the Quesada, Casa Magna and, previously, Fonseca brands.

Here’s what I said about the Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition when I reviewed it in December 2022:

If you want to smoke a very good cigar with what seems to be some very good aging potential, the Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition is certainly worthy of a look. The flavors are solid at the moment, generally balanced and well-layered. Yet experiencing how they evolve suggests that there is a lot more to come from this cigar, a thought reinforced by the cigar having just enough points where the profile feels like it has a few wrinkles to iron out before reaching its full potential. Even without the fact that it celebrates a milestone birthday of one of the cigar industry’s most notable figures, it is worthy of checking out, but factor in that intangible and the seeming potential for what it could become, and this seems like a solid box purchase to put in the humidor and watch what happens to it with a bit of time.

• Cigar Reviewed: Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacos de Exportación
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Corojo)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 6 3/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Vitola: Double Corona
• MSRP: $15 (Box of 10, $150)
• Release Date: August 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (15,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

There is no cellophane covering this particular Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition, but there are still some traces of oiliness on the wrapper leaf. That leaf is darker than average, with some variation and mottling to be found, both more noticeable in the upper half of the cigar. Some veins create ridges on the cylinder, which looks well-rolled with a cleanly constructed head and a firm density. The foot has a fairly soft and mild aroma, reminding me of a chunky wool sweater or blanket at first sniff. There’s a little sweetness behind that, reminding me of the nose of an aged but lighter-bodied rum. The cold draw is smooth and easy, not loose but with no restrictions either. The flavor is quite mild and restrained, replicating a bit of that wool sweater sensation, with some bread behind that and some peppery tingle on my lips where they make contact with the cigar.

The first puffs of the Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition have a bit of oiliness and black pepper, an interesting and unique combination that has my palate and memory searching for a similar experience from memory and coming up empty at first pass. The oiliness makes me think about peanuts and the like, while the black pepper moves my attention towards a bit of earthiness in the profile. Retrohales, meanwhile, have a creamy profile that is thick and reminds me of custard at times, though the hearty black pepper quickly redirects that thought toward it. Just as the first third is coming to a close, the flavor quickly gets both dry and mouth-drying. It’s a short-lived change, but it does seem to pivot the profile into a new direction, one marked by lighter earth, some woodiness and a hearty black pepper that doesn’t quite command the profile but makes it impossible to overlook its contribution. The retrohales also change as that thick creaminess is now a memory, replaced by dusty earth and pepper. Flavor ranges from medium to medium-full, body is closer to medium plus in the first half, while strength is mild. Construction is very good with plenty of smoke, an even burn line, a smooth draw and only one combustion issue when I was interrupted by a delivery and had to leave the cigar unattended for a few moments.

The second half starts off right where the first half left off, though I can feel the dryness of the profile beginning to diminish as touches of creaminess return both on the palate and through the nostrils. Retrohales have a light touch of aromatic wood on the very finish, and I’m wondering if this will spur on yet another change, yet almost as soon as I can ponder that question, a vibrant black pepper takes it place. The flavor still has a profile I would call middle-of-the-road, with the dry, dusty earth hanging around, a decent hit of pepper on each puff, and something that I want to call creaminess but is too dry and powdery to fully merit that term. The final third starts by echoing many of the flavors offered thus far, just with a bit less intensity, at least until the very final inches when a bit of heat amplifies them back up, though it doesn’t bring back all of the richness from earlier. The flavor wraps up at medium-plus, body at medium, and strength at medium-minus. A couple of relights are needed to get through the second half, which extended the smoking time to about three hours and 30 minutes, but otherwise, the Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Limited Edition smokes very well and without issue.