Maria Lucia

Sometimes a cigar company will release a new cigar just because. You’ll see Spanish words like Classica, Especial, Reserva, etc—and you are unlikely to get much in the way of a backstory. Then there’s the Maria Lucia from Luciano Cigars.

Maria Lucia Meirelles is the late mother of Luciano Meirelles, co-founder and co-owner of Luciano Cigars, formerly known as ACE Prime. Maria Lucia Meirelles passed away when Luciano was just 12-years-old. Some time after her passing, Luciano Meirelles’ daughter, Deborah, had a dream about a woman that she did not know. Upon waking, the younger Meirelles sketched out an image of the woman she saw in her dream.

“When I saw the drawing next to old photographs of my mother, I saw the similarity immediately,” said Luciano Meirelles, who added that none of his children had ever met their grandmother or even seen a photograph of her. “It was almost supernatural the way things happened. It’s hard to believe it was only a coincidence…and now years later, when I decided to finally create this cigar, naturally, in a full-circle kind of way, we thought there would be no better idea than to use my daughter’s drawing for the box.”

That sketch is now being used for a new cigar line from Luciano Cigars called Maria Lucia. It is debuting in a single 5 1/4 x 54 box-pressed size that uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, a double binder of Ecuadorian Sumatra and Ecuadorian habano 92 tobaccos, and a filler that contains tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Peru.

While this size is limited to just 4,000 boxes of 12 cigars, Luciano Cigars has already said that there will be additional sizes added in the first quarter of next year.

• Cigar Reviewed: Maria Lucia
• Country of Origin: NIcaragua
• Factory: Luciano Cigar Factory
• Wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Binder: Ecuador (Habano 92 & Sumatra)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua & Peru
• Length: 5 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Robusto Extra
• MSRP: $12.80 (Box of 12, $153.60)
• Release Date: August 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 4,000 Boxes of 12 Cigars (48,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

My first impression of the first cigar is that it appears a bit thicker than a 54 ring gauge. Admittedly, I am a bit more sensitive to the size of the cigars. While photographing the box we purchased, Brooks noted the cigars appeared to be different shapes due to the box pressing. While the shapes might not all be the same, the cigars’ color are similar: very dark—though not into the black territory—with some slight discoloration between the top and bottom of each cigar. The texture of the wrapper is rather unique, as the oils—which aren’t that visible—combine with the flat plane of the cigar to make it very smooth, almost to the point of being somewhat slippery. Each cigar has a defined triple cap, though one of the cigars’ caps is already dislodged before I remove it from cellophane. The aroma from the wrapper is medium-full with scents of barnyard, raisin, fall leaves and dry pasta. I find the foot’s aroma to be stronger with dark chocolate, some raspberry flavors, fall leaves, acidity and small amounts of barnyard. Cold draws are medium-full to full and initially taste of milk and dark chocolate, leather and some mild sweetness. The more cold draws I take, the more I begin to taste a weird flavor that at first reminds me of brown mustard, then manifests itself more like a Windex-type cleaner. Eventually I realize that it’s more of a paint-like chemical smell, more on that below.

The first puff of the Maria Lucia begins with a dark woody flavor followed by chocolate then lots of toastiness, and moderate amounts of leather and dry bread. There was a period of time when I was concerned that the toastiness might become too strong, but it never reached that level. That said, it combines with a hard pretzel-like flavor to edge out the other flavors that include leather, earthiness, creaminess and bread. I can’t tell how much of this is a placebo effect—though I think at this point I’m pretty good at avoiding it while reviewing cigars—but I do taste some hints of a chemical flavor during the finish of some puffs. Fortunately, the toastiness is much stronger, as is leather and some creaminess. Retrohales produce some tingling thanks to harshness, but I still can’t find any real pepper. Leather and dry fall leaves are the two flavors that stand out during each retrohale, though the tingling is the most obvious difference between keeping the smoke in my mouth versus sending it through my nose. White pepper emerges on the finish of the retrohale though it’s a secondary flavor compared to earthiness and toastiness. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-full. While there’s plenty of smoke coming off the foot of the cigar, the smoke production in the mouth is slightly below average, though still enough for me. I do notice each cigar waning in smoke production at times and most of the time a faster puff rate fixes this, but each cigar needs a touch-up at some point during the first third.

Earthiness builds to take over as the dominant flavor of the second third of the cigar, a very different ordering of flavors compared to the first third where the flavors’ intensities were much closer to one another. While the secondary flavors are not as strong, they are quite interesting: vanilla, cedar and lime. Black pepper emerges shortly before the halfway mark, a secondary flavor but it stands out because of the contrast. The finish doesn’t have as much pepper and is led by dry bread and earthiness over leather, creaminess and a generic grain flavor. Retrohales have leather, saltiness, earthiness, peanuts, grassiness and some inconsistent tartness. The finish once again has bread, now joined by a mineral-rich earthiness, leather, white pepper and some burnt meatiness that seems more poultry-like than anything else. Flavor, body and strength remain medium-full. While relatively minor, my issues with smoke production and burn continue in the second third and another touch-up is required for each cigar.

While the earthiness is still strong, cedar really picks up in intensity during the final third of the Maria Lucia, nearly matching the earthiness for the top spot. Beyond that there’s white pepper, leather and a more generic meatiness. The finish is very woody thanks to both sawdust and cedar-like sensations, though the earthiness can still be found. On one hand, I think the retrohales could be accurately described as “very earthy,” but it’s a much more multi-dimensional earthiness than before. It’s got some mineral characteristics, something that reminds me of brown butter and even some funk, though not full-on barnyard. I also pick up a more generic woody flavor, generic bread and touches of a floral sensation. While there’s no pepper when the smoke is hitting my nostrils, as I get closer to the end of the cigar, there’s a building of red pepper, which helps to break through from what otherwise is a quite earthy profile. There’s also some mild creaminess and leather that emerge, but it’s mainly a mixture of red pepper and earthiness. Flavor, body and strength remain headset at medium-full. Also in keeping with consistency, another touch-up is needed on each cigar.

Final Notes

• I try to avoid reading anything about a cigar I’m reviewing until the point that I’m done smoking the cigars and writing the tasting note descriptions. However, as I was trying to figure out the chemical taste in the cold draw I was reminded that Brooks had noted some issues with paint smells when he photographed the cigars more than a month ago. “The box and interior smells faintly of paint. Cigars seem fine,” is how Brooks described it.
• For what it’s worth, I didn’t smell any paint or chemical smells from the box when I began smoking the cigars for review about a week ago. Furthermore, the cigars I smoked were from the bottom of the box and still packed in cellophane.
• The boxes for this cigar say “since 1957” which is a reference to when Maria Lucia Meirelles was born and not a reference to how old Luciano Cigars is.
• The boxes also say Tabaclera Pichardo, a factory Meirelles said he has renamed to “Luciano Cigar Factory.”
• While I’m not sure this will make halfwheel’s Packaging Awards list, I do really like the packaging. Obviously the sketches are the star(s) of the show, but one thing that stands out to me is how the artwork is spatially used in a manner that is pretty unique for cigar packaging.
• I really like the way the tobacco leaves that also serve as the woman’s hair look when the cigar is turned 90 degrees. It’s a sort of visual bliss for me.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was one hour and 45 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Cigar Hustler both carry the Maria Lucia.