Maestranza Ciutadella Catalonia

RoMa Craft Tobac

• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Nica Sueño S.A.
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Brazil
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras & Nicaragua
• Length: 4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $9 (Box of 40, $360)
• Release Date: Oct. 7, 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Original Score: 91

RoMa Craft Tobac’s Skip Martin explained that the idea for the Maestranza line came from an early episode of the Netflix series “Chef’s Table” that profiled Francis Mallmann, the Argentinian chef known for cooking via open fire. In that episode, Mallmann used the word ‘maestranza,’ defining it as “the people who are around you helping.”

The episode came out in 2015, which just happened to be not long after RoMa Craft Tobac finished building its new factory, and Martin considered creating a cigar in 2015 called La Maestranza de Barrio Oscar Benevides for CRAFT 2015. He wanted to use the cigar as a way of marking the milestone of all the work it took to get to that point.

That didn’t happen, but the idea stuck with Martin, and in 2024, the Maestranza line debuted, first, in July, by way of a CRAFT release called Maquette La Maestranza, a 4 1/4 x 56 vitola. Then in October, the three regular production sizes were released, with the names and boxes having ties to the Maestranza de caballería, Spanish noble militias, oftentimes cavalries.

This is another cigar that comes out of the gate very well, as I found it to be like discovering a new favorite dish at a restaurant or a new favorite cocktail at a bar; something familiar enough to immediately latch onto but also distinct enough to stand out from similar offerings elsewhere. A lot of the panel found early notes that mixed sweetness with various types of bread or pastries, which set the stage for a journey to bolder, heartier notes in the subsequent thirds, showing that a fairly short cigar can offer distinctive transitions and take one’s taste buds on an impressive journey. — Patrick Lagreid.