We featured a Macanudo cigar on the podcast way back in 2018, before the world came crashing down on our beautiful little party, on Episode 72. The TNCC crew reviewed the Inspirado Red and we all highly enjoyed its wasabi-like burn on the retrohale, its dominant strong leather note, and looking back at my notes we all remarked that it had a crazy awesome aroma. It’s funny, when I went back to scan over our thoughts on the Inspirado Red, I noticed this interesting tidbit from our expert observations: “Prior to lighting up the Inspirado Red, there’s an earthy aroma present when sniffing the foot. If you run your fingers up and down the cigar, the wrapper feels identical to a well-worn leather jacket. It’s like rubbing Indiana Jones back and forth in your hand.” We all thought that was a very odd thing for one of us to say to say…
I’ll bet no other cigar media has ever used that descriptive before!
Then the TNCC featured the Inspirado Green earlier this year on Episode 133 during our 6th Annual St. Patty’s Day Drinking and Drinking Some More Extravaganza Bonanza, or some shit like that, and the boys unanimously enjoyed that cigar even more! So needless to say, I was more than a little curious to see what type of smoking experience the Inspirado Brazilian Shade would deliver when it arrived on my doorstep courtesy of General Cigar Company…
THE CIGAR – INSPIRADO BRAZILIAN SHADE by MACANUDO
Size: 6 1/4 x 52 (toro)
Wrapper: Brazilian Connecticut Shade
Binder: Mexican San Andrés
Filler: Nicaraguan Jalapa, Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Republic Cubita & Piloto Cubano
Price: $10.49 (And please remember when purchasing some fine Macanudo cigars or other fine premium stogies from FamousSmokeShop.com to use your new favorite promo code TNCC20 at checkout where it will knock $20 off your purchase of $100 or more)
The Inspirado Brazilian Shade is very silky to the touch and appears to be rolled firmly with no soft spots evident. The extremely light brown Connecticut shade wrapper gives off a musty aroma upon first sniff, it’s like smelling the pages of an old library book that hasn’t been pulled from the shelf in ages (and that happens to be an aroma that I like very much). When smelling the foot of the cigar directly, there is a pleasant tea aroma mixed with just a slight floral element.
1/3
Strength: mild-medium
Body: medium
Once the cap is clipped, the cold draw is impressive featuring those tea and floral notes that were alluded to via the pre-light aroma and they’re accompanied by a distinct honey-like sweetness. Upon torching the foot of the Inspirado Brazilian Shade, there’s an immediate crisp white pepper that floods the nose and a combination of earthy mineral and cedar from the draw. The medium-strength pepper spice is far from overpowering and around the one inch mark it’s joined by a pencil shavings note that compliments it very well. Construction is great here in the early goings, with beautiful smoke production, sharp burn line, and it’s drawing like a dream.
2/3
Strength: medium
Body: medium
The flavor profile is fairly consistent here in the beginning of the second third. The retrohale still has a touch of the white pepper but the pencil shavings have overshadowed much of the spice at this point. The draw is still giving off plenty of the warm cedar that’s still saddled up with the mineral component. Construction remains solid all around, the ash is holding on like a drunk trapeze artist, and the way the light grey smoke travels seductively up the body of the cigar from the foot up to the cap… it’s just sexy as hell. Around the halfway mark, the overall strength climbs up a notch due to the sudden resurgence of the pepper through the nose, bringing it in to solid medium territory. Towards the end of the second third a very pronounced sweetness pops up via the draw, it’s unexpected but highly welcome and it gels well with the ever-present pepper and pencil shavings. And that ash is still hanging on like a champ!
3/3
Strength: medium
Body: medium
And the ash suddenly drops with a thud at the beginning of the Inspirado Brazian Shade’s final act, it was fun while lasted. The sweetness, sadly, did not last longer than just a few minutes before the draw resumed its core profile of cedar and mineral with just a brief appearance of the floral element hinted at in the cold draw which arose with less than an inch or so to burn until the finish line. Construction continues to impress all around until the very end.
THE NUB
TNCC FINAL GRADE = 88
The entire TNCC gave big thumbs up to the Macanudo Inspirado Green when we featured it on the podcast, our boy Tut actually went out and bought a handful right after that show was recorded he enjoyed them so much, and I think my crew would highly enjoy the Inspirado Brazilian Shade as well. This cigar features easily distinguishable, highly enjoyable flavors from start to finish with a few unexpected twists and turns sprinkled throughout. And when you factor in the overall outstanding construction and a very attractive price point, I have no hesitation in recommending this cigar to both veteran smokers and newbies as well. Seek it out!
