For the longest time Mayorga has been recognized by serious cigar smokers as a good cigar at a great price.  No surprises, no marketing hype, just solid cigars.  When Mayorga announced their “Parejo Trios” in mid-2001, we thought “oh no, Mayorga has fallen into the marketing machine”.  Consider the triangular, compartmental box the cigars arrive in, along with the special red ribbon tied around each set of three cigars, and you can understand our thinking.

What happened was interesting.  You’re not talking about “humidor candy” with this Mayorga…at least not from the quotes of our reviewers.

“After the first look, it would have been easy for this cigar to wow me. My expectations were fairly low. I'm not saying it's ugly, but when I set them down in my humidor, a whole row of LGC Wavell maduros puckered up.”

“The wrappers had a greenish tint around the veins; a trait I have seen over and over again among Cuban cigars (particularly among the Hoyo De Monterrey Epicure series). There were also small stains and spots on the samples; flaws that any non-Cuban cigar maker would find unacceptable.”

So, we’re not talking about a beauty queen.  If this was American Idol, Simon would have crushed the hopes of the Mayorga Parejo Trios on looks alone.  Other reviewers had similar comments, not quite as direct and to the point, but not of a positive vein.

The highest quality grade we saw was a “C-“!  We’ve seen a lot of cigars come through here, but a “C-“ as the high?!?  These were not happy campers.

“There was an inconsistency between samples. The first one the wrapper completely unraveled, and I had to abandon it halfway through it, and the second sample held together nicely.”

“As well executed as it may have been, this veiny wrapping gave away the construction faults within. Sorta reminded me of when people with bad cellulite wear Spandex.”

“Worst of all, in one case, I had a hot spot flare up a good half-inch from the coal! Where the hell did that come from?”

We’re going to skip right over aroma traits and move directly on to taste.  This cigar is sinking faster than a UPN sitcom. 

Remarkably, we had a bit of a turnaround here, that is,  if you can call one reviewer actually having something positive to say a turnaround.  In the interest of not completely deflating this cigar, we’ll start with the kinder words.

“The flavor was a nice contrast to the construction; it was medium, edging towards full-bodied, with a slight peppery bite (just enough to keep me interested). Overall, it was smooth, with hints of leather, and coffee… But to give credit where it is due; the taste was that of a mature, well-blended cigar. This would be a nice corona to smoke at a formal function, populated by social cigar smokers.

That was it.  Mayorga fans, if you haven’t quit reading already, you may want to now.  Here comes some PO’d smokers…that have a keen sense of humor!

“This stick started to get very harsh. After about more than half-way, I couldn't continue. The flavor is way too harsh and my tongue is burning. Left my palate feeling like it needed to be disinfected. Can't wait to find out what this is so I can recommend them to people I dislike.”

“If I had walked across the desert for forty days, I would fire one of these puppies up with no hesitation and probably even enjoy it. But if you locked me up inside a walk-in humidor for a month, I would smoke myself into oblivion before I would touch another one of these.”

We would have never guessed that this cigar would be so universally chastised in this review.  Perhaps that explains the relative absence of demand for them on the market soon after they were announced.

Vital Statistics
Size: 5 3/4 x 46
Shape: Grand Corona
Wrapper: Costa Rica
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Est. Cost: $4.25