Inka Secret Blend - Azul Blue - Poderoso Maduro Cigar - Pack of 10

Inka Secret Blend - Azul Blue - Poderoso Maduro. This is my first Maduro. Aesthetics - VERY dark brown wrapper, lightly veined and well capped. Blue and gold band speaks well to the brand name. Feels nice and well packed, not too firm, not too spongy. Cut and light - didn't cut too well in all honesty, had to go back and give it another pass so it was cut evenly, first cut "scalped" a bit of the wrapper away but I was able to tidy this up with the minimum of fuss. Lit easily and evenly first time. Draw and first impressions: quite an easy draw producing a good amount of dense white smoke. Flavour has started off quite praline-y, that's to say it's slightly sweet but not totally, there's an almost "savoury" undercurrent to it with just a hint of spice at the end. The aroma is rich, leathery/earthy but not over-powering, while it's quite an obvious aroma once it's hit you, it does sneak up on you slightly. This is a really satisfying cigar to both hold and smoke. The thing ring gauge combined with the relatively short length means that even the most stout, greedy draw doesn't see a lot of it turn to ash immediately and I like that. The Maduro wrapper does seem to have a little flavour of its own, not in the smoke but as a residual taste on the lips, almost like a sweet treacle or molasses type of flavour it leaves behind, lip-lickingly good! Getting a little further into the first third and the flavours and aromas are definitely out there now, mouthful of smoke with a little puff down the nostrils is a great way to experience everything this cigar has to offer in one hit, it's complex but not mind-boggling and unlike the J Cortez I reviewed yesterday, the flavours and aromas compliment each other brilliantly rather than confuse you by fighting for centre stage. Got to about 1/4 if the way in and just had to touch up the burn slightly but nothing major, one side was just burning slightly quicker than the other so had a bit of a diagonal burn line going on but it was easily and quickly fixed. As I hit the half way point, the ash was ready to drop having held on this far from the initial light and even through the touch up. The flavours now are really coming through, consistent with earlier but much more apparent, this is shaping up to be a really lovely cigar and makes me wonder what else the acclaimed Maduro wrapped cigars have to offer. There's an almost alcohol-y note in there now too which I hadn't noticed before, once you've emptied your mouth of smoke, you're left with a bit of an after-taste reminiscent of a mild coffee liqueur. OH NO! So I tried to slide the band off at this point (as is my usual habit) and it wouldn't budge, I decided to peel it off only to discover it was slightly stuck to the wrapper where the glue closes the band and it's pulled a small chunk out of the outer wrapper. Not a big issue as the cigar still smokes nicely and I doubt this is something you would encounter across the entire range, it was probably just a one-off flaw but none the less, not something I've encountered before. All in all, I'd buy this cigar again and am looking forward not only to more maduro's in the future, but also what else the Inka range has to offer. My only real criticisms are of the initial cut (which could be down to my cheap cutter) and the issue I had removing the band and those elements are the only reason I mark this cigar down. Otherwise I'd say £5.49 was well spent.

Shared some of these babies with two friends and i must admit that one of the three of us had an issue with uneven burns. Other than that no complaints. The flavor is superb. I love these things.

Just finished smoking one of these and really enjoyed it. Seen some other reviews saying the draw was very tight but the one I smoked was just perfect. The cigar was very moist to touch and rolled quite loosely. The cigar was full of great flavour and huge amounts of great tasting smoke!! Will be ordering a few more of these for sure. Worth a try for sure, you wont be disappointed!!!!

Bought these as a change nice smoke on the river bank not the end of the world if the shock of a salmon taking causes you to drop it.However good smoke stays lit well no need for a poultice on the back of your neck.

Having tried a few of these in different vitolas I haven't been very impressed with them. Being a fan of a Maduro wrapper though I thought I would have one last attempt. I have tried both the red bombaso Maduro and this and of the two there was little contest. I had a similar experience to the other reviewers in that the initial smoke was reasonable but it took many attempts to keep the cigar lit. I won't be trying this particular one again.