 Tasting six blends from Paul Magier’s Ecuador-based Puros de Armando Ramos
Los Angeles, June 1 – “Everybody knows about Ecuadorian wrapper, right? So why shouldn’t there be Ecuadorian-made cigars?”
Energetic Paul Magier, the driving force behind the growing Puros de Armando Ramos cigar line, uses this short piece of logic to convince you to try his cigars, produced in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. It’s no small town like Danli, Honduras or Esteli, Nicaragua, however. Guayaquil is a metropolis of about three million and by far the largest city in Ecuador.
Magier is hard at work expanding his Ecuadorian-made line since his Pinar brand – using pre-embargo Cuban tobacco – has been exhausted. He’s on to new blends and we tried six of them to see what’s cooking in Ecuador besides wrapper leaf. It turned out that the cooking was pretty good:
A/R Epicure:
[Ecuador: available in 4 sizes]
Most of the Armando Ramos line is made up of Ecuadorian puros: wrapper, binder and filler all grown in Ecuador and this blend is a good example.
It offers a slightly spicy aroma with a medium-to-full body. There’s a creamy, somewhat sweet core to the taste that’s very pleasant and very smooth. But there’s no mistaking the spicy elements on the medium finish to the draw.
The flavor profile remains consistent throughout the cigar, although we saw some problems in draw in one of the samples. The A/R Epicure is a top seller in Spain, especially in tubes and it was easy to see why. At $3.00 to $3.60 for most of the shapes before local tobacco taxes, it’s also a bargain.
Overall grade: A-: Excellent.
Beethoven:
[Ecuador: available in 7 sizes]
Fans of the great German composer will obviously be intrigued by this cigar, with has a medium-bodied heft and a toasty aroma with a tinge of spice.
There’s a certain calm to this cigar and the flavors are discreet with a caramelized tone. Solidly made, there’s just a singe of spice on the finish. It’s pleasant, easy to smoke and easy to enjoy, but does not exert its character on the smoker. But it’s a solid value with retail prices of just $4.40 to $5.40 for the single-wrapped edition with a rosado-shade leaf.
The Beethoven line also has a fancy side, with both rosado and maduro wrappers in a barber-pole configuration, which cost somewhat more and a wonderful box presentation in the shape of a piano! Although this line has musically-inspired shape names like Concerto, Sonata, Symfonia and so on, wouldn’t it be better to celebrate the composer with shapes named after his greatest compositions: Fifth (for the famous Fifth Symphony), Sixth (Pastoral), Ninth and for the double corona, “Ode to Joy”?
Overall grade: B+: Very Good.
El Laguito:
[Ecuador: available in 2 sizes]
Named for the famous Cuban factory which has been the home of both the Davidoff and Cohiba brands in Havana, the El Laguito line was introduced in 2006.
It’s only available in two shapes, but the long, sleek Lancero (7 1/2 inches by 41 ring) is a special joy. The mild-to-medium-bodied blend offers a toasty aroma and smokes evenly and effortlessly with excellent construction and draw.
There’s a bright, caramelized taste to the El Laguito, with a long, clean finish and an enviable smoothness. There’s a little pop of spice well into the second half, but it does nothing to detract from the overall impression of quality and elegance in this brand.
It’s a little more expensive than the other brands at suggested retail prices of $6.00 to $6.40, but well worth it.
Overall grade: A-: Excellent.
Lucky 8:
[Ecuador: available in 8 sizes]
Magier created this blend in response to requests from nightclubs in Shanghai, China which wanted a special cigar for their clientele. The band is a gorgeous blend of red, black and gold with a stylized “8" in the middle. It’s a three-nation blend, with an Ecuadorian wrapper, Honduran binder and filler leaves from Ecuador and Peru.
The samples we tried had some construction issues, but the core characteristics include a toasty, spicy aroma and a clear, caramelized flavor at the start with a pleasant, medium finish. It’s fun to smoke with a full body, but is never aggressive or overpowering. The flavor fades somewhat in the second half and when the blend strikes a peppery note, you know it’s time to put it down . . . but not without a very pleasant memory.
At suggested prices of $3.80 to $6.00, Lucky 8 is an excellent value as all eight sizes are quite large. It could be a star in the future and would have graded out higher except for the uneven burn we experienced. This is a blend to keep an eye on and well worth trying if you’re in the mood to try something new.
Overall grade: B+: Very Good.
Magus:
[Ecuador: available in 10 sizes]
The Magus line was introduced in 2000 (band pictured above) and is made from all Ecuadorian-grown tobaccos. It’s medium-to-full in body and was quite impressive with a toasty aroma and an even burn.
There’s a nice, caramelized tone in the flavor with a sweet, medium-to-long finish. It’s a straightforward cigar, well made and easy to smoke as it burns well and does not tire you out.
Just a touch of spice and pepper are added to the finish in the second half, but this is well controlled and brings the cigar to a pleasant end. Pricing is reasonable at $5.05 to $8.40 each, again with fairly large ring gauges on most sizes.
Overall grade: A-: Excellent.
Pinar de Oro:
[Ecuador: available in 4 sizes]
This is the successor in name to the Pinar series which featured pre-embargo Cuban tobacco and helped get the company off the ground.
This blend offers a toasty aroma and a medium body, offered in elegant all-cedar cabinets of 20 cigars each. The flavor is rich and caramelized from the start with a light, medium finish.
Well constructed, this is an easy-to-smoke blend with an even burn and a long ash. The flavor intensity fades in the second half and develops a slight peppery undertone. Introduced in 2006, this is another cigar to watch and could be even better with a year or so of aging. At $7.50 to $9.50 each, the Pinar de Oro isn’t a value cigar, but worth considering if you’re looking for a cigar to age, especially the 5-inch by 50-ring Perfecto!
Overall grade: B+: Very Good.
Magier has succeeded in creating a quality line of very nice cigars, especially the El Laguito and Magus lines. He’s exactly right that with so much quality tobacco being grown in Ecuador, that country has everything at hand to produce some really excellent cigars.
There’s a lot to look forward to here, and the star of the future could well be the Lucky 8 if the construction and draw issues can be worked out. It’s a cigar we will certainly look forward to testing again in the future.
~ Rich Perelman
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