SJ Cigars first introduced their Cuban Stock line of cigars in 2012 in both natural and maduro wrappers.  They later added on several other lines to the Cuban Stock brand, but in 2013, they added the Cuban Stock Triumph.  Available in 3 sizes, we were sent the torpedo size to review.  The Triumph line has a unique “Dominican Maduro Special” wrapper which I’m not sure what that means.  I’m assuming is some proprietary fermenting method they have developed for this wrapper.  The cigars use a 10 year old fillers and are aged in oak barrels.  They don’t list the type of tobacco used in the fillers or for the binder, but I assume it’s of Dominican origin.  They torpedo is a 6 x 52 and cost about $7.00 a cigar.

 Appearance

The cigar is a very dark maduro cigar with minimal veins.  The wrapper isn’t very oily, but there is a slight sheen to it.  The draw is a little tight, but nothing too bad that couldn’t be controlled.

 First Half

The first half starts off a little slow.  I get a little woody flavor along with some leather flavors.  It gets earthier as the cigar burns down.  I pick up some coffee notes here and there, but nothing major.  The burn is quite good for the cigar and it puts off a lot of smoke which I personally like.

Last Half

The last half of the cigar didn’t change much.  I still got cedar, leather and earthy notes with occasional coffee notes as the cigar neared the end.  I had a couple of burn problems near the end, but it was a rainy afternoon so I’m blaming the damp air more than the cigar.  Other than a couple of touch ups, the cigar burned very well.

Overall Impressions

To me, there are two types of maduro cigars:  cocoa, sweet, coffee flavors and earthy/woody flavors.  This cigar has flavors of a more traditional maduro cigar with a woodier, earthy flavor.  The cigar wasn’t overly complex, but it was consistent.  The flavors started off strong from the beginning and never changed.  The burn was consistent as well as we the draw. That being said, this isn’t the type of maduro I enjoy smoking.  I prefer the maduro cigars that feature flavors coffee and cocoa.  Still, for the price point, it is a cigar that, if you prefer more traditional maduros, you might want to give these a shot.