Best Cigars with Chocolate Notes
Chocolate is a prolific tasting note in a lot of great cigars. And when we mention chocolate in a cigar’s flavor profile in this case, we’re not talking about flavored cigars, meaning artificially flavored. If you’re scratching your head, allow us to explain. Describing the way a cigar tastes involves a good amount of culinary terminology, similar to wine. Premium cigars commonly exhibit tasting notes of nuts, coffee, spices, wood, plants, grains, minerals, as well as sweeter notes. Among the sweet notes you’ll find in a cigar are molasses, maple, caramel, and chocolate, often coming from a Maduro wrapper leaf. Since most of us naturally love chocolate, let’s look at the best cigars with chocolate notes in their profiles.
1. La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor
The highest rated cigar in the renowned La Aroma de Cuba portfolio is Mi Amor, which earned ‘#2 Cigar of the Year’ honors with a 95-point score in Cigar Aficionado in its debut year over a decade ago. A toothy San Andrés wrapper surrounds a vintage core of premium Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos aged for optimal flavor and aroma. This nutty and versatile smoke appeals to a wide range of cigar lovers with an excellent profile of dark chocolate, almond, espresso bean, and cracked black pepper.
2. Ashton Aged Maduro
When it comes to cigars with chocolate notes, Ashton Aged Maduro has been around longer than every cigar on our list. World-famous cigarmaker Carlito Fuente blended this iconic Dominican Maduro nearly 40 years ago from a toothy Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and vintage Dominican long-filler tobaccos. This mellow and silky classic sets a high benchmark as one of the best Maduros in the world with its elegant profile of dark chocolate, almond, molasses, and maple with a touch of black pepper. Pair the Ashton Aged Maduro with coffee, rum, Cognac, or a vintage Port for a blissful experience.
3. Padrón 1964 Anniversary Maduro
Padrón 1964 Anniversary is a 97-rated classic in the legendary Padrón portfolio, and it comes in a Natural and a Maduro wrapper leaf, both of which provide a phenomenal chocolate note throughout the smoke. The Maduro is the sweeter of the two. Padrón 1964 Anniversary cigars are blended entirely from premium Nicaraguan tobaccos aged a minimum of five to six years. This blend is characterized by notes of dark cocoa powder, cedar, leather, nuts, and coffee bean. In 2021, the critics in Cigar Aficionado ranked Padrón 1964 Anniversary as their ‘#1 Cigar of the Year,’ adding to a long list of Padrón accolades over the years.
4. La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse
In 2024, La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse debuted with a new blend and new packaging. A dark San Andrés Oscuro wrapper leaf embraces a vintage recipe of premium Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos blended by Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia. Every cigar in the collection is rolled in entubado style from triple-fermented tobaccos, and the head is finished with a triple cap. Because the Garcia family honors these labor-intensive Cuban traditions, Noblesse cigars are coveted rarities. In addition to notes of espresso bean, Turkish fig, and pepper, an underlying current of dark chocolate lava cake imparts a delicious richness.
5. San Cristobal Quintessence
The 95-rated San Cristobal Quintessence is also blended by celebrated father-and-son cigarmakers Pepin and Jaime Garcia. This smooth and succulent smoke is drawn from an oily Ecuador Habano wrapper leaf and a bountiful blend of well-aged long-filler tobaccos harvested on the Garacia family’s Nicaraguan estates. Quintessence comes in six popular sizes that unfold throughout a medium to full-bodied profile of cedar, molasses, coffee bean, and cocoa. Savor the chocolatey taste of a truly Cubanesque cigar with San Cristobal Quintessence.
6. Perdomo 30th Anniversary Maduro
Nick Perdomo boasts an impressive roster of premium cigars, and Perdomo 30th Anniversary Maduro is among his proudest accomplishments. An oily Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper covers a refined interior of the oldest and rarest Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos in Nick’s reserves, some of which are fifteen years old. Perdomo cigars are made to incredible standards for quality and consistency because Nick grows all his own tobacco and controls his manufacturing process from seed to smoke. This malty cigar imparts a sweet and peppery profile of dark cocoa, molasses, and coffee bean throughout a luscious and lingering finish. Check out our in-depth review of Perdomo 30th Anniversary Maduro for even more reasons to order it.
