Manuel Quesada has been making cigars since 1974 as a small operation with three rollers and Manuel running the venture. Manuel’s business manufactures some of the finest cigars in the world.: Fonseca, Cubita, Jose Benito, Casa Blanca, Licenciados, La Primera, Royal Dominicana, Ricos Dominicanos among other brands that are sold in the U.S. market.
His original cigars were mild bodied, most of them a blend of Dominican filler and binder tobaccos cloaked with light Connecticut-seed wrappers. His latest endeavors are bolder, more vibrant smokes. The Casa Magna cigar is his greatest innovation. He joined forces with Nicaragua’s largest grower of cigar tobacco, Nestor Plasencia, and created this blend in Plasencia’s Segovia Cigar factory.
Standing above the others in the Casa Magna line was the Colorado Robusto, a stubby cigar with a bold heart of Cuban-seed tobacco, all of it grown in two very different regions of Nicaragua: tobacco from Estelí (the area where most Nicaraguan cigars are produced) tends to be strong, while that grown in Jalapa, to the north, is typically more balanced and elegant. The word “Colorado” in the brand name refers to the dark, slightly reddish hue of the wrapper.
Origin: Nicaragua
Size: 5 1/2 x 52
Ring: 52
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Taste: Medium-Full Bodied
Price: ~$5.25 each
More info about purchasing: Local brick-and-mortar is your best opportunity
The Casa Magna Colorado Robusto was voted #1 Cigar of the Year in 2008 by Cigar Aficionado. Casa what? The choice might have come as a surprise to many, if not every single person in the world. Let’s find out if we should believe the hype.
Appearance : 
The highlight of this cigar is it’s gorgeous oily Cuban seed Colorado wrapper. The wrapper was absolutely beautiful. The cigar was flawless with no big veins in the wrapper. It has a triple cap on it. The texture of the surface is slightly coarse, but certainly not to the point that I could file my nails on them. The feel of the cigar is solid, heavy and evenly packed. Probably one of the best made cigars I have seen in awhile. Now I know you can’t judge a cigar on how it smells or looks, but you can smell the coffee notes right away.
Construction : 
After lighting the cigar, I noticed that the firm draw forces me to smoke the cigar slowly. Casa Magna Colorado has a draw that requires a slight pull but will deliver a huge amount of rich creamy smoke. I love smoking cigars with this type of draw. The tobacco was packed in nice and tight and there were absolutely no soft spots to be found. But because of the amount of tobacco packed in, I would recommend cutting the cigar instead of punching.
Flavor :
The initial flavors showed a nice dark caramel sweetness, creamy body, and a nice balance of pepper, rich cedar and dark mocha. At about the one inch point, the flavors deepen but remain harmonious through to a very long finish. The second third adds a nice aged tobacco flavor, with cedar, pepper and caramel rounding out the flavors. The cigar continued with having the coco and coffee flavors. But chocolate and spices started to be introduced into the smoke. By now, the cigar had turned into a medium bodied smoke and it was very enjoyable. The last third of the cigar had lost its coco, chocolate, and coffee flavors. This was now a spicy smoke, and to my surprise, it was still a pleasant cigar. Resting between draws is essential to keeping the smoke cool and smooth.
Burn :
Casa Magna Colorado delivers a pretty straight burn through the entire smoke of the cigar. It can slightly burn uneven but the Casa Magna will always correct itself. You will also notice the Colorado wrapped cigar may have a slower burn rate than other sticks making this a cigar you need to dedicate a little extra time to. The ash was tight and white, which showed me the cigar was constructed beautifully. At this point, this cigar was a typical Nicaragua smoke. The ash is mostly compact with slight flowering, but it does hold on past the one inch point when I chose to tap it off. The burn line, while not straight, was relatively even throughout the whole smoke and did not require any touch ups or re-lights.
Overall Rating : 
Overall, this cigar was a really good cigar. It shows complexity that many cigars lack, plus it’s heft and quality construction makes you think you are getting more cigar for the money. The prices of all the cigars in the Casa Magna Colorado line are an outstanding value. I don’t think it was the best of 2008, as was voted by Cigar Aficionado, but it was very, very good. I will definitely buy more of these in the future.
