Vegueros Mananitas

Description

I was out on the squeaky wood porch of the old Miller ranch, watching the sun set behind the jagged horizon line. The ink had barely dried on the closing papers, and the thick gold pen in my pocket was as heavy as lead. You’d think consummating a deal that monumental — selling off three hundred acres of prime grazing land — would have me popping corks, hollering from the rooftops. But afterward, as the dust settled in the driveway, I felt only a peculiar sadness that I couldn’t shake. It had been my family’s land for three generations. Selling it felt like exchanging a piece of my soul for a wad of paper.

Product Specifications

It was all cooling down, and smelt of dry grass and old wood. I didn’t want a three-hour Churchill. I was not up for it. I wanted something short and punchy and truthful. Something of the taste of the earth I’d just signed away. I pulled a little tapered stick with a bright green band out of my travel humi. It had an almost humble look compared with the spread of ranch house behind it. I severed the head, struck a match and wafted the initial cloud of smoke into the gathering darkness. That smoke? The Vegueros Mañanitas.

The Transition: A Working Man’s Cuban

Vegueros have long had a special place in my heart. It’s not a brand people boast about at high-end bars in velvet loafers, you know? It is a brand born in Cuba’s Pinar del Río province, the beating heart of the country’s tobacco district. It was designed for the farmers who actually cultivated the leaf—the vegueros. When Habanos S.A. resurrected the brand in 2015 after a few years of dormancy, it altered the look, but maintained that down-to-earth, agricultural spirit. The Mañanitas is the “little morning” smoke of the line-up, but on this evening it was exactly the companion that would help me crack a four-figure goodbye.

Specifications

Build: What it’s Like to Hold

The first thing that stands out about the Mañanitas is the shape. It’s a Petit Belicoso, which I have always considered such a nice size for an abbreviated smoke. The conical heft lets you modulate the draw and concentrate flavor (important when you only have four inches of tobacco to work with). Mine had a Colorado Claro wrapper—beautiful with its redish/tan hue, and smooth to the eye, but with a bit of tooth when I ran my thumb over it.

I just have to mention what a smart rebranding they did in 2015. The green and white band is modern, and those metal tins of 16 they come in? They have the feel of something you’d really toss in a toolkit or glove box. It’s not precious. It’s practical. Squeezing the cigar it felt quite firm, but not “plugged” hard. The perfect counterpressure to let me know it wasn’t about to burn up in the flame like a dry leaf in a campfire. The cold draw offered a mouthful of sweet tobacco and an old school taste of hay mixed with toasted nuts. It smelled like a barn in the most lovely way, familiar and warm and grounded.

Flavor Profile: A Brief Stroll Through the Fields

The First Third

Lighting up the Mañanitas is akin to walking through a Pinar del Río tobacco field. First puffs are really quite bright. I felt the hit of the white pepper immediately, but it wasn’t too strong. It was more of a tingle on the retrohale. Beneath it, a thick smackerel of something I call “the Cuban twang”—that dusty, vegetal flavor you just don’t get with Nicaraguan or Dominican leaf.

Around ten minutes in and I noticed a faint whiff of ammonia. Now, don’t get me wrong: in many cigars this is a bad sign but in a young Cuban it’s just its way of telling you … how strong it is. It also had a slight “bite” which complemented my feelings. There was a sweetness there, too, something raw and unrefined, like honey being scraped from the comb, but it existed on another palate below the hay and dry wood. It is, in other words, a medium-bodied opening volley that proudly makes no apology for its rustic origins.

The Second Third

As I rocked along, on the porch watching the evening unfold and shadows extend across the yard, it seems that this cigar found its groove. The pepper faded, and the profile turned into some pretty rich creaminess. And this is where the Mañanitas truly excels. I began to notice notes of cedar and, weirdly, a slight twinge of tart cherry. Not in a flavored-cigar sense — nothing that artificial here — but a natural, fruity sweetness that paired brilliantly with the soon-to-be woods notes of toasted bread laced with butter.

The construction held up beautifully. Ash was light grey and the first ash stayed on for about half the cigar before I tapped it off into a old tin cup. The draw was unchanged, and the smoke was thick and white. That’s impressive complexity in the middle here for a “budget” Cuban. It felt like the cigar was finally letting me in a little, confiding some of its heat while I remained out in the cold universe of my real estate deal.

The Final Third

These little torpedos are sneaky. But because they’re short, they can get hot if you puff too quickly. I went slowly, letting the cigar sit between puffs. It really ramped up in the final stretch for sure. We went from medium to a slightly strong medium-full. The creaminess held, though the wood became darker — closer to charred oak than cedar.

At the end was most noticeable was definitely a nicotine kick. I felt it in the back of my throat, and a little bit in my head. The spice did appear again, however this time it was more of a baking spice — cinnamon and nutmeg — combined with a faint bitterness that I would compare to dark chocolate or espresso. It ended with a powerful finish, the aftertaste of earth and spice still on my tongue. I smoked it down to the nub, until the heat became too much for my fingers and I dropped it into the dirt of the ranch for good.

Pairing: What to Drink?

If you’re smoking it in the morning — which is your cue, right there — a strong Cuban espresso with sugar would be the clear pairing. The sweet nature of the coffee balances the green flavors in the tobacco wonderfully.

But i, in that tearful evening, opted for a single malt whisky. I opened a bottle of something peaty and smoky. The smoky, medicinal touch of the Scotch paired incredibly with the earthy, woodsy dimensions of the Vegueros. If you don’t like Scotch, dark rum would be a close second for me. You want something meaty enough to keep up with that final-third nicotine jolt, but with an undercurrent of sweetness to leash in the pepper.

Value and Use: Who Is This For?

Let’s face it: not everyone is interested in dropping forty bucks on a cigar that will only burn for forty minutes. The Vegueros Mañanitas is the cigar for the dude that wants real Cuban, without the “I dropped out of school to work on your car” pricing. It’s for the person who likes a raw, earthy taste as opposed to a polished, over-engineered one.

It’s a fantastic “utility” cigar. Because of the tins, I carry them in my fishing bag, in my glove box and my desk drawer. They do not need to be coddled. They’re built for the outdoors. If you’re a novice, this makes an excellent introduction to Cuban tobacco because it provides all the hallmarks of the Vuelta Abajo region in a manageable size. If you’re a veteran, it’s an ideal “I don’t have much time” smoke that will still give you the satisfaction of something hearty.

The Verdict

And then as I eventually stood up from that porch swing and walked to my truck, carrying the keys to the ranch in a lockbox at its back bumper, I looked once again at what was left of the Mañanitas as a smoldering nub. It had done its job. It didn’t attempt to dazzle me with sparkly transitions or trendy flavors. It was simply a heartfelt, well-crafted bit of Pinar del Río.

The Vegueros Mañanitas is not the most complex cigar on earth and it is not the best looking one. But it’s even, it’s snappy — if you like them that way — and it has a sense of place that few costlier cigars can match. It’s a strong, honest smoke (don’t we all have that one uncle?) that can outpunch fighters of any level. If you’re in one of those moments when you need a little grounding — perhaps binge-watching a series, where your team finally wins? or making an impossible mess like me mourning the losses of my beautiful dresses to storage — this little green-banded beauty is as good as any. Another tin as soon as I get back to the city. I may no longer have the ranch, but I can always have a taste of the land.