Mi Querida Triqui Traca is boasted as Steve Saka’s “personal maduro desires” pairing a “slightly dirty finish” with an overall “extremely satisfying experience” – that is not a combination of words that I’m used to seeing. But I definitely get it and you will too. For more notes, check out the full review below! Before Lightup: The Triqui Traca featured a dark chocolate, tooth wrapper with tight and visible seams and a firm, almost taught pack. There was a minor blemish on the wrapper leaf worth noting to see if it affects the burn or consistency later in the review. As far as presentation goes, it’s always simple with DTT. The fragrance was potent featuring a bold, sweet tobacco scent paired with an undiscernible spice and barnyard aroma. After a nice deep V-cut, the prelight draw was perfect and the cold draw was a dark, but mild molasses note. First Light: A toast and a few puffs gave way to a medium-full bodied blend with notes of dark, damp earth, hard woods, and a slight pepper taste and texture that was intensified on the retro (no extra notes on retro). There was absolutely nothing to complain about as far as construction was concerned with a perfect draw yielding plentiful smoke – just the way I like it! First Third: I’m not a huge woods and earth guy, so I was pleasantly surprised that the profile became a little more complex as those flavors began to shift slightly to more nuanced notes – notes of a slight sweetness on the draw that gets sweeter with every puff and a salty but smooth baker’s chocolate on the finish. It had the meaty flavor profile to sink your teeth into with the creaminess on the back end that keeps you coming back for more, all without ramping up the body of the stick – still maintaining that medium-full pocket. The smoke itself was plentiful and right in that perfect wheelhouse of “not too chewy” and “not too airy” – goldilocks, if you will. The burn got off by about 1/4″ at this point – I made a note to keep an eye on it. Second Third: Into what most consider the best part of the cigar, the second third, the body remains unphased and the blend really comes into a perfect harmony and balance. The earthy/woodsy core is still the foundation of the blend. The meatiness has faded slightly and come into a more proper balance with the creamy, smooth, semi-sweet chocolate being brought forward on the palate. The slight pepper is still in the mix, primarily on the retrohale, which is perfect – there when you want it and not bothering you if you don’t. Because of the slightly off burn, the ash wound up being a little wonky, but it was still very solid and holding on nicely. There was a slight nicotine strength present at this point, nothing room spinning or anything like that – and the band came off without any reservation. Final Third: One of the testaments to a great cigar is the coolness of both the cherry and the smoke throughout a cigar. This liga performed excellently over the first two thirds, but started warming up significantly in the final third. Just as a note, that could be due to the speed of smoking, but the overall smoking time of 1 hour 13 minutes is within normal range for me. As such, the flavor profile began to wane and the body ran up to a full bodied monster. The creaminess was still present but the chocolatiness had faded completely. The damp, dark earth and woodsy core remained and began to strengthen with each draw. The pepper flavor remained, but there was no spice at this point. Normally when I get this type of darkening of flavor, it almost always comes with an added nicotine kick – this one didn’t – still mild. Overall: I always like to add some notes out to the side while I’m smoking. Generally these never meet the public’s eye but I couldn’t help myself with this one. First of all, the construction is flawless – I mean the smoke output and draw were immaculate. Also, as you watch this stick burn, sometimes it will appear to almost spark along the burn line. My initial assumption is that this is happening from the oils in the wrapper – but it was worth noting because I’ve never seen it in another liga (but I also haven’t been looking for it either). The final score came out to an 8.9/10 or 89/100 leaving it right outside of that must-have range for me. But hey, I won’t be upset if someone hands one to me! If it sounds good, try out the Mi Querida Triqui Traca!
