Today we will be taking a look at a cigar that I have been very much anticipating, the Quesada Oktoberfest Über.

We reviewed the wonderful Quesada Selección España Corona, the España Short Robusto and the new Casa Magna Dominus a few weeks ago and frankly all three completely knocked our socks off, this has given me great anticipation towards the Oktoberfest cigar and I am really excited to finally be reviewing it.

The term Oktoberfest brings up one thing and one thing only in our minds: beer. This is exactly what Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr. was going for—in fact it’s meant to be paired with a hearty beer often accompanied with Oktoberfest and the cigar itself was blended to these specifications.

The cigar is quite a sight to see, it is a dark, oily looking Dominican puro that will only be available in two sizes, a 5 1/2 x 52 double robusto called The Bavarian and a monstrous 6 x 65 called appropriately The Über. The cigar will be available in limited quantities of 500 boxes of 20 per vitola and will be shipped to stores in a couple weeks just in time for Oktoberfest.

The idea is that you will pair this with your favorite Oktoberfest beer, unfortunately I don’t drink so I will not be pairing this with anything however I can imagine the flavors will only be enhanced by pairing it with beer.

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  • Cigar Reviewed: Quesada Oktoberfest The Über
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: Q Factory
  • Wrapper: Dominican Cibao Valley
  • Binder: Dominican Republic
  • Filler: Dominican Cuban Seed Criollo, Olor Viso & Ligero
  • Size: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 65
  • Vitola: Gordo Extra
  • MSRP: $8.95 (Boxes of 20, $143.00)
  • Release Date: Late September/Early October 2011
  • Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)*
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 2

*500 boxes of each size, the Oktoberfest release is 20,000 cigars in total.

Looking at this cigar for the first time is quite a thing to see, it’s probably the biggest cigar, ring gauge-wise, that I have smoked to date. It’s a whopping 65 ring gauge that looks even bigger than it sounds. The Über has a beautiful, oily, dark chocolate wrapper with an almost rosado shade to it. There are a few veins here and there but it’s an ultra smooth cigar with a tight pack and seamless wrap. The cigar smells of sweet tobacco, cedar and leather. The draw is mellow but flavorful with notes of cocoa, cedar and a dense earthy tobacco.

Starting off in the first third I am hit with a nice spice and pepper kick, initial flavors are woody with some coffee bean and leather. As the cigar progresses the spice and pepper fades a touch but is definitely still there, the flavors evolve a bit and start to get a dark semi sweet chocolate as well as a very woody, dark chocolate and coffee finish. To my surprise this cigar is a solid medium body and it puts of massive amounts of smoke, the aroma is very rich in sweet chocolate which contrasts nicely with the more semi sweet flavor.

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Coming into the second third I experience a little more complexity in flavors, the wood, dark chocolate and leather are still in the forefront, but I am now getting a slight nuttiness on the finish; it’s a very raw, nutty flavor with a touch of sweetness, like cashew. There are a lot of deep, rich flavors going on with the cigar bordering on bitter here and there, but I think that would be masked while drinking a hearty Oktoberfest beer.

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Finishing up in the final third the cigar changes up very nicely and gets creamy, I am detecting a more sweet chocolate in place of the semi sweet and there is a return of spice and pepper, especially through the nose. The finish is long and flavorful with a woody, creamy, leathery mix. The construction was spot on as well with a good draw and burn throughout the whole smoke.

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Final Notes

  • I smoked both of the vitolas and surprisingly, flavor wise, I enjoyed the larger 65 ring gauge (The Über) more so than the 52 ring gauge (The Bavarian). I am not a fan of anything over 56 ring gauge but I felt that The Über had more flavor as well as a much cooler smoke, the 52 gauge got a little warm on me and it forced the flavors more towards the bitter side. In my experience I find the smaller cigar have more complexity but for whatever reason I found the larger one in this case to be more complex.
  • I was expecting a more medium-full to full cigar, but for me both samples stayed at a solid medium body and were about a medium in strength, but make no mistake these are definitely full-flavored. I imagine these are going to taste wonderful with a nice cold, hearty beer.
  • These will be shipping out to retailers in about two weeks so be on the lookout for them sometime around the end of September, first of October.
  • The final smoking time was one hour 35 minutes.
88 Overall Score

I have smoked every vitola in the Oktoberfest lineup at one time or another, and I can say with no reservations that the Kaiser Ludwig is the best vitola in the line in both flavors and size, in my opinion. While still not the most complex profile in Quesada's lineup of brands, the flavors are consistent, distinct, rich and extremely enjoyable. While I did not pair it with an Oktoberfest beer for this review, I have before, and they are very good with that kind of beer. While I will never mistake it for an España, I enjoyed the Kaiser Ludwig quite a bit, and I will be picking up more of them.

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.