Eladio Diaz 72 Aniversario referred to as the North & South edition because of its use of tobacco from the North and South part of the Dominican Republic.
While the North is known for its tobacco growing, in the 1970s the farmers in the south began to change their crops. Recently, the government has supported an effort to revitalize tobacco growing in the South. This effort to revitalize the tobacco farms of the the country comes as the North has begun to lose farms to apartments and free trade zones.
Growing tobacco in the South will provide a challenge due to higher elevation and different soil content but famed cigar maker Eladio Diaz has embraced that challenge as he releases this limited edition cigar celebrating his 72nd birthday.
Cigar Review: Eladio Diaz 72 Aniversario
Size: 6.5 x 52 (Toro)
Wrapper: Dominican Republic Corojo (Grown in South,Aged 4 Years)
Binder: Dominican Republic San Andres (Grown in South)
Fillers: Dominican Republic (South: HVA, Criollo ’98 / North: Corojo ’99, Piloto Cubano, Negrito)
Factory: Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera
Release Date: May 2025
Production: Limited (2,500 Boxes)
Box Size: 12
The Cigar: The Eladio Diaz 72 Aniversario has a gorgeous look to it with a Dominican Corojo wrapper creating the backdrop over two bands consisting of brown, green and gold. The primary band features the signature of Eladio Diaz as well as the printed version of his name and LXXII Aniversario. While the secondary band has LXXII Aniversario front and center with North & South written on it as well. The cigar is rounded out with a gold/mustard colored ribbon. I for one wish the industry would get away from this practice as a ribbon can be hard to remove. The wrapper has some subtle oils and veins. Despite having a nice weight to it, the cigar feels very underfilled at the foot.
The Taste: The cold draw doesn’t have a lot going on as it’s a struggle to pick up anything other then raw tobacco. After a few tries there is a subtle vanilla creme to along with tea and earth. Meanwhile the aroma from the foot takes me back to the cigar factories of the Dominican Republic which for me have a different aroma to them vs other countries.
Once we light the cigar there is a nice sweetness to the cigar on the front end in the form of raisins, vanilla and a subtle fig component. Meanwhile, on the background there is there some birch, cinnamon and montreal seasoning. As we settle into the heart of the first third the cigar takes on a bread like texture with hints of wheat. While the retrohale has some rye and cinnamon present that adds some perceived strength to the cigar.
Moving into the second third of the Eladio Diaz 72 Aniversario the cigar is medium in both strength and body. The second third sees that bread like texture become a cake batter like taste with hints of almonds, vanilla and continued birch. The halfway point sees some of the cinnamon from the retrohale makes its way to the palate along with some cardamon. The retrohale sees notes of white and black pepper with some subtle rye.
Moving into the final third notes of vanilla remain and the resting aroma of the cigar has
Conclusion: This marks the 3rd Aniversario Cigar from Eladio Diaz since leaving Davidoff. While we have not been blessed to smoke the Aniversario 70 which is now a bucket list cigar of mine, the 71 Aniversario scored a 96 and has created a thought process of making limited edition cigars that see a yearly release a part of the conversation for Cigar of the Year. The Aniversario 72 while enjoyable falls short of last year but still remains enjoyable making it yet another birthday release worth smoking.
Score: 92 (Before any local or state taxes)
Price: $25.00 (Before any local or state taxes)
You can find the Eladio Diaz 72 Aniversario at Small Batch Cigar.
