Raíces 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gordo Review

The Raíces 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gordo immediately catches your eye. Its dark wrapper shimmers in the light, is neatly finished and envelops a uniformly rolled cigar body. The imposing Gordo format sits comfortably in the hand and, even before lighting, gives you a sense that a cigar with plenty of substance awaits you.

Observed during the tasting

• Smoke pattern: A lot of very light, thick smoke; it’s building up slowly.
• Balance: Spicy and warm, slightly bitter, with very little acidity.
• Development: Full-bodied and assertive at first, then becoming increasingly mellow, it develops steadily.
• Strength: Starting at 2/5, then increasing to 3/5.
• Design: Neatly and evenly rolled.
• Burn-up: Slow and steady, with compact ash.
• Ageing potential: Further harmonisation appears possible.

At a glance

• Brand: Raíces
• Line: 1941: A New Beginning
• Vitola: Gordo – RG 60 × 6″ | Ø 2.38 cm × 15.2 cm
• Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Raíces, Danlí
• Cover sheet: Trojes, Honduras
• Cover: Jamastrán, Honduras, and Estelí, Nicaragua
• Insert: Jamastrán and Trojes, Honduras; Estelí and Jalapa, Nicaragua
• Box Date: unknown
• Tasting on: 8 August 2026
• Estimated age: Cannot be determined
• Strength: 2/5 → 3/5
• Price: CHF 270.– per box of 18 cigars

Smoke pattern – How does the smoke behave?

Almost immediately after lighting, the Raíces 1941 Gordo produces a generous amount of smoke. As I took my first puffs, the volume increased rapidly: light in colour and dense. After a short while, the smoke flow settled into a rhythm and remained remarkably consistent thereafter.

Why does the cigar behave like this?

The Ring Gauge 60 offers plenty of space for the filler and its air channels. Because the cigar is rolled cleanly and evenly, air can flow in a controlled manner through the wide tobacco body. This results in a generous volume of smoke from an early stage, whilst the burn remains pleasantly slow.

After the first few puffs, the embers stabilise across the entire cross-section. From this point onwards, the filler, airflow and ember zone work together more evenly. You’ll notice this from the constant volume of smoke and the fact that the cigar remains „calm“ despite its size.

The Raíces 1941 Gordo produces a lot of light, dense smoke. The volume of smoke remains consistent and dissipates slowly.

Balance – How harmonious is the blend?

When smoking, I’m first met by a distinct „warm“ tobacco flavour, accompanied by a consistent spiciness. A slight bitterness remains noticeable in the background, whilst acidity plays hardly any part. None of these underlying sensations consistently takes the lead – they keep each other in check. After a few minutes, the initial intensity subsides slightly, as if the cigar were shifting down a gear. However, it loses neither its character nor its development as a result. You don’t experience constant change, but rather a blend whose individual components slowly come together.

Why does the cigar behave like this?

The blend combines tobaccos from four growing regions in Honduras and Nicaragua. A Trojes wrapper is topped by two binder leaves from Jamastrán (Honduras) and Estelí (Nicaragua). Yes, there are indeed two binder leaves. The filler also combines tobaccos from Trojes (Honduras) and Jalapa (Nicaragua).

Each of these regions produces tobaccos with their own structural and chemical properties. The position of the leaf, the fermentation process and the degree of ripeness may also vary. At the outset, these differences are even more pronounced when tasted side by side. As the flavour develops, the components blend more harmoniously – the initial contrasts diminish and the balance feels more cohesive.

The low acidity may indicate that the tobaccos have been well processed and have already been left to settle sufficiently. Of course, it is not possible to determine from the tasting alone how long they were fermented or by what method.

Invitation from Zigarren.Zone

Development – Is the cigar changing?

The Raíces 1941 Gordo surprises me with an exceptionally full-bodied and assertive opening. It makes its presence felt immediately, but becomes noticeably more mellow after a few minutes. The initial intensity gives way to a calmer profile. Yet the cigar does not constantly change its character. Its warm, spicy core profile remains consistent. What shifts, above all, is the intensity: initially, the flavours are closely clustered; later, they spread out more evenly. You therefore do not experience any abrupt changes, but rather a long transition towards greater calm and consistency.

Why does the cigar behave like this?

The wide Gordo format contains a generous amount of tobacco. As a result, it burns more slowly than a slender vitola, and the individual stages of the smoking experience flow more smoothly into one another. This gives the blend plenty of scope to retain its fundamental character over a longer period of time.

The development is therefore characterised less by marked changes in direction than by a gradual shift in intensity. As the cigar is smoked, the initial richness seems to become even more seamlessly integrated. The cigar does not change its identity – it increasingly finds its own sense of calm.

Strength – How does strength develop?

The strength starts at around 2/5 and gradually increases to approximately 3/5. The increase is gradual. Despite its initial full-bodied character, the cigar does not seem particularly strong at the start. It is only as you continue smoking that its strength becomes more apparent. It remains in the medium range and develops in a controlled manner.

Why does the cigar behave like this?

Full-bodiedness and strength are not the same thing. A large volume of smoke can give the cigar a strong presence early on, without this automatically being accompanied by a strong physical effect. As the cigar progresses, the distance between the burn end and the mouthpiece shortens. The smoke reaches my tongue and palate warmer and more concentrated. At the same time, the effects of the nicotine absorbed build up. Both factors may explain why the perceived strength rises from 2/5 to 3/5.

The slow, largely even burn produces compact, stable ash – a visible sign of the smooth interplay between rolling and combustion.

Construction and burn – How clean is the cigar?

The Raíces 1941 Gordo is neatly rolled and offers an excellent draw. The construction ensures an even smoke without heating the tobacco too quickly. It burns slowly and largely evenly. Every now and then I had to make adjustments with the flame. The ash remains compact and clings firmly to the cigar.

Why does the cigar behave like this?

A slow and even burn is indicative of a balanced distribution of the filler tobaccos. If the tobacco density and air channels remain constant along the length of the cigar, the embers move in a controlled manner through the body of the cigar. The compact ash shows that the burnt leaf structures retain their cohesion. However, it is not an isolated indicator of quality. In conjunction with the almost even burn and the consistent smoke production, it confirms above all that the rolling, moisture content and combustion worked together almost perfectly during this tasting.

The effects of fermentation and ageing

No box date was available at the tasting. Consequently, it is not possible to determine either the exact age of the cigar or the duration of its ageing in the box to date. The low acidity, the smooth smoking profile and the even burn indicate that the cigar is already well ready for smoking. The slight bitterness and the particularly pronounced character at the outset also leave room for further harmonisation. Whether and to what extent this occurs depends largely on the raw materials and storage conditions.

Why does the cigar behave like this?

During storage, any remaining reactive compounds may break down slowly. At the same time, the moisture levels and chemical activity between the wrapper, binder and filler continue to even out. This can make the transitions appear smoother and soften any harsh initial sensations.

However, ageing does not automatically alter the composition or fundamental character of a blend. Provided it is stored under stable conditions, the Raíces 1941 Gordo is likely to retain its warm, spicy profile. Rather than a complete transformation, it is more likely that the existing characteristics will be refined.

Following its bold, full-bodied opening, the Raíces 1941 Gordo gradually becomes smoother. Its strength increases steadily from 2/5 to 3/5.

Conclusion

The Raíces 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gordo has a „warm“, spicy and full-bodied character. It is characterised by plenty of light smoke, a slow burn and compact ash. After a surprisingly full-bodied start, it becomes smoother and more consistent; its strength increases from 2/5 to 3/5.

It is of interest to cigar enthusiasts who wish to experience a large-format cigar with a high smoke yield and few abrupt changes. Further ageing could help to round off the slight bitterness and the still somewhat pronounced initial phase. As the box date is missing, this assessment remains, by design, a plausible ageing scenario rather than a definitive prediction.

Frequently Asked Questions

Further reading

• How tobacco changes physically when smoked in a cigar

Sources and background information

This article is based on my tasting of the cigar described, drawing on my own experience as a cigar connoisseur since 1996, as well as on specialist literature on tobacco, fermentation, ageing and the physical processes that occur during smoking. In addition, recent scientific publications on tobacco fermentation and on heat and mass transfer in tobacco have been taken into account.

• Hu, W. et al. (2022): Study on the chemical compositions and microbial communities of cigar tobacco leaves fermented with an exogenous additive. Scientific Reports. → Fermentation, chemical changes and microbial processes in cigar tobacco.  
• (2023) Study on the correlation between the dominant microflora and the main flavour compounds in the fermentation process of cigar tobacco leaves → Investigates the relationships between dominant microorganisms and key chemical indicators.

Photos

• Vasilij Ratej

Note regarding the photos: All the photos were taken by me and edited in Affinity Photo. To achieve the final cinematic look, I also carried out digital colour grading with the aid of AI. The subject, composition and image content remained unchanged.