Oz Family Maracana Cigar Review

Cigar Details

Country of Origin: Honduras

Factory: My Father Cigars Honduras

Wrapper: Brazilian Arapiraca

Binder: Honduras & Nicaragua

Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua

Vitola: Toro, 6 1/2 x 50

MSRP: $12.95 per cigar / $271.95 per box of 21

Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 2

Another OZ Family cigar is on the review table, and once again, I came away pretty happy with the experience.

It has been interesting watching Tim Ozgener and OZ Family Cigars continue to build the brand while working alongside John Huber and Crowned Heads. Digging into the background of the Maracana made this one even more intriguing.

The Maracana represents Ozgener's return to the world of Brazilian-wrapped cigars, something he has plenty of history with going back to his days at CAO and the CAO Brazilia.

This time around, the Maracana features a Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper over Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos, creating OZ Family's modern interpretation of that rich Brazilian-wrapper profile.

Let's get into the cigar.

Appearance & Construction

Toro: 6 1/2 x 50 | MSRP: $12.95

The Maracana is presented in an oval box-pressed format with a light reddish-brown wrapper.

The leaf had some attractive marbling running throughout it along with a noticeable oily sheen. In the hand, the cigar felt solid and well packed without any soft or overly spongy areas.

There was one noticeable vein running partially down the center of the cigar, and the cap was a little wonky, but neither gave me any major concerns heading into the smoke.

I used my Cigar Medics il Maestro on the small setting for a quick, clean cut.

Cold Draw

The cold draw immediately gave me a combination of spice and creaminess.

There was enough going on before lighting the cigar to get my attention, and my anticipation started building.

First Third

The Maracana got off to a nice start.

The burn line was slightly wavy early on, but nothing concerning. Almost immediately, I began picking up several interesting spice notes.

The retrohale delivered a substantial hit of black pepper.

And Teddy, here's your warning: this is probably not the cigar you want to use when learning how to retrohale.

The ash developed into a light gray color and held together nicely.

As I moved deeper into the first third, an interesting rye-like flavor began appearing along with a subtle sweetness that helped balance some of the pepper.

It was an enjoyable opening with enough going on to keep me interested.

Second Third

Moving into the second third, the spice profile continued to develop, while the rye notes became considerably more noticeable.

At the same time, the black pepper on the retrohale increased significantly.

For me, it eventually reached the point where it became almost unpleasant. Pepper can certainly add character and intensity to a cigar, but here it occasionally dominated the other flavors rather than complementing them.

From a performance standpoint, however, the Maracana continued smoking very well.

The burn remained consistent and required no touch-ups.

At this point, I was enjoying the cigar, but I was also waiting for another layer of complexity to appear. The flavors were good, but nothing was really jumping off the page.

Final Third

This is where the Maracana changed considerably.

The profile shifted toward dry grassy notes along with leather and a noticeable breadiness.

The black pepper remained firmly planted on the retrohale.

As the cigar moved toward the finish, I also began picking up some bitterness. It wasn't necessarily enough to ruin the experience, but it definitely changed the personality of the cigar.

And I'm still undecided whether that change was for the better.

The final third was interesting, but it didn't quite deliver the finish I had hoped for based on the cigar's promising start.

Final Thoughts

The OZ Family Maracana is an interesting cigar and a worthy return to Brazilian-wrapper territory for Tim Ozgener.

There were several flavors I enjoyed, particularly the rye, sweetness, spice and bread notes that appeared throughout the smoke.

My biggest issue was the black pepper.

At certain points, especially on the retrohale, it became overwhelming and overshadowed some of the more subtle flavors the cigar had to offer.

Construction was solid, the draw performed well, and the cigar required very little attention from a burn standpoint.

At an MSRP of $12.95, I think this is a cigar Brazilian-wrapper fans should try, especially if you enjoy a pepper-forward profile.

And if you happen to find the Maracana on sale, I would definitely recommend grabbing a few.

Final Score

Construction: 9.0/10

Burn: 8.4/10

Draw: 8.9/10

Flavor: 8.0/10

Complexity: 8.0/10

Overall Score: 8.7/10

Would I Smoke It Again?Yes. I would smoke the Maracana again, although I'd like to see that pepper dialed back just enough to let some of the other flavors shine.